There is provided a control device enabling switching of communication of a mobile terminal with one system to communication with another system while reducing power consumption and workload of the mobile terminal. The control device is used in a communication system including a first mobile communication system, a second mobile communication system, and a mobile terminal being in communication with the first mobile communication system. The control device comprises a position measuring unit for measuring the position of the mobile terminal, a judgment unit for making a determination whether or not to switch the communication of the mobile terminal from the first mobile communication system to the second mobile communication system according to a position measurement result of the position measuring unit, and a switching unit for performing the above switching operation according to the determination of the judgment unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of mobile communications, and more specifically to a control device enabling handover between mobile communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The so-called IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications 2000) system is well known in the field of mobile communications, and is capable of meeting requirements of high-speed communications, for example, at 2 Mbps. There are two standardized transmission methods in IMT-2000 systems, one is IMT-2000/FDD (Frequency Division Duplex), and the other is IMT-2000/TDD (Time Division Duplex). FDD is capable of providing wide area services with symmetric traffic for downlink and uplink channels, and therefore is suited to data and speech transmission with lower data rate, such as 384 kbps. On the other hand, TDD is capable of dynamically varying the traffic of downlink and uplink channels, and is preferred for data transmission at higher data rates.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a mobile communication system 100 including two sub-mobile communication systems each using one of the above two transmission methods. Specifically, the mobile communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes an FDD base station 10 constituting an IMT-2000/FDD system, a TDD base station 20 constituting an IMT-2000/TDD system, and a mobile terminal 30 operable in either of the above systems.
The FDD base station 10 provides services in a service area 60 covering a certain geographical region, and is capable of transmission by the FDD transmission method in the area 60. Similarly, the TDD base station 20 provides services in a service area 70, and is capable of transmission by the TDD transmission method in the area 70. The FDD service area 60 and the TDD service area 70 are partially overlapped geographically, and in this overlapped area, communication by either of the above two modes is possible.
In FIG. 1, the symbol P1 indicates the overlapped common area of the service area 60 and the service area 70, symbol P2 indicates the area in the service area 60 other than the overlapped area P1, symbol P3 indicates the area in the service area 70 other than the overlapped area P1, and symbol P4 indicates the area outside of both the service area 60 and the service area 70. For example, if the mobile terminal 30 is situated in the area P2, it is capable of communication in the FDD mode only; if the mobile terminal 30 is located in the area P3, it is capable of communication in the TDD mode only; whereas, if the mobile terminal 30 is located in the area P1, it is capable of communication in both the FDD mode and the TDD mode. But, if the mobile terminal 30 is located in the area P4, that is, out of the service areas 60 and 70, it is incapable of communication in either mode.
Note that, for the sake of simplicity, only one FDD base station is shown in FIG. 1. In practice many FDD base stations are provided, and the corresponding areas of individual FDD base stations (called a cell or a sector) form the service area 60. Similarly, the service area 70 is formed by cells of many TDD base stations 20.
Each FDD base station 10 and TDD base station 20 is connected to a not-shown network through a control device and is controlled by the control device.
Consider the case in which the mobile terminal 30 is in the area P2 and is conducting data transmission with the FDD base station 10 at a relatively high data rate, and assume the mobile terminal 30 is moving to the area P1. In the area P1, as mentioned above, communications by both the FDD method and the TDD method are possible, and the TDD transmission method is advantageous to high-speed communication. Therefore, in the area P1, it is preferable for the mobile terminal 30 that is presently in the FDD mode to use the TDD resource to communicate if the TDD resource is available. To the contrary, if the mobile terminal 30 is transmitting at a lower data rate but in the TDD mode, when it is moved to the area P1, there is advantage to switching the mobile terminal 30 to the FDD mode. In other words, when the mobile terminal 30 is communicating by using one of the communication resources, if the terminal can be switched to the other mode when necessary, it is possible to realize a dual-mode mobile communication system superior in efficiency of resource utilization.
To realize a system like the mobile communication system 100, it has been proposed that the mobile terminal 30 operated in one sub-system constantly monitor a control signal from the other sub-system, and if the levels of the received signals are higher than a preset value, the mobile terminal 30 be switched to communication with the other sub-system. For example, the mobile terminal 30 is communicating with the FDD base station 10 in the area P2, while monitoring the levels of the received control signals from the TDD base station 20. Assume the levels of the received control signals are still lower than a preset value at the present position of the mobile terminal 30. If the mobile terminal 30 is moved to the area P1, the levels of the received control signals become higher than the preset value. If the mobile terminal 30 is transmitting data at a higher data rate, and if the TDD communication resource is available, the transmission mode of the mobile terminal 30 is switched to TDD mode.
In such a way, it is certain the mobile terminal 30 communicating by using one of the communication resources can be switched to the other system when necessary. If this method for system switching is adopted, however, transmitting and receiving devices for constantly monitoring the control signals from the other system are necessary in addition to those used for the communication conducted presently, and all these devices have to be operated in synchronization with each other. As a result, consumption of electric power increases greatly. In addition, the control signals have to be monitored constantly no matter whether the transmission mode of the mobile terminal needs to be switched or not, so, the electric power is wasted if system switching does not occur. To avoid installing two sets of transmitting and receiving devices, it is conceived to use only one set of transmitting and receiving devices, and this set of devices may be used alternatively temporarily. With such a configuration, however, in order to perform communication, the mobile terminal 30 has to precisely control timing of transmitting and receiving signals and the timing of receiving and measuring the control signals. But generally, timing control places a heavy workload on a mobile terminal. Accordingly, for a mobile terminal having to pay attention to power consumption, this method is not appropriate.
On the other hand, at the mobile terminal 30, the levels of the received control signals from a base station may vary largely because of the propagation path or the phase, and thereby, the levels of the received signals do not strictly depend on the distance to the base station. Therefore, sometimes system switching is actually not necessary or this switching is not actually possible even though the levels of the received signals are higher than the preset value. In this case, if such kind of switching is still carried out, this also leads to unnecessary power consumption.

Control device of mobile communication system


A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for reporting errors occurring in a data processing system. Responsive to an error occurring in a host bridge in the data processing system, a determination is made as to whether a device required for generating an error report is located below the host bridge. Responsive to the device required for generating an error report being located below a host bridge, the host bridge is isolated from other portions of the data processing system, wherein only a processor analyzing the error is able to access the host bridge. An error reporting process is performed. The error reporting process is able to access the host bridge and the device.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system, and in particular a method and apparatus for handling errors. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for reporting errors in a data processing system.
2. Description of Related Art
Data processing systems have become more complex. This complexity includes various types of resources in a data processing system. For example, a data processing system may include one or more architecturally distinct processors. In this type of system, multiple host bridges may be present for the numerous I/O adapter bus slots. These type of systems may be run in a partitioned or non-partitioned mode. In a partitioned mode, resources are allocated among different copies of an operating system or multiple heterogenous operating systems, which are run simultaneously on the data processing system. Such a partitioned data processing system is also referred to as a logical partitioned data processing system or as a LPAR data processing system.
In this type of complex multi-processor, multi-host-bridge system, when an I/O error occurs, it is desirable to isolate that error from the rest of the logical partitioned data processing system to allow the system to function without corrupting data in the system. Currently, this isolation is accomplished by preventing memory mapped input/output (MMIO) accesses to propagate from a host processor to I/O adapters beneath the host bridge in error state. This isolation is also accomplished by preventing direct memory access (DMA) accesses from propagating from an I/O adapter through the host bridge to system memory. DMA is an access in which an adapter attempts to send data to a resource, such as a memory. MMIO is a type of access in which a processor attempts to access an adapter. By isolating the system to a host bridge level, the rest of the system is able to continue to operate or at least enter into an error state that can later be analyzed and recovered.
One problem with this current solution is that in the process to reporting users to an error, a resource, such as chips and/or memory that the host processor needs to access to generate an error report, is located below the host bridge, which is in the error state. In other instances, a support processor for the system may be located below the host bridge in the error state. With the host bridge being isolated, certain support processor activities will be unable to complete.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for reporting errors when resources located below a host bridge need to be accessed to gather error information or transfer error information.

Apparatus for reporting and isolating errors below a host bridge

International Business Machines Corporation


A woman's garment comprising a tubular garment body having an integrated full support bra at the front portion thereof and a back portion. The back portion has a high cut neckline which the natural curve of the back of the neckline and is contoured around the back arm and underarm areas for evenly compressing and supporting the upper back and lower back and posterior auxiliary fat pads without visible bra lines or bulges on the back and underarm area.

Different types of bra and garment combinations are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,820 provides an underwire bra garment which has long shoulder straps that extend down the back of the garment which results in the back portion of this garment being inadequate for covering and compressing the most fleshy parts of the back and underarms, such as the posterior auxiliary fat pads of the back and underarms of a woman's body. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,557 provides an underwire bra garment which also has long shoulder straps that extend down the back of the garment and again is inadequate at covering and compressing the posterior auxiliary fat pads. Additionally, other garments with integrated bra supports are known which have an elastic band at the back portion which provides for visible type of bra lines at the back and resulting in unflattering bulges on the back and underarm areas. While other long line garments with an integrated bra offer breast support, such garments offer no compression of the posterior auxiliary fat pads or the upper back, thereby allowing these areas to have unsightly bulges from the back and side views.


A method for isolating the DNA encoding an enzyme is presented. The DNA is contained within a support to which the enzyme is linked, wherein the enzyme is further linked to a substrate. When the enzyme reacts with the substrate, the product remains linked to the enzyme. The product linked to the enzyme which is linked to the support containing the DNA encoding the enzyme is isolated, thereby isolating the DNA encoding the enzyme. In this manner an expression library of enzymes produced by mutagenesis can be screened for mutated active enzyme, and thereby obtain the mutated DNA encoding the mutated active enzyme.

The present invention relates to constructs and methods for the generation, detection, and isolation of enzymes possessing a desired chemical or biological activity. In particular it relates to a method for the generation, detection and isolation of enzymes or proteins with enzyme- like activity, with a novel substrate or reaction specificity or with improved activity. In addition, the invention permits the subsequent identification and isolation of the nucleic acid encoding the enzyme.
A number of different approaches have hitherto been taken to generate novel polypeptides with new, modified, or improved biological activity. For example, the alteration of individual residues at the active site of enzymes of known crystallographic structure (Winter et al., 1982; Wilkinson et al., 1984), immunization with transition state analogues (Tramontano et al., 1986) the screening of mutant microorganisms harbouring new properties (Cunningham and Wells, 1987), the alteration of specific residues within a signal peptide window and the generation of novel antibodies by phage display (Marks et al., 1994) have all led to the generation of polypeptides with tailored functions.
Antibody fragments have been expressed bacterially and in bacteriophage (phage) display repertoires by fusion to phage coat proteins, in particular the minor coat protein cpIII. Subsequent selection of phage with antigen has allowed the isolation of high affinity antibodies from large libraries without immunisation.
The endogenous genetic machinery of phage, and the ability to generate a large population of individually unique phage clones means that a huge ( greater than 108) variety of different recombinant polypeptides can be produced. A large number of variants of a certain polypeptide chain are cloned into the genome of filamentous phage or constructed as phagemids and expressed as a fusion protein with the phage coat protein. This library is then selected by panning to the ligand of interest; after extensive washings and elution, those phages expressing a binding variant are rescued by infection of bacteria. Multiple rounds of selection allow the isolation of very rare phage ( less than 1/107).
Phage display has also been used as a tool to investigate the relative efficacy of signal peptides, to evaluate the individual contribution of each residue of an epitope, and to refine the properties of such biological molecules. For example, phage display has been used to isolate zinc finger domains with altered DNA-binding specificity, improved hormones and novel inhibitors.
The generation of novel enzymes, or enzymes with improved function has proven more difficult. The main obstacles in this case are associated with methods of selection. In nature, new enzymes arise through random mutation and Darwinian selection. Initial attempts to mimic this process used mutant microorganisms, selecting for increased enzyme activity by growth advantage (Cunningham and Wells, 1987). More recently, both alkaline phosphatase and trypsin have been displayed on the surface of phage, and have been shown to retain their catalytic activity (McCafferty et al., 1991, Corey et al., 1993). Such phages have been enriched by binding to suicide inhibitors that bind irreversibly to the protein. Soumillion et al., 1994 describe incubation of phage displaying a xcex2-lactamase with a xcex2-lactamase suicide inhibitor connected by a spacer to a biotin moiety. Active phages were selected by binding and elution from streptavidin-coated beads. Such a procedure suffers from the drawback that a suicide inhibitor or a transition state analogue must be available for the reaction of interest. This is not generally the case. Moreover, indirect selections result in low rate accelerations. A direct selection for the desired catalytic activity would yield better results.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method of isolating an enzyme having a desired chemical or biological activity the method comprising:
a) linking the enzyme to a substrate for the enzyme;
b) reacting the enzyme with the substrate such that a product is produced which remains linked to the enzyme; and
c) isolating the active enzyme by selectively isolating the product linked to the enzyme.
The invention also provides a method of isolating DNA encoding an enzyme comprising a) linking the enzyme to a substrate for the enzyme; b) reacting the enzyme and substrate such that a product is produced which remains linked to the enzyme; and c) isolating the enzyme by selectively isolating the product linked to the enzyme; wherein the enzyme is further linked to DNA encoding the enzyme.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is also provided a composition comprising an enzyme linked to a substrate for the enzyme or linked to a product of the reaction between the enzyme and the substrate.

Method for isolating the DNA encoding an enzyme


There is provided a method of enabling a consumer of a media content to communicate with a producer of the media content, comprising receiving an originating message concerning the media content from the consumer, assigning metadata to the originating message based on the media content or the content of the originating message, determining the producer based on the media content or the content of the originating message, forwarding the originating message through a message support network for distribution to the producer, retrieving a responsive message provided by the producer from among message updates stored on a message database, and associating the responsive message with one or more content subsets of the content according to the metadata assigned to the originating message. In one embodiment, media content and instructions comprising an interactive communication control application are stored on a computer readable medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the distribution of information content. More particularly, the present invention relates to the distribution of computer mediated interactive information content.
2. Background Art
There is something confidence inspiring about media content that has been committed to a fixed and final presentation format. Compared to content generated spontaneously, content that is fixed for the purposes of presentation, whether through pre-recording in a particular data format, or through packaging for commercial distribution, for example, carries with it the promise of completeness and reliability typically associated with a finished product. A consumer of such content, be it information content, instructional content, or entertainment content, may experience an enhanced level of enjoyment in consuming the media content due to his or her reasonable expectation that the content has been thoughtfully and purposefully produced.
In addition to its advantageous reassurance of product quality, however, there are some unfortunate limitations associated with media content provided in a final presentation format, flowing from the same fixed characteristics that represent many of its virtues. Consider a movie or a documentary, for example. While a viewer of either of these media content products may be assured of seeing a well researched, polished presentation embodying reasonably high production values, the viewer is limited to his or her role as a passive consumer of the presentation. As a result, the viewer may be prevented from fully engaging the ideas or creative vision the producers of that media content seek to communicate; ideas and vision which might otherwise be accessible through a more interactive content consumption experience. While particularly relevant to pre-recorded content packaged for commercial distribution, similar undesirable obstacles to the communication of new ideas or artistic insights can arise during consumption of media content produced for presentation as live content, for instance, through a live broadcast.
In particular, where media content is complex or includes intellectually challenging subject matter, an inability to interact more fully, either with the media content itself, or with a producer of the media content having insight into its message, may result in a diminished understanding or appreciation of the ideas being presented. Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a solution enabling consumers of media content to more fully engage with the content being provided, by communicating interactively with producers of the media content.

Method and system for enabling a consumer of a media content to communicate with a producer


A wrist strap arrangement is provided for an attachment to a manual shaving device to guard against dropping of such razor. The wrist strap is designed to either by temporarily storable in the razor while not required or being used or to be conveniently removable from such razor during non-use by various attachment and storage arrangements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to manual shaving devices in general, and more particularly to devices to prevent slipping or dropping of such shaving devices during use, and more particularly still to manual shaving devices used in combination with a safety strap or wrist loop attachment.
2. Preliminary Discussion
Manual shaving devices, which group includes safety razors, razors having disposable razor cartridges detachably connected to a reusable handle, and razors wherein the entire razor is disposable, are in wide use today by both men and women. Such shaving devices are relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and provide generally satisfactorily shaving results. Men use such razors primarily for shaving their mustache and beard area, although a growing number of men today also manually shave other parts of their body, such as their heads, particularly if they engage in athletic activities such as swimming, or other public activities. Women also use manual shaving devices to remove hair from certain body areas such as the arms, underarms, legs, and bikini area. Most shaving activities are carried out in the bathroom of a home, usually either while leaning over the washstand or in the tub or shower area, either in a standing or sitting position. First, the area to be shaved is usually wetted to add moisture to such area, after which a slippery substance such as shaving cream or soap is usually applied to such skin area. Shaving certain areas, such as the lower extremities, can require a significant amount of reaching, bending, positioning, and re-positioning one's body. This can difficult and for some physically exhausting, particularly for those who are overweight, disabled, or who have other physical limitations. Even for those who are considered physically fit, there is an increased danger of a slip and fall, primarily due to the combination of operating in a wet environment and the shaving cream or soap applied on the shaving area, which not only makes one's skin slippery, but also inevitably runs down onto the tub or shower surface, also making such surfaces slippery. In addition, shaving is generally considered an undesirable activity, and is often performed in the morning while getting ready for work or the like, or in a rush, which results in the user being relatively careless and therefore being more likely to carelessly drop the shaving device.
Operation of a manual shaving device in such a wet and slippery environment also increases the likelihood that the shaving device may accidentally slip out of the user's hand. This can happen either while the user is maneuvering his or her body into a shaving position, or also while performing such shaving activities. In general, during use, the handle of the shaving device should not be gripped too tightly, as this will decrease the user's dexterity and therefore his or her ability to control the device. For example, the cutting edge of the razor should contact the skin with only a light pressure, and should be moved over the surface of the skin in smooth, even strokes so that the blade or blades do not dig into the skin and nick or cut the user. On the other hand, gripping the handle more lightly justifiably and not unexpectedly increases the likelihood that the shaving device will be accidentally dropped. With respect to cartridge-type disposable razor shaving devices, if such device is dropped in a porcelain shower stall or tub, the impact of falling often causes the razor cartridge to disengage from the handle. Not only is it difficult sometimes to find the cartridge and then to reattach the cartridge to the handle, particularly in such a wet and slippery environment, but also the rather delicate cartridge connection mechanism on the handle, which handle is not disposable and therefore is not inexpensive, may become broken. Furthermore, reaching to pick up the cartridge further increases the danger of falling or injury, and, as indicated above, many less than agile persons may not even be able to retrieve the cartridge or razor, or at least not before it is pulled into or becomes lodged in the shower or tub drain.
3. Description of Related Art
The prior art with respect to manual shaving devices and attempts to reduce the likelihood that such devices will be dropped or slip in the hand or fingers of the user during use, has been primarily directed either to modifications to the contour of the handle section so that it is less likely to slip out of the user's hands, or to providing a non-slip coating surface or pattern such as rubber on the handle portion. While most of these attempts have been somewhat successful, they undesirably add significantly to the overall cost of such shaving devices. The following patent references are the most relevant known to the inventor, although it is not believed that any of such arrangements anticipates or renders obvious any of the embodiments of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,583,057 issued to J. G. Leatherman on Jan. 22, 1952, entitled "Safety Razor", discloses a disposable razor having, in one embodiment, a handle made of tubular plastic conduit bent to form a narrow loop, with the ends of the conduit angled outwardly for attachment to the razor portion of the device. While such embodiment shows a safety razor having a looped handle, such loop clearly is not designed to be slipped over the user's hand as in the present inventor's arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,197 issued to E. L. Spangler, Jr. on Nov. 29, 1960, entitled "Electric Razor Safety Strap", discloses a safety strap for an electric razor wherein a wrist loop is integrally formed with the socket or plug portion of an electric cord where the cord detachably connects to the razor. The strap is meant to prevent dropping and breaking of expensive electrical razors, rather than manual safety razor devices, which of course do not have electrical cords. Electric razors are also subject to a further possible hazard in that the cord may become caught or entangled on an object and cause the razor to be accidentally pulled out of the hands of the user when it is moved. In addition, there is the usual danger of accidental electrical shock in a bathroom environment, where such razors are most often used, and no means for storing or disconnecting the safety strap is shown.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,757 issued to N. Dubofsky on Nov. 26, 1963, entitled "Balance for Safety Razors", discloses an oval body member having a socket in one end in which a manual shaving device handle is inserted and frictionally held. The body member serves as a balance for the razor handle in the users hand, making it easier to use and therefore less likely to be dropped. The body member may also be used to support the razor in a vertical position on a shelf or the like when it is not in use. The Dubofsky balance member does not, however, anticipate the safety strap arrangement of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,032 issued to K. A. Masterson on Aug. 31, 1999, entitled "Squeezable Cleansing and Lathering Devices", discloses a bladder that is filled with liquid soap which is used in combination with a shower puff-type wash pad, and which further may include a looped handle or wrist cord. In one embodiment, the device has an elongated handle, which handle is open at its end so that the handle of a disposable razor can be mounted in such opening, while in another embodiment a safety razor is mounted in such end. The attached razor and looped handle arrangements are shown, however, as alternative embodiments, and a single embodiment having a razor and a looped handle is not shown. In addition, no means for detaching the looped handle or securing it in a non-use position to the handle shaft is shown.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0062568 filed by S. L. Stiles, entitled "Stiles Razor", discloses a razor having smaller-than-conventional razor blades wherein such blades are housed in cartridges in the razor handle. While the razor as drawn has the appearance of having a looped handle, a thorough review of the specification indicates that this is incorrect, since no mention of such an arrangement is made in the specification.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0208914 filed by R. W. Ehrlich, entitled "Extendable Handle Shaver", discloses a razor device having a rod and handle combination that extends the reach of the shaver 12 to 18 inches to facilitate use on otherwise hard-to-reach areas of the body, such as the back. The connecting rod is angled preferably at about 30-45 degrees, and the handle has a looped configuration, but such loop is meant to facilitate gripping of the handle in one's hand, rather than looping the handle around one's wrist.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0068879 filed by L. L. Dassel, entitled "Extendable Razor Handle Assembly", discloses a telescoping handle assembly for extending the reach of a conventional disposable razor or safety razor. The handle assembly also has a loop handle portion; however, Dassel indicates in the specification that the loop handle is provided to hang the assembly from a hook or the like for storage purposes, rather than to secure the razor in the hand of the user. In addition, no means for storing or detaching the loop handle is provided.
Despite the large number safety razor and disposable razor arrangements already available in the prior art, each of which is suitable for its particular purposes, as far as the present inventor is aware, there has been little attention paid to arrangements for using safety straps and wrist loops with manual shaving devices. While wrist lanyards and cords are found on a variety of goods, such as ski poles, bags, and, as shown by the Spangler, Jr. patent, electric razors, there remains a need for a convenient and inexpensive flexible safety strap arrangement for use with manual shaving devices to prevent accidental dropping of such devices during use. Such arrangement should include a means for simply and conveniently storing or holding the strap such that it is out of the way when not in use, or for detachably connecting the strap to the shaving device. The present inventor has recognized this need, and, after extensive development efforts and experimentation, has developed a manual shaving device that fulfills such need. In one preferred embodiment, a looped handle or wrist safety strap or cord that is movable between a storage position, wherein the strap is frictionally held in parallel grooves or channels provided in the exterior surface of the handle for the shaving device, and a use position wherein the strap is looped around the wrist of the user, is provided. In this arrangement, if the user does not wish to use the strap, it is not left dangling from the razor handle but rather is stored in such grooves or channels where it cannot interfere with such use. While the strap is securely held in grooves in the handle in an inoperative position in such embodiment, when it is desired to use the strap, the user can simply pry or pull it out of the grooves by applying only a relatively small amount of manual force or pressure. In another embodiment, rather than storing the strap or cord in grooves in the handle section, a clip is provided to secure the strap in an inoperative position closely adjacent the handle shaft, while in another embodiment, the safety strap or loop may be completely detached from the shaving device via several alternative clip arrangements. In yet another alternative embodiment, the strap or band may be moved between a storage position in a chamber in the shaving device handle, and a use position using a slide guide arrangement. It is believed that each of the alternative embodiments shown and disclosed provides a useful and practical solution to the problem of accidental dropping of manual shaving devices and results in a safer, less stressful, and time-saving shaving experience.

Wrist strap arrangements for manual shaving devices


A mask, which does not require additional reticles, and a method of using the mask for recovering alignment marks in a wafer after an inter-level dielectric layer has been planarized and a second layer of metal has been deposited on the planarized inter-level dielectric layer are described. An alignment mark protection pattern and a clearout window pattern are sub-divided so they can be formed from a first and a second mask element. These mask elements can be formed in the peripheral region of the reticle used to pattern the device region of the wafer. The mask elements are used to expose the alignment mark protection pattern in a first layer of photoresist and the clearout window pattern in a second layer of photoresist.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to masks and methods used for alignment mark recovery after chemical mechanical polishing of an inter-level dielectric, and more particularly to masks and methods for using the masks which do not require additional reticles.
(2) Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,756 to Ramaswami et al. describes a method of protecting alignment marks by using a metal cover over the marks to prevent metal from depositing over the marks on planarized wafers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,962 to Caldwell describes a method of forming additional alignment marks by forming an opening in a planarized inter-level dielectric layer. A conductive material comprising tungsten, having a thickness less than the inter-level dielectric layer, is then deposited in the opening. Chemical Mechanical Polishing is then used to remove the conducting material other than the conducting material in the opening, thereby forming a new alignment mark.
The present invention describes a mask and method for forming a mask protection pattern and a clearout window to recover alignment marks. The mask of this invention is formed from mask elements located in the peripheral region of reticles used to pattern the device regions of a wafer and does not require separate reticles.

Mask containing alignment mark protection pattern

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A vibrating device having a number 2N (N is an integer equal to 2 or larger) of tuning fork arms extending in a first direction are arranged side by side in a second direction. Phases of flexural vibrations of the number N of tuning fork arms positioned at a first side of an imaginary line A, which passes a center of a region in the second direction where the number 2N of tuning fork arms are disposed and which extends in the first direction, are symmetric to phases of flexural vibrations of the number N of tuning fork arms positioned at a second side of the imaginary line opposite the first side.

Various types of vibrating devices each including a plurality of tuning fork arms have been proposed so far. For example, Patent Document 1, given below, discloses a vibrating device including three tuning fork arms. In Patent Document 1, the width of the tuning fork arm positioned at a center is twice that of each of the tuning fork arm positioned at both the sides.
Patent Document 2, given below, also discloses a vibrating device including three tuning fork arms. Patent Document 2 describes an electrode connection method for vibrating a tuning fork arm at a center and tuning fork arms at outer sides in opposite phases.
Patent Document 1: WO2008/043727
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-5022


The present invention provides an organic conductor comprising a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and an electric charge-donating material bonded to the deoxyribonucleic acid, and an organic conductor comprising at least two DNAs; and an electric charge-transfer substance bonding to each base of the two DNAs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic conductor having an improved DNA conductivity which allows a DNA to be utilized as an electronic material.
2. Description of the Related Art
A deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) defined by Watson and Crick has a unique double-helix structure consisting of pairs of four bases including adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine and ribose phosphate chains. Originally, a DNA is a substance, which constitutes a chromosome in a nucleus of an organism, and has a function for replicating and transmitting genetic information of a life by recording main genetic information in the base sequence of a DNA. The error rate in the transcription of a DNA is very low, and is thought to be several thousand times smaller than the error rate of an ordinary magnetic memory disk (10−4%). In addition, the thickness of a DNA is only about 2 nm, but a DNA present in a nucleus of a cell has a length of about several meters when being extended and an extremely high dynamic toughness.
Since such a DNA has an almost one-dimensional geometric structure, it is being paid attention also as a low-dimensional transmitting substance. If a DNA can be employed on an electronic circuit, it can serve as a minute circuit element which can achieve an accumulation level exceeding that of a conventional silicon device circuit. Accordingly, the use of a DNA as an electronic device material is increasingly being discussed, and attention is focused particularly on the electric conductivity of the DNA. However, the level at which a DNA allows the electricity to flow is not known accurately, and is presently still being discussed.
As described above, the results of the prior studies have not been successful in determining even whether a DNA is a conductor or not, and no accurate conductivity has been measured. Accordingly, there were no technologies by which the electricity is supplied efficiently to a DNA.


To provide a brake controller and a brake system that appropriately brake a rotary body of a human-powered vehicle, a brake controller includes one or more processors configured to programmatically control a braking portion of a brake device so that the braking portion brakes a rotary body of the human-powered vehicle based on first information related to travel of the human-powered vehicle, the first information excluding a road surface gradient.

The present disclosure relates to a brake controller and a brake system.
For example, patent document 1 describes a known brake system as a brake system applied to a human-powered vehicle. The brake system includes a braking portion that brakes a rotary body of the human-powered vehicle, an electric drive portion that drives the braking portion, and a brake controller that controls the electric drive portion.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2017-30395


A toner cartridge horizontally installed in an electrophotographic printer having a photoreceptor drum where an electrostatic latent image is formed by charging and exposure, and contributing to toner supply and development by being fixedly coupled to in the electrophotographic printer. The toner cartridge includes a housing filled with toner of a predetermined color, a development roller rotatably installed on the housing to face the photoreceptor drum and to supply the toner to the photoreceptor drum to develop an image by a difference in electrical potential, a supply roller rotatably installed in the housing in contact with the development roller and to control the toner to adhere to the development roller, and a guide member coupled to the housing to be disposed under the supply roller and to guide supply of the toner. When a diameter of the development roller is D2, the diameter D2 satisfies an inequality that 10.4≦D2≦22.1 mm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a toner cartridge to supply toner to an electrophotographic printer to contribute to development, and an electrophotographic printer employing the same, and more particularly, to a horizontal installation type fixed toner cartridge in which a specification of the toner cartridge, the arrangement and specification of the toner cartridge with respect to a photoreceptor drum, and specifications of the photoreceptor drum and a development roller are optimized, and an electrophotographic printer employing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, electrophotographic printers form an electrostatic latent image by scanning light onto a photosensitive medium to charge to a predetermined electric potential, and the electrostatic latent image is developed by a predetermined color toner. The developed image is transferred to a print paper and fused thereon so that an image is printed.
The electrophotographic printer can be divided into a wet type electrophotographic printer and a dry type electrophotographic printer according to a developer. The wet type electrophotographic printer uses a developer made by mixing a liquid carrier and toner powder. The dry type electrophotographic printer uses a dual component developer made by mixing a powder carrier and a toner or a single component developer excluding carrier.
Also, the electrophotographic printer can be divided into a black and white printer and a color printer according to the presence of realization of color. The black and white printer uses a single toner cartridge having a black color. The color printer uses four toner cartridges having yellow, magenta, cyan, and black colors to supply toner and perform development. Also, the color printer can be divided into a single pass type color printer and a multi-pass type color printer according to a color image realization manner.
The single pass type color printer adopts exposure units and chargers corresponding to four color development units with respect to a single photosensitive medium. The single pass type color printer prints a color image by one turn of the photosensitive medium. Thus, for color printing, a high speed printing is possible at the same speed as that for printing a mono color image. However, by adopting a plurality of exposure units and chargers, a structure of the single pass type color printer becomes complicated, and a manufacturing cost increases.
The multi-pass type color printer adopts a single exposure unit and a single charger and four development units for developing each color. The multi-pass type color printer prints a full color image by four turns of the photosensitive medium. Accordingly, a print time is theoretically four times longer than that of the single pass type color printer. However, since the single exposure unit and the single charger are employed, a structure of the printer becomes simplified, and a manufacturing cost is reduced.
The above descriptions are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/620,768, entitled a color image forming apparatus and a color image forming method and filed on Jul. 17, 2003 by the present applicants and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/822,004, entitled an electrophotographic printer and filed on Apr. 12, 2004 by the present applicants.
The electrophotographic printer adopts a multi-pass type. In a structure of the electrophotographic printer, a toner cartridge corresponding to each color is horizontally installed with respect to a printer main body and is fixed with respect to the printer main body during printing.
In this structure, a plurality of toner cartridges contributing to development are fixed in the electrophotographic printer. Thus, compared to a printer adopting a conventional toner cartridge, noise and vibration generated during its operation can be fundamentally removed. Also, by omitting a structure to slide or rotate a development unit, the structure thereof can be simplified and a manufacturing cost can be reduced.
In the meantime, in a printer adopting a horizontal installation type fixed toner cartridge, considering a print quality improvement, a compact structure, a reduction of an assembly step, and a reduction of a manufacturing cost, it is required to optimize a height of each toner cartridge, a total effective height of the entire toner cartridges, an opening angle of a development roller, and the specification of the photosensitive medium into values within a predetermined range. Furthermore, it is required to specify the arrangement structure of the toner cartridges.

Toner cartridge and electrophotographic printer employing the same


This invention relates to negative working photopolymerizable sheet constructions which, upon exposure to an actinic radiation source through a screened image, can accurately reproduce said image. The construction is useful as a color proofing film which can be employed to accurately predict the image quality from a lithographic printing process. Image development is by peel apart processing.

In the art of lithographic printing, it is desirable to produce a multi-color proofing image to assist the printer in correcting a set of color separation films prior to using them to produce expensive metal based lithographic printing plates. The proof should reproduce the image and color quality that will ultimately be obtained during the printing process. The proof must be a consistent duplicate of the desired halftone image. Visual examination of a color proof should show the color rendition to be expected from press printing using the color separations as well as any defects on the separations which might need to be altered before making the printing plates.
There are two general types of color proofing films, namely the overlay type and the single sheet type. In the overlay type of color proofing, separate transparent supports are used for bearing each color separation partial image. Several of these supports carrying images of the corresponding colors are then superimposed upon each other over a white background sheet to produce a color proofing composite. A key advantage of overlay proofs is that they can be made quickly and can serve as a progressive proof by combining any two or three colors in register. However, overlay proofing has the disadvantage that the superimposed plastic supports tend to darken the color proofing sheet and the impression of the color proofing composite thus prepared is different from that of copies actually obtained with conventional printing presses and with proof presses. Examples of overlay approaches are in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,136,637; 3,211,553; and 3,326,682.
In the single sheet type of color proofing, a colored image is prepared by successively producing images of different colors on a single receiver sheet. This is done by sequentially applying colored photosensitive layers to a single opaque support. This method more closely resembles the actual printing process and eliminates the color distortion inherent in the overlay system. Examples of such single sheet approaches are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,671,236; 4,260,673; 4,366,223; 4,650,738; 4,656,114; and 4,659,642. Various methods of producing the images on the proofing films are known. These include photosensitive layers whose images are formed either by using a wet developer or by peel apart development. The present invention relates to an improved single sheet type color proofing film of the peel apart type.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,049 provides a thermal transfer process for printing a design on a final support by printing a design onto a temporary support, superimposing the temporary support and a final support, applying heat and/or pressure to the superimposed structure and separating the temporary support from the final support which retains the printed design. The affinity of the matter of the design towards the final support is greater than its affinity towards the temporary support This process has the disadvantage of requiring a printing step. Other processes for producing single sheet color proofs of an image embodying thermal transfer and photopolymerization techniques are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,060,023; 3,060,024; 3,060,025; 3,481,736; and 3,607,264. In these processes, a photopolymerizable layer coated on a support is imagewise exposed through a color separation film. The surface of the exposed layer is then pressed into contact with an image receptive surface of a separate element. At least one of the elements is heated to a temperature above the transfer temperature of the unexposed portions of the layer. The elements are then separated, and the thermally transferrable, unexposed, image areas of the composite transfer to the image receptive element. If the element is not precolored, the tacky unexposed image may now be selectively colored with a desired toner. The colored matter preferentially adheres to the clear unpolymerized material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,557, a method for transferring colored images is shown which provides a stripping layer coated between a photosensitive element and a support. When the photosensitive layer is exposed to actinic light and developed, the more soluble portions are selectively removed to produce a visible image. The image carrying support is pressed against a suitable adhesive coated receptor member and the carrier support is subsequently stripped to accomplish the transfer of the image A fresh layer of adhesive must be applied to the receptor for each subsequent transfer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,757 provides a method for transferring images or solid colors which are subsequently imaged. The photosensitive material comprises a carrier support having sequentially disposed thereon a release layer; a colored, photopolymerizable layer; and an adhesive layer. The material can undergo exposure, lamination to a temporary support, wet development, and then lamination to a receptor sheet. Alternatively, the photosensitive material can be laminated to a receptor sheet, undergo exposure, and then wet processed. Both processes require development in an aqueou medium.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,154, a process is claimed which produces a single layer color proof without wet development. The photosensitive material comprises a strippable cover sheet; a colored photoadherent layer; a nonphotosensitive organic contiguous layer; and a sheet support. The material is exposed and peel developed. The positive or negative image is transferred to a receiver base. A fresh layer of adhesive is applied to the receptor for each subsequent transfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,787 demonstrates a positive-acting peel apart color proofing method which uses a photosensitive element having a transparent support, adhesion promoted surface and a photosensitive composition layer on the adhesion promoted surface. The photosensitive layer comprises a binding resin, colorant, and a photopolymerizable composition. An adhesive layer is adhered to the photosensitive layer. In image formation, a receiver base is laminated to the adhesive layer and then the photosensitive composition is exposed through the transparent support. After peeling apart the support and receiver base, the adhesive layer and the image-wise nonexposed portions of the photosensitive composition are transferred to the receiver base while the imagewise exposed portions remain on the adhesion promoted surface of the support.

Photopolymerizable, negative working, peel developable, single sheet color proofing system


A network device logs transmission control protocol (TCP) flow data for connections between registered devices that are registered for use of secure Internet of Things (IoT) application programming interfaces (APIs). The logging generates logged flow data. The network device receives, from a first registered device, a call validation request for an IoT API call directed to the first registered device from a second registered device. The call validation request includes packet information of the IoT API call. The network device compares the packet information with the logged TCP flow data. When the comparing indicates a match of the packet information and the logged TCP flow data, the network device sends a response to the first registered device to accept the IoT API call. Otherwise, the network device sends a response to the first registered device to reject the IoT API call.

The Internet of Things (IoT) may be described as a network of physical objects or "things" embedded with various types of electronics, software, sensors, logic, circuitry, etc., that can collect and exchange data. A "thing" (referred to herein as an "IoT device" or, alternatively, a "machine-type communication (MTC) device") may connect to a service hosted on the Internet indirectly (e.g., via another network device, such as a coordinator, a gateway, etc.) or directly. Since IoT technology has nearly limitless applications that can be leveraged to form new and useful services, interest among service providers and developers in IoT technology continues to increase.


The invention includes methods of etching nickel silicide and cobalt silicide, and methods of forming conductive lines. In one implementation, a substrate comprising nickel silicide is exposed to a fluid comprising H3PO4 and H2O at a temperature of at least 50° C. and at a pressure from 350 Torr to 1100 Torr effective to etch nickel silicide from the substrate. In one implementation, at least one of nickel silicide or cobalt silicide is exposed to a fluid comprising H2SO4, H2O2, H2O, and HF at a temperature of at least 50° C. and at a pressure from 350 Torr to 1100 Torr effective to etch the at least one of nickel silicide or cobalt silicide from the substrate.

In integrated circuitry fabrication, some electrically conductive lines are fabricated to interconnect various devices and some to form gates of field effect transistors. Such lines and gates might be formed of one or more conductive materials, including conductively doped semiconductive materials such as conductively doped polysilicon. One type of conductive material utilized in such conductive lines, with or without conductively doped polysilicon, are conductive metal silicides. It would be desirable to develop etching chemistries which etch different and certain conductive metal silicides.
While the invention was motivated in addressing the above identified issues, it is in no way so limited. The invention is only limited by the accompanying claims as literally worded, without interpretative or other limiting reference to the specification, and in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.

Methods of etching nickel silicide and cobalt silicide and methods of forming conductive lines


In a motor-driven steering apparatus structured such that a motor-driven steering assist unit is interposed between a steering shaft in a handle side and a wheel side steering member, and an input shaft connected to the steering shaft of the motor-driven steering assist unit and an output shaft connected to the wheel side steering member are coupled by a torsion bar and arranged on the same center axis, reference angle position marks are applied to portions existing at the same angle position around the same center axis of the input shaft and the output shaft, in a neutral steering state in which a steering force is not applied to the input shaft of the motor-driven steering assist unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor-driven steering apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a motor-driven steering apparatus for a saddle riding type vehicle such as a buggy vehicle or the like, there has been a structure in which a motor-driven steering assist unit is interposed between a steering shaft of a handle side and a wheel side steering member, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-231011 (patent document 1). The structure is made such that a steering force applied to the handle by a driver is assisted by a generated torque of an electric motor.
A conventional motor-driven steering apparatus is structured such that a steering shaft in a handle side is attached to a position at a proper mounting angle with respect to an input shaft of a motor-driven steering assist unit, a wheel side steering member is attached to a position of a proper mounting angle with respect to an output shaft, and a motor-driven steering assist unit is thereafter attached to a vehicle body frame. At this time, if the mounting position of the motor-driven steering assist unit with respect to the vehicle body frame is deviated, a torsion bar coupling an input shaft and an output shaft of the motor-driven steering assist unit is ineffectively twisted, and it is impossible to set the mounting position of the handle to a proper neutral position.
However, in the prior art, the mounting position of the motor-driven steering assist unit with respect to the vehicle body frame is shifted from a correct position at a mounting state of the motor-driven steering assist unit to the vehicle body frame, and it is impossible to easily discriminate whether or not the torsion bar coupling the input shaft and the output shaft of the motor-driven steering assist unit is twisted ineffectively. Even if it is found after an assembly of the vehicle is finished that the actual mounting position of the handle is deviated from the proper neutral position, it is hard to correct the deviation because of the other auxiliary machines attached to the vehicle body frame.


The combination recorder and player system includes a recorder/player unit and a remote control unit. The recorder/player unit includes a recorder/player computer system and recorder/player software that is operable to cause the recorder/player to record, play, and burn CDs. The remote control unit includes a remote control computer system and remote control software that can be used to control the recorder/player unit. The system can be used to automatically copy all of the audio on CDs into memory on the recorder/player, to control multiple pieces of audio and video equipment, and to download and store new music from the Internet.

The present invention relates generally to compact disc (CD) recorders and players. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a combination CD recorder and player system.
Many consumers have music collections that include a number of CDs. While CDs have many benefits that are well known in the art, large collections of CDs have several disadvantages. First, it can be time consuming to locate a particular CD in a large CD collection. In many cases, a consumer must look through the entire collection in order to locate the desired CD. The larger the collection, the more time-consuming this process can be. While organizing the CDs in alphabetical order can minimize the amount of time required to locate a particular CD, many consumers do not do so. Moreover, the process of organizing and maintaining large CD collections in alphabetical order can be time-consuming. Thus, there is a need for a system that reduces the amount of time required to locate a CD in a large CD collection.
Similarly, it can be time-consuming to locate a specific song on a particular CD in a large CD collection. In addition to the time it takes to locate the CD containing the desired song, a consumer must search through the songs on the CD to locate the desired song. In many cases, the consumer must review the face of the CD, or the CD case associated with the CD, to locate the number of the desired song, and then must input that number into the CD player being used to play the CD. To input the correct number, the consumer usually must skip though several songs to reach the desired song. When using CD players that hold multiple CDs, the consumer may also be required to skip through multiple CDs in order to reach the CD that includes the desired song. Regardless of whether a consumer is using a CD player that can hold a single CD or multiple CDs, the process of locating a specific song on a CD can be time-consuming. Thus, there is a need for a system that reduces the amount of time required to access a particular song in a large CD collection.
Large CD music collections are also difficult to access in multiple locations. To do so, a consumer must physically move the collection from one location to another. This can be a time-consuming and inconvenient process. The larger the collection, the more time-consuming and inconvenient it can be. Furthermore, in some cases, it is simply not practical to move a large CD collection to a particular location. For example, it is usually not very practical to move a large CD collection into a small automobile. Many consumers, however, would like to be able to access their music collections in their automobiles, as well as in other locations. Thus, there is a need for a system that allows a consumer to access a large CD music collection in multiple locations.
In addition to being time-consuming to locate and play, CDs have other disadvantages. For example, to play a CD that is stored in a CD case, a consumer must remove the CD from the case and insert it into a CD player. When the consumer does so, the consumer may touch the surface of the CD and leave oil or dirt on it. If this happens, the CD may skip in the player or, in some cases, may not play at all. Thus, there is a need for a system that reduces or eliminates the risk that a consumer will put oil or dirt on a CD and prevent it from playing properly.
CDs also usually include songs that a consumer likes to listen to and songs that they do not like to listen to. In many cases, the songs that the consumer enjoys are intermingled with the songs that the consumer does not enjoy. As a result, the consumer must either listen to the songs that they do not enjoy or skip over those songs to reach a song that the consumer enjoys. In either case, this can be inconvenient for the consumer. Thus, there is a need for a system that allows a consumer to listen to songs they enjoy without having to listen to or skip over songs that they do not enjoy.
In other cases, the songs that the consumer enjoys are located on multiple, different CDs and the consumer must carry all of those CDs with them when they travel to different locations if they want to listen to the songs that they enjoy. This too can be inconvenient for a consumer. Thus, there is a need for system that allows a consumer to listen to songs that they enjoy, located on a variety of different CDs, without requiring the consumer to carry the different CDs with them.
In addition to the disadvantages associated with CD players discussed above, prior art CD players usually include a black or silver enclosure that is not aesthetically appealing to many consumers. Thus, there is an additional need for a CD player system that is more aesthetically appealing to consumers and that overcomes the disadvantages discussed above.
Prior art CD players also usually include remote control devices that can be used to control the various functions associated with the CD players. While the remote controls may make it more convenient to control these CD players, they increase the number of remote control devices in a home and make it more difficult to locate the correct remote for a given piece of electronic equipment. For example, many people have a remote control for their TV, VCR, DVD Player, and stereo system. By including another remote with a prior art CD player, the number of remote control devices in a home is increased. As a result, it is more difficult to locate the correct remote for the TV, VCR, or DVD player. Thus, there is a need for a system that overcomes the above-referenced disadvantages and that does not increase, and preferably decreases, the number of remote controls in a given home.
Obtaining new music on CDs can be a time-consuming and inconvenient process for a consumer. In many cases, a consumer drives to a store, reviews the available CDs, selects one or more CDs, and purchases the selected CDs. The consumer then returns home to listen to the selected CDs. This can be time-consuming and inconvenient for the consumer, particularly, when the consumer lives a great distance from the store selling the CDs. Thus, there is a need for a system that reduces the amount of time required and makes it more convenient for a consumer to purchase new music.
What is needed, then, is a system that overcomes the above-referenced disadvantages of the prior art.

Combination compact disc recorder and player system


A cutting tool having spaced elongate teeth. The tool facilitates 1) the removal of cut particles from the surface to be cut thereby enabling efficient cutting particularly of deeper holes; and, 2) the removal of the center cut out portion from the cutting tool. The tool comprises: a pilot drill bit; an anchoring disk fixed to and around a rear central portion of the drill bit; a plurality of peripherally spaced elongate teeth each having a rear end portion held in the anchoring disk, and a front end portion having a cutting edge; a sliding guide disk slidably positioned around the drill bit and in front of the anchoring disk so that the elongate teeth are radially positioned thereby; bias means to bias the sliding guide disk in a forward position; and, retention means to prevent the guide disk from sliding forwardly on the pilot drill bit beyond the cutting edges of the teeth.

Large hole cutters used to cut porous materials typically are a cylindrical sleeve having triangular teeth around one end portion thereof. The problem with these cutters is that they are slow, particularly in the bottom of deeper holes. This is because the teeth ride on the cut particles above the surface to be cut. These particles cannot be removed. This problem is so severe that a large diameter hole cut through dimension lumber must be cut first from one side of the board, and then the other. Another problem with conventional large diameter hole cutters is that the center cut out portion of the hole is tightly stuck within the sleeve of the cutting tool. It must be evenly pried out of the tool. The removal of this central portion frequently requires greater effort for a longer time than the cutting of the hole. Particularly for overhead applications, there is a great need for a cutting tool which is faster, which doesn't require cutting from opposite sides, and which automatically ejects the center cut out portion of the hole.


A system and method enables users to selectively expose and optionally monetize their data resources, for example on a web site. Data assets such as datasets and models can be exposed by the proprietor on a public gallery for use by others. Fees may be charged, for example, per new model, or per prediction using a model. Users may selectively expose public datasets or public models while keeping their raw data private.

Machine Learning uses a number of statistical methods and techniques to create predictive models for classification, regression, clustering, manifold learning, density estimation and many other tasks. A machine-learned model summarizes the statistical relationships found in raw data and is capable of generalizing them to make predictions for new data points. Machine-learned models have been and are used for an extraordinarily wide variety of problems in science, engineering, banking, finance, marketing, and many other disciplines. Uses are truly limited only by the availability and quality of datasets. Building a model on a large dataset can take a long time. Further, the time and resources necessary to build a model increases as the required quality or depth of the model increases. In view of these investments, some models are valuable to other users. Datasets themselves also may have value in view of the investment to acquire, check or scrub, and store the dataset. In fact, many interesting datasets are built after laborious processes that merge and clean multiple sources of data. Often datasets are based on proprietary or private data that owners do not want to share in their raw format.

Predictive modeling and data analysis in a secure shared system


An integrated building production information system including design CAD (computer-aided-design) based on software of building, structure, and equipment, and databases built in the outside separately from the design CAD, the databases making an integrated DB (shared database)-CAD system of building, structure and equipment as an execution-linked system in DB-CAD's sharing of a standard database, wherein the integrated building production information system stores the information made compatible by three-dimensional superposition at the time of design into a shared database (DB) of the integrated DB-CAD system, and further receives and links information of this shared database to extemal systems such as a skeleton drawing CAD, a reinforcing bar and steel frame system and the like and produces execution information.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated building production information system capable of making the work solution of a design department and an execution department more rational and more efficient by electronicizing key jobs (integration, estimation, procurement, profit-and-loss management and the like) of the production side in a field of construction.
2. Background Art
Particularly, the present invention relates to a database CAD (computer-aided design) system which can aim at making more efficient and more laborsaving the work of preparing design drawings and specifications and at improving the productivity and quality by making it possible for personal computers using CAD software connected with a database to grasp necessary quantities and share necessary data for design among the personal computers, by integrating specifications and quantities in a design work using CAD's performed by each personal computer, and by unifying the data flow from design information to estimation and execution information.
Up to now, pattern information (drawing information) as information for building production has been generally communicated by means of "paper".
On the contrary, in recent years, with the advance of information-systematization in each domain of building production, CAD is extensively used and the present purpose of it is to improve the efficiency of drawing figures and the quality of drawing representation.
Thus, due to the above-mentioned purpose, the range of utilization of CAD stays mostly within each domain specific to design or execution.
From 1980's to the early part of 1990's, "CAD systems for integrating design and execution into a consistent work" were developed by many companies including general constructors, and features common to them are as follows.    (1) A minicomputer or an EWS (engineering workstation) is utilized as a base;    (2) Attribute parameters are made separately by the respective companies;    (3) Jobs of picking and totalizing quantities are performed within a single system;    (4) Mainly the scope of utilization of the system is on and after an execution design stage; and    (5) The system is operated by an operator.
However, for all CAD data of drawings made with much effort, there has not been a mechanism for utilizing them in a process of estimating quantities or preparing execution drawings being the next process.
Estimated quantities have been computed mainly by an outside order estimation office on the basis of design drawings (paper information), and execution drawings have also been made mainly by an outside order office as definitely settling pending parts in design drawings and adding information of execution to them.
On the other hand, execution design drawings and specifications representing the contents of estimation and contract have contained a too small amount of information and a too large amount of pending contents to perform execution as they are.
The present situation in which redo or readjustment occurs due to defining the contents of design or specifications as preparing execution drawings in course of construction and the next process is performed as the execution information is not definitely determined. Such present situation has hindered the rationalization in various aspects.
In order to promote the rationalization of building production, it is necessary to make the degree of definite settlement as high as possible at an upstream stage, namely, at a design stage in an early process.
And the maximum usefulness of electronic information including CAD data is clearly the possibility of using the data in various applications, and in order to improve the efficiency of building production by making the best use of its property, it is necessary to distribute design information generated at an early stage of a project as converting the design information so as to meet each stage of production.
Thereupon, there is a synthetic drawing preparation system of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-235,243 of a Japanese patent application among matters filed as a synthetic drawing preparation system making it possible to uniformly handle building drawing data and equipment drawing data prepared by heterogeneous CAD apparatuses.
This is a synthetic drawing preparation system which converts drawing data among a building CAD apparatus for preparing building drawings, an equipment CAD apparatus for preparing equipment drawings and a synthetic CAD apparatus for preparing synthetic drawings, said system converting drawing data on the layer of the building CAD apparatus or equipment CAD apparatus and drawing data on the layer of the synthetic CAD apparatus into each other, and preparing synthetic drawings by means of the synthetic CAD apparatus on the basis of drawings prepared by the building CAD apparatus and the equipment CAD apparatus.
According to this Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-235,243, drawings of the building side such as plan detail drawings, skeleton drawings and the like to be prepared by building CAD apparatuses are made by the respective building CAD apparatuses.
Since the prepared drawings have the data formats of the respective dedicated CAD apparatuses, they are converted into the DXF format and converted from each unique layer of these dedicated CAD apparatuses into the layer of the synthetic CAD apparatus.
And each of drawings to be prepared by the equipment side such as drawings of electric equipment, sanitary equipment, air conditioning equipment and the like is made by a CAD apparatus possessed by each subcontractor in charge of equipment.
Since the prepared drawings have the data formats of the respective dedicated CAD apparatuses, they are converted into the DXF format and converted from each unique layer of these dedicated CAD apparatuses into the layer of the synthetic CAD apparatus.
A processing synthetic CAD apparatus in a synthetic CAD apparatus can handle uniformly drawings made by a building CAD apparatus or an equipment CAD apparatus. In case that a building side performs a change having an influence on the whole execution, for example, a synthetic CAD apparatus converts the data format and layer of a changed drawing and passes the converted drawing data to another building CAD apparatus or equipment CAD apparatus, which can perform a necessary change on the basis of the changed drawing data by means of each dedicated CAD. The changed drawing is converted in the synthetic CAD apparatus side and is combined with a layer according to a synthetic drawing and outputted to a display device or a plotter.
In this way, since a drawing made by each dedicated CAD apparatus can be handled by another dedicated CAD apparatus, a modification based on some changed spot can be handled uniformly by a building side or an equipment side and, therefore, even a large-scale building can be corrected exactly and quickly.
However, said synthetic drawing preparation system of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-235,243 is a system for securing the compatibility in a job of making a synthetic drawing at an execution stage but is not a system for securing the compatibility at a design stage. Securing the compatibility at an execution stage results in having many pending matters, and redo and readjustment occur even in the course of execution as described above and the rationalization is hindered in various aspects by entering the next process as leaving necessary information not definitely determined.
And this system uses pattern data of a drawing but does not inheritably use the attribute of a design drawing. The linkage of such pattern data is low in the degree of freedom and the CAD data of a design drawing can be utilized in making a synthetic drawing in the next process as pattern data, but since the attribute of it is not utilized, the data cannot be utilized in calculation of quantities to be estimated.
Further, said synthetic drawing preparation system of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-235,243 is a system which fully performs a layer management of drawing data and converts the layer of drawing data into a layer configuration convenient for a synthetic drawing on the basis of a predetermined rule of layer conversion, but the layer rule is not often strictly observed and an effective result cannot be often obtained. Generally, management based on layer is effective for an object but is often ineffective for another object, and in case of using a layer management for another object, such a system performs conversion but often cannot effectively distribute data.
Further, the synthetic drawing preparation system of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-235,243 is supposed as a system primarily handling two-dimensional matters and cannot perform examination from an optional direction in confirming the compatibility and is difficult to estimate exactly the quantities.
By the way, in order to integrate building production information, it is necessary to take the compatibility among building information, structure information and equipment information, but it is caused by the following reasons that CAD systems of building, structure and equipment have not been unified and have not come to spread. There are such reasons as a fact that a CAD system has been expensive in lease expense of hardware/software, maintenance cost and the like, a fact that there has not been a receiver of data since CAD has not been popular in building sites, a fact that estimation is often performed by manually picking up and no electronic data have been utilized in a downstream process, and a fact that an operator has been required not only to operate a CAD system but also to have deep knowledge of both design drawings and execution drawings, namely, a young operator skilled in operation of CAD has also needed to be skilled in settlement or sequence of execution and the like.
Further, the following factors are conceivable.
The work of a conventional CAD system is only the exchange of pattern data in the DWG format or DXF format and exchanges data having no attribute from beginning to end.
And two-dimensional data are primarily handled and the correction of errors caused by conversion requires much time, and it is difficult to check the compatibility by means of two-dimensional superposition of pattern data.

Integrated building production information system


A method and apparatus of assessment of relative changes in the cross sectional area of a limb artery. The method includes applying to the artery an external pressure, which causes the cross-sectional area of the artery to change between systole and diastole much more than if the pressure is not applied, determining, over one or more cardiac cycles, a baseline value for a parameter related to the cross-sectional area of the artery, while the pressure is applied, applying a stimulus to the artery, determining, over one or more cardiac cycles, a stimulus-affected value for the parameter related to the cross-sectional area of the artery, while the pressure is applied and while the artery is in a dilated state affected by the stimulus and evaluating the artery based on a comparison of the determined stimulus-affected and baseline values, the baseline value is determined while the artery is substantially not affected by the stimulus.

The vascular endothelium is the innermost layer of cells in the blood vessels, located at the interface between the blood and the vessel wall. The cells form a slick layer that prevents blood cell interaction with the vessel wall as blood moves through the vessel lumen. The endothelium plays a critical role in the mechanics of blood flow, the regulation of coagulation, leukocyte adhesion, and vascular smooth muscle cell growth, and also serves as a barrier to the trans-vascular diffusion of liquids and solutes. The endothelium performs many active functions, such as the secretion and modification of vasoactive substances and the contraction and relaxation of vascular smooth muscles.
Endothelial dysfunction is believed to be an important factor in the development of atherosclerosis, hypertension and heart failure. Furthermore, endothelial dysfunction is believed to be an effective predictor of cardiovascular diseases before the disease becomes symptomatic. Hence, there is a high interest in the assessment of the endothelial function in subjects under risk of potential cardiovascular diseases. Publications from recent years show that the endothelial function (or rather, lack thereof) of peripheral arteries is a good predictor for the coronary arterial system.
Some of the publications on the subject are: Volker Schächinger et. al, Circulation. 2000;101:1899-1906; Amudha Kadirvelu, et. al, Medical Progress May 2002; 4-12.; Eva Sondergaard et. al, Am Heart J 144(1): 2002,108-114, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
A known method for assessing the endothelial dysfunction of peripheral arteries is described, for example, in Mary C. Corretti et. al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2002; 39:257-265, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The method includes measurement of a baseline brachial artery diameter using an imaging apparatus (e.g., ultrasound), stimulation of the endothelium to release the vasorelaxing factor nitric oxide (NO), re-measurement of the artery diameter after the stimulation and computation of the change in the arterial diameter. The release of NO results in relaxation of the smooth muscles cells and increases the radius of the blood vessels.
The endothelial function (or dysfunction) is assessed from the relative increase (in %) of the brachial artery diameter relative to baseline due to the stimulation. A typical diameter change for healthy subjects with proper endothelial function is of the order of 7% whereas for subjects with endothelial dysfunction, the diameter change is substantially lower. Other diagnostic indices used relate to the timing of the peak change, rate of return to baseline and area under the relative change.
This test method is hard to implement, due to the difficulty to accurately measure the diameter of the artery using imaging methods and a high skill required from an operator carrying out the method in positioning the apparatus used for the imaging. In practice, although the test is widely recognized as important, it is not widely used.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,881 to Rains et. al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method of assessment of endothelial dysfunction, in which the changes in artery volume are determined from changes in the internal artery pressure, as measured by a pressure measurement cuff. The pressure measurement cuff is used to sense the internal artery pressure. The cuff is suggested to be held during the measurement at diastole or near diastole pressure, so that the pressure changes in the cuff reflect the changes in the artery, due to the cardiac cycle. According to the suggested method, NO release is induced by occlusion of the artery for a few minutes and then the pressure in the cuff is monitored for about ten minutes until the artery returns to its normal state. The resultant pressure graph is analyzed to determine the endothelial functioning of the patient. The method of U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,881 requires that the patient remain relatively still for a long period (i.e., about ten minutes).
The method of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,881 patent applies pressure to the patient continuously for a relatively long time period, in which return blood flow through the veins is hampered, possibly affecting the measurement results. In addition, if the blood pressure of the patient changes during the measurement, wrong results may be received. In addition, the accuracy of the method is relatively low because it monitors relatively small modulation in the artery diameter.


A microstepper motor device and method of controlling the device uses a microcontroller that provides current sinusoidal values from at least one array of sinusoidal values to power circuitry of the device in response to control signals. The power circuitry is connected to a stepper motor of the device to supply power signals to the stepper motor using the current sinusoidal values. The microcontroller is configured to index the at least one array of sinusoidal values to the current sinusoidal values in response to the control signals as part of an interrupt service routine of the microcontroller. The microcontroller is further configured to transmit the current sinusoidal values to the power circuitry as part of a non-interrupt routine of the microcontroller.

Stepper motor devices use motor drivers to provide power signals to the connected stepper motors in response to control signals, e.g., pulse and direction signals, from external controllers. Using a stepper motor driver without microstepping control, a typical stepper motor device will experience resonance and rough motion at low speeds. However, using a stepper motor driver with microstepping control, the resonance and rough motion problems at low speeds can be greatly reduced.
A conventional microstepper motor driver for a two-phase stepper motor includes a translator, a phase-A digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a phase-B DAC, a phase-A power converter and a phase-B power converter. The translator outputs two rectified binary sinusoidal values, which are ninety degrees out of phase, to the phase-A and phase-B DACs using control signals from an external controller. The translator also outputs two additional digital signals, which represent the polarities of the rectified sinusoidal values, to the phase-A and phase-B power converters. The phase-A DAC outputs an analog sinusoidal signal to the phase-A power converter using the received binary sinusoidal value. Similarly, the phase-B DAC outputs an analog sinusoidal signal to the phase-B power converter using the received binary sinusoidal value. The phase-A power converter outputs a current-controlled power signal to one of the coils of the connected stepper motor using the analog sinusoidal signal from the phase-A DAC and the digital polarity signal from the translator. Similarly, the phase-B power converter outputs a current-controlled power signal to the other coil of the stepper motor using the analog sinusoidal signal from the phase-B DAC and the digital polarity signal from the translator.
Common choices for the translator of a conventional microstepper motor driver includes an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and a microcontroller. An ASIC has a low unit cost, but requires high design and non-recurring engineering (NRE) cost. A FPGA is readily available, but has a high unit cost. A microcontroller is desirable with off-the-shelf availability, wide variety of choices (8 bit to 32 bit), well proven CPU architectures (8051 to RISC), programmable using common programming language (Assembly to C) and a wide range of features and peripherals (built-in memory, flash, UART, SPI, ADC, DAC, oscillator, temperature sensor, etc.). However, in order to properly support a high rate of microstepping, a high performance microcontroller is needed, which can significantly increase the cost of the microstepper motor driver. Otherwise, the microstepping rate using a low-cost, lower performance microcontroller is limited.
Therefore, there is a need for a microstepper motor device and method for controlling the device that can support a high micrstepping rate using a low cost microcontroller.

Microstepper motor device and method of controlling the device