A method and apparatus to provide pre-boot security and legacy hardware and environment support for a computing system having an extensible firmware architecture is described. A virtual machine monitor is employed to provide the virtualization of system state for the purposes of running legacy compatibility code or protecting key data and code regions for safety and security. An application may be given access to a subset of the system resources, and access to portions of the memory map not designated for updates would trap (program interrupt) to the VMM. A VMM pre-boot policy agent may then protect state and unload any problematic software.

A recent development in computer system firmware is an extensible firmware interface (EFI) framework that allows software vendors to develop operating systems programs that can be used with a variety of central processing units (CPUs). An application binary interface (ABI) is included that specifies how to pass data on the stack for a given CPU type. By abstracting the platform, the framework provides many advantages over systems employing legacy architecture. As this concept of component architecture progresses, system architecture is emerging that uses ABIs and software abstraction throughout the entire system initialization process. This includes not only CPU initialization, but chipset and I/O device initialization as well. A software framework is provided that allows multiple parties to write small pieces of code that abstract how portions of the chip set or I/O complex work. Within such a framework, products from various vendors will interoperate. The pieces of code from each vendor are contained in initialization modules. During a system initialization phase (after CPU reset, but prior to memory initialization) core initialization code dispatches the initialization modules in a sequenced order to provide basic services. The initialization phase initializes enough of the system to enable follow-on phases, for example, the driver execution phase that is responsible for initialization processes that are algorithmically more complex such as scanning I/O busses, enumerating resources and installing drivers.
This concept of allowing contributions of drivers and applications from multiple parties raises several concerns. The security of system firmware, provided by a single vendor, is implicit from the vendor. The incorporation of code modules from various sources imperils system integrity as there is no provision to either sandbox or validate the code. The EFI platform executes in physical mode. Execution in physical mode means that all addresses correspond to actual memory locations. Although execution in physical mode provides the OS loaders with full access to all platform resources, it also precludes the use of virtual memory page tables and the protection they provide in the preboot. Since boot firmware has full machine access, sensitive data structure and code of the core EFI are subject to corruption through access by drivers and applications. Techniques, such as code signing, to validate the source of drivers and applications, cannot guarantee fault isolation when the system state has been corrupted by bad code.
Another difficulty is legacy code support. For many years software has been written to be compatible with the PC/AT platform. Many legacy operating systems and option ROMs require PC/AT memory-mapped hardware/software. This legacy code executes in Real Mode that limits the processor to 1 Mb of memory and provides no memory management or memory protection features.

Method for providing system integrity and legacy environment emulation


Systems and techniques for configuring wireless devices are described. To configure a wireless target device to access a network and/or network-based services, a wireless connection may be formed between the wireless target device and a wireless source device storing configuration data for accessing one or more networks and/or network-based services. The source device may determine whether it is authorized to send at least a portion of the configuration data to the target device. The target device may determine whether it is authorized to accept at least a portion of the configuration data provided by the source device. The target device may accept at least a portion of the configuration data by storing the accepted configuration data in a memory (e.g., a non-volatile memory) and/or by using the configuration data to access a wireless network and/or a network-based service.

Some electronic devices use communications networks to send and receive information. Communications networks have a variety of attributes, including scope, communication protocol, interconnection technique, transmission medium, etc. For example, depending on a communication network's geographic scope, the network may be classified as a wide area networks (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), local area network (LAN), personal area networks (PANs), etc. Examples of communication protocols include the Internet protocol suite, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC) protocol, Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Post Office Protocol (POP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), etc. Interconnection techniques may include circuit switching, packet switching, etc. Examples of transmission media include "wired" media (e.g., optical fibers, electrically-conductive wires) and "wireless" media.
In a "wireless network," information may be communicated between two devices via electromagnetic signals that propagate between the devices through a medium other than a wired medium (e.g., through the air). Such electromagnetic signals may include radio-frequency signals, infrared signals, optical signals, etc. Many types of wireless networks are known, including Wi-Fi networks (e.g., networks compliant with one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards), WiMAX networks, mobile voice networks (e.g., cellular telephone networks, GSM, GPRS, CDMA, EVDO, UMTS, etc.), mobile data networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, LTE, GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, EDGE, CDMA2000, etc.), mobile satellite communications networks, wireless sensor networks, etc.
Wireless communication devices (or "wireless devices") may be used to access wireless networks. Generally, before a wireless device communicates over a wireless network, the wireless device is configured to access the wireless network. The configuration process generally involves providing the wireless device with configuration data that the device can use to access the wireless network. One technique for configuring a wireless device to access a wireless network involves a user manually entering at least some of the configuration data into the wireless device via a user interface of the wireless device.

Systems and techniques for wireless device configuration


A method for managing access to a signal representative of an event of a service provider by permitting a subscriber of the service provider to view an event for which the subscriber is not authorized for a specified time period; and transmitting at least one authorization code for the event to the subscriber during the specified time period.

Today, a user may receive services from a variety of service providers, such as broadcast television networks, cable television networks, digital satellite systems, and internet service providers. Most television receivers are capable of receiving unscrambled information or programs directly from broadcast and cable networks. Cable networks providing scrambled (or encrypted) programs usually require a separate stand alone set-top box to descramble the program. Similarly, digital satellite systems usually provide scrambled programs that also require the use of a set-top box (STB). These set-top boxes may utilize a removable smart card which contains the keys necessary for recovering the descrambling keys.
Conditional access (CA) systems allow users access to certain programs offered by broadcasters, cable providers, internet service providers and digital satellite providers. In the case of cable and satellite providers, such programs (e.g., Home Box Office (HBO), Pay Per View channels, etc.) often have additional costs above the 'basic' cable or satellite costs. Typically, authorization for such programming is updated on a monthly basis depending upon whether the user has paid for such programming for the particular month. In the case of PPV or VOD, authorizations are typically done on a per request basis (i.e., authorization is given when the channel is requested).
The current method for updating a user's authorization to receive Pay TV programs is commonly referred to as 'homing.' In a homing process, a digital device such as a set-top box (STB), digital videocassette recorder (DVCR) or digital television (DTV) includes software which 'homes' or tunes to a particular channel in order to receive the authorization for the programming. Typically, this homing is done when the user is not operating the digital device (e.g., when the user is not watching television).
Typically, the authorization is accomplished through Entitlement Management Messages (EMMs) which are sent from the service provider (e.g., cable company) to the user's digital device. For example, if the service provider receives payment for HBO for the month of July, the service provider will send an EMM authorizing HBO to the particular user's digital device (e.g., set-top box) in the month of June. Typically, a smart card within the digital device receives the EMM and processes it to authorize HBO for the month of July. If the EMM is not received in June, the first time the user attempts to view HBO in July they will be informed (preferably by a message appearing on the television screen) that they are not authorized or subscribed to that channel.
In another exemplary EMM scheme, a smart card within the digital device has a set amount of money or credit stored thereon which is debited each time a channel is authorized for a particular month. Periodically, the service provider sends an EMM which restores the full credit value to the smart card. However, if the EMM is not received, the smart card may not have enough credit to authorize a particular channel (e.g., HBO) for a particular month. This scheme avoids the problem of updating all subscriber smart cards every month, but smart cards still need to be updated on some periodic basis, thus requiring homing by the digital device.
In most cases, EMMs are sent to the subscribers utilizing a 'carousel' system. Carousel systems repeatedly send EMMs to maximize the ability of the digital devices to receive the data. Each subscriber of the system has a separate EMM which authorizes his or her particular programs and services. Further, even if two or more users of the system subscribe to the same service package, their EMMs are different. Thus, if there are 10,000 subscribers of the system, the carousel must deliver 10,000 EMMs in a given cycle.
Because Pay TV systems can have very large subscriber bases, the carousel can take quite a while to send a particular EMM. For example, a given metropolitan regional service area (e.g., Indianapolis, Ind.) may possess the following characteristics:
Approximate Number of People1.5 millionServedApproximate Number of Homes500,000Approximate Number of Users187,500(30% of homes @ 1.25 STB per home)EMM Carousel Data1.5*108 bits (800 bits per user)Carousel Time25 minutes (1 Megabit/second)Thus, without using homing, a subscriber must watch HBO (or some other channel on which an EMM may be received) for at least 25 minutes in one month to be authorized to receive HBO for the next month.
To avoid this result, most modern digital devices (e.g., STBs) perform homing when the devices are not in use. However, the problem here is that the digital device must be continually powered up (even if not "on" or in operating mode) in order to receive the EMMs. Thus, a user must keep his digital device plugged in at all times, thereby increasing power demands and electricity costs.
For example, a digital device that is homing uses roughly 10-15 Watts of standby power. At an approximate rate of 10 Watts per hour for 20 hours a day, and assuming power cost of 8 cents per kilowatt hour (KWh), homing costs the average subscriber approximately 1.6 cents per day, or $5.84 per year. This amount becomes even more significant when multiplied by the number of digital devices homing in a particular service area.
Additional problems exist with present homing techniques. For example, some televisions are virtually never turned off (e.g., televisions in a bar or hotel lobby), and thus will never have time to home. Additionally, smart cards must be left in the digital devices in order for the homing process to work. Certain subscribers may want to remove their smart card when they are not using the television to prevent children from purchasing programs or watching particular channels. Further, one conditional access system could attempt to 'block' another conditional access system by consuming all the available homing time. For example, if a given user subscribes to four (4) different conditional access systems, four different service providers will be attempting to send four different EMMs, and thus the digital device may have to choose between which one to receive (or 'home' to) first. Finally, digital devices with multiple slots for receiving smart cards must arbitrate between conditional access systems when they are in the 'off' mode. Therefore, it is clear that conventional conditional access systems consume too much time and energy for homing.
Thus, there is presently a need for a digital device that allows a user to have a specified unconfirmed viewing time in which to allow the digital device to perform homing.

Method and apparatus for permitting unconfirmed viewing time with addressable pay TV


A new and distinct cultivar of Distylium plant named ‘PIIDIST-V’, characterized by its compact, layered, and mounding growth habit, reddish new growth, blue-green mature foliage, and cold tolerance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Distylium plant, botanically known as Distylium hybrid, a member of the Hamamelidaceae, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'PIIDIST-V'.
'PIIDIST-V' originated as an open-pollinated seedling from seed collected from Distylium hybrid 'PIIDIST-II' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,409) growing in Watkinsville, Ga. 'PIIDIST-V' is a Distylium sp. hybrid (Distylium myricoides×D. racemosum which was confirmed by DNA testing) and was selected in the summer of 2012 by the inventor in a cultivated environment in Watkinsville, Ga.
Asexual reproduction of 'PIIDIST-V' by stem cuttings in Watkinsville, Ga. since 2012 has shown that all the unique features of 'PIIDIST-V', as herein described, are stable and reproduced true-to-type through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


A user terminal is disclosed, where a band to use is limited to a partial narrow band in a system band. The user terminal includes a transmitter that transmits and/or a receiver that receives a signal, and a controller that controls repetitious reception and/or repetitious transmission of a control channel in a random access procedure based on a coverage enhancement level for a random access channel. A radio base station that communicates with a user terminal is also disclosed, where a band to use is limited to a partial narrow band in a system band. The radio base station includes a transmitter that transmits and/or a receiver that receives a signal, and a controller that controls to transmit information to make the user terminal control repetitious reception and/or repetitious transmission of a control channel in a random access procedure based on a coverage enhancement level for a random access channel.

In the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) network, the specifications of long term evolution (LTE) have been drafted for the purpose of further increasing high speed data rates, providing lower delays and so on (see non-patent literature 1). Also, the specifications of LTE-A (also referred to as LTE-advanced, LTE Rel. 10, 11 or 12) have been drafted for further broadbandization and increased speed beyond LTE (also referred to as LTE Rel. 8 or 9), and successor systems of LTE (also referred to as, for example, FRA (Future Radio Access), 5G (5th generation mobile communication system), LTE Rel. 13 and so on) are under study.
Now, accompanying the cost reduction of communication devices in recent years, active development is in progress in the field of technology related to machine-to-machine communication (M2M) to implement automatic control of network-connected devices and allow these devices to communicate with each other without involving people. In particular, 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) is promoting the standardization of MTC (Machine-Type Communication) for cellular systems for machine-to-machine communication, among all M2M technologies (see non-patent literature 2).
In the standardization, various functions to be equipped with terminals employed for MTC (MTC terminal) have been under study, and, for example, terminals, in which a transmission/reception bandwidth is limited, have been under study for the purpose of cost reduction. As another example, since there is a possibility that MTC terminals are located deep inside a building or in the underground where a building penetration loss is large and which are hard to carry out radio communication, MTC terminals targeting coverage enhancement has been also under study.
Based on the above two examples, MTC terminals (MTC UE (User Equipment)) are classified into the following four types of terminals: (1) terminal that has no limitation on a transmission/reception bandwidth and has no coverage enhancement function; (2) terminal that has limitation on a transmission/reception bandwidth and has no coverage enhancement function; (3) terminal that has no limitation on a transmission/reception bandwidth and has a coverage enhancement function; and (4) terminal that has limitation on a transmission/reception bandwidth and has a coverage enhancement function. MTC terminals are being studied for use in a wide range fields such as, for example, electric meters, gas meters, vending machines, vehicles and other industrial equipment.

User terminal, radio base station and radio communication method


A pneumatic tire in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention includes a tread portion having a pair of lateral tread edges, a pair of bead portions, a pair of sidewalls that each extend radially from one of the lateral tread edges of the tread portion to one of the bead portions, an inner liner, and a pair of sidewall inserts. Each of the sidewall inserts is disposed between one of the sidewalls and the inner liner. Each of the sidewall inserts includes a top portion and a bottom portion that are each made of high modulus, low hysteresis run-flat stock. Each of the sidewall inserts also includes a center portion made of sidewall stock disposed between the top and bottom portions.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to pneumatic tires. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus and method of enhancing run-flat travel for pneumatic tires, and pneumatic tires including such an apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
The related art includes various apparatus to enable a pneumatic tire (hereinafter "tire") to perform or substantially perform its designed task, such as for use with a vehicle, even after becoming underinflated or non-inflated. Tires can become underinflated or non-inflated for a variety of reasons, such as by being punctured, for example. Under these circumstances, the various related art apparatus provide different levels of performance at different speeds, over different periods of time, and for different types of tires. An exemplary related art apparatus applied to a tire of a vehicle, such as a car, enables an operator (hereinafter "driver") to continue driving after the tire becomes underinflated or non-inflated in relative safety until reaching an appropriate location for repair or replacement.
An exemplary related art apparatus to enable run-flat travel of pneumatic tires is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,980, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Apparatus and method of enhancing run-flat travel for pneumatic tires

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC


A carrier comprises an enclosure, a cabinet and at least one substrate holder. The enclosure comprises a door. The cabinet is coupled to the carrier. The cabinet comprises at least one valve and contains at least one reduction fluid. The substrate holder is disposed within the enclosure to support at least one substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to carriers and facility interfaces, and more particularly to semiconductor wafer carriers and facility interfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
With advances in electronic products, semiconductor technology has been applied widely in manufacturing memories, central processing units (CPUs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes and other devices or chip sets. In order to achieve high-integration and high-speed requirements, dimensions of semiconductor integrated circuits have been reduced and various materials, such as copper and ultra low-k dielectrics, have been proposed along with techniques for overcoming manufacturing obstacles associated with these materials and requirements.
FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing a traditional via hole structure. A copper layer 110 is formed over a substrate 100. An ultra low-k dielectric layer 120 is formed over the copper layer 110. A via hole 130 is formed within the ultra low-k dielectric layer 120 to expose the top surface of the copper layer 110. If the copper layer 110 is exposed to air, the top surface of the copper layer 110 reacts with oxygen in air, forming a copper oxide layer 140 due to oxidation. The copper oxide layer 140 can adversely affect the electrical connection between the top surface of the copper layer 110 and a conductive via plug filled into the via hole 130. In addition, the ultra low-k dielectric layer 120 absorbs moisture when exposed to air. Accordingly, great care should be taken to avoid exposure to air during critical process steps, such as via opening, formation of copper seed layers, copper chemical mechanical polish (CMP) and formation of the ultra low-k dielectric material.
Traditionally, after a critical process step, the substrate 100 is removed from the process chamber that performs the critical process step and temporarily stored in a cassette or front opening unified pod (FOUP) until subsequent processing. When the door of the cassette or FOUP is removed to allow placement of the substrate 100 in the cassette or FOUP, air from the surrounding environment including oxygen flows into the cassette or FOUP. After the door is closed, the air is sealed within the cassette or FOUP with the substrate 100. As described above, oxygen tends to react with the copper layer 110 formed over the substrate 100 to form the copper oxide layer 140.
In order to address this problem, a "Q-time" is required after a critical process step is performed in the semiconductor manufacturing process. The next substrate process must be performed within a set predetermined time period or Q-time, such as from 2 to 4 hours. If a subsequent process, such as formation of a barrier layer, does not occurred within the time period, a cleaning process is required to remove any copper oxide layer 140 formed over the copper layer 110.
Due to high integration of semiconductor devices over substrate 100, a semiconductor process usually has a plurality of the critical steps each with an associated Q-time designed to protect the substrate. These Q-time requirements complicate the manufacturing processes. In addition, if a Q-time is missed, additional steps such as cleaning steps increase process time and complexity.
By way of background, U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,009 provides a description of a prior art cassette stocker, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0070960 provides a description of a prior art wafer cassette for storing and transporting wafers, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Neither of these references provide a means for limiting formation of oxidation on or otherwise protecting surfaces of substrates when substrates are stored within or transferred to cassettes or FOUPs.
From the foregoing, improved cassettes or carriers and facility interfaces therefor are desired.

Substrate carrier and facility interface and apparatus including same

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


Apparatus providing samples for evaluating the sensitivity of bulk particulate solids to segregation when permeated by a gas. A plurality of stacked discs are rotatably mounted on a vertical shaft.

This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for evaluating the tendency of sample bulk particulate solids to segregate by fluidization or exposure to permeation by gases. More particularly, it relates to apparatus for controlled fluidization of a vertical column of the solids by a gas such as air and subsequent collection of samples from separate segments of the column. The samples are suitable for conventional evaluation and comparison by screening, assays or other measurements to quantify the potential segregation by fluidization effects or gas entrainment.
Bulk solids generally comprise particles of different sizes. It is commonly desirable to maintain a uniform concentration of each size throughout the body during industrial processing, storage and packaging. However, segregation of the particles by size frequently occurs during processing steps such as the filling or discharge of a bin, tumble blending, pneumatic conveying and other gas assisted bulk solid handling processes. As a result of segregation by fluidization, different regions within a body of the solids comprise different proportions of fine and coarse particles and uniformity of the mixture is lost.
Vertical segregation frequently occurs, resulting in horizontal layers comprising differing proportions of fine and coarse particles. Fine particles generally have a lower permeability for gas than coarse particles and therefore tend to retain the gas longer. Thus for example, on filling a hopper the coarse particles tend to become more concentrated in the lower layers while the fine particles become more fluidized and tend to become concentrated in the upper layers. Similar effects occur after tumble blending if the solids are susceptible to fluidization. These effects are particularly noticeable in materials that contain a significant concentration of particles below 100 microns in size. Fluidization segregation is also likely to occur when fine materials are pneumatically conveyed, filled or discharged at high rates, or if gas counterflow is employed.
A principal object of this invention is to provide a test method and apparatus for precisely controlled fluidization of a sample body of particulate solids, followed by the separate retrieval of portions of the sample from different vertical levels of the fluidized body.
A second object is to provide apparatus that facilitates the retrieval of the segregated samples without disturbing the state of the samples.
A third object is to provide test apparatus adapted for improved containment of the sample solids during the test procedure. This is particularly desirable for the testing of very fine powders.
A further object is to provide apparatus adapted for accurately repeatable fluidization of successive samples, permitting greater reliability and accuracy in comparing the results of repeated test procedures on samples from the same body of bulk solid or from differing bodies of solids.
With the above and other objects hereinafter appearing in view, this invention provides apparatus for obtaining samples of bulk particulate solids from a columnar sample chamber containing fluidized particulate solids, for evaluating their sensitivity to segregation by fluidization. The apparatus includes a plurality of stacked discs rotatably mounted on a vertical shaft. The discs are provided with bores that are alignable to form a columnar sample chamber comprised of segments each to be separately collected. The discs are also provided with apertures for supporting sample jars, and the discs are independently and sequentially rotatable to cause the segment of the segregated sample solids within the bore of each disc to be separately deposited in a sample jar.
Means are provided to compress the discs during fluidization, thus minimizing leakage. When the discs are being rotated the compression force is reduced.
Other features, as hereinafter described, are employed to provide a compact apparatus in which the fluidization is precisely controlled for uniformity in repeated tests, thus increasing the reliability of evaluation procedures for comparing the results of separate samplings of the same or different solids.

Abstract: Each disc has a bore, the bores being alignable to form a columnar sample chamber. A gas is introduced under pressure at the bottom of the chamber to fluidize the solids, inducing segregation. Apertures in the discs are adapted to support sample jars. The discs are independently and sequentially rotatable to cause the portion of the segregated sample within each bore to be separately deposited in a sample jar.


This invention relates to an electrical connector for attachment to the end of an electrical cable. The connector includes a split body having contacts supported thereon for attachment to conductors of the cable. The split body accommodates cables of different diameters and is provided with a cable clamping member which can be placed in either of the split body portions. This cable clamping member cooperates with a clamping jaw on the other body member to clamp the cable between the cable clamping member and clamping jaw to provide strain-relief when the two body parts are joined. The cable clamping member is fitted with various ribs, tabs, etc. to properly position the cable clamping member in the body portions.

1. Field of The Invention
The invention deals with electrical connectors for terminating electrical cables and more particularly to a strain-relief device used with electrical connectors to prevent forces applied to the electrical cable effecting the connector or the connections made therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A common way of providing strain relief to connectors, according to the prior art, made use of a screw-operated cable clamp external to the connector but coupled to it. The screws could be tightened to any level from where the clamp barely engaged the cable to so tight that the clamp cut into the cable insulation and distorted the cable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,376 issued Dec. 24, 1974 and now expired, a removable cable gripping member cooperated with ribs on the interior of the connector body to provide strain relief. The cable gripping member could be placed in one of its two orientations to accommodate two groups of cable ranges. Cables beyond these ranges cannot be accepted.
Another approach is to provide tabs in each of the two parts of a split body connector. The strain relief is applied to the cable when the two parts of the body are fastened to each other and the tabs engage opposite sides of the cable. The spacing between the confronting edges of the tabs set the range of cable diameters which could be employed with the connectors.
The tabs molded as a part of the connector, could be replaced by separate tabs. The length of the tabs could then be chosen so as to accept a range of cable diameters. These additional parts could be easily lost if the connector was opened and the cable removed.
A strain relief boot could be molded at the cable end with a series of grooves, at least one of which, is gripped by cooperating jaws at the connector end. If the cable has to be cut to make repairs, the strain-relief is eliminated.
Strain-reliefs may also be molded over the cable and connector end. Such strain-relief must be removed to replace the connector and leaves the connector/cable combination without any strain relief.

Strain-relief system for a folding plug and connector system


A drywall knife with screwdriver is provided including a drywall blade and a handle coupled to the blade. The handle is equipped with a bore formed therein. A screwdriver is removably situated within the bore.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dry wall tools and more particularly pertains to a new drywall knife with screwdriver for allowing the convenient use of a screwdriver during dry wall related work.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of dry wall tools is known in the prior art. More specifically, dry wall tools heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art dry wall tools include U. S. Pat. No. 5,063,627; U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,369; U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,782; U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,694; and U.S. Pat. Des. 268,085.
In these respects, the drywall knife with screwdriver according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing the convenient use of a screwdriver during dry wall related work.


The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for performing a plasma enhanced ALD (PEALD) process that provides for improved step coverage. The process introduces a precursor gas into a processing chamber comprising a semiconductor workpiece. The first gas is ionized to from a plurality of ionized precursor molecules. A bias voltage is subsequently applied to the workpiece. The bias voltage attracts the ionized precursor molecules to the workpiece, so as to provide anisotropic coverage of the workpiece with the precursor gas. A reactant gas is introduced into the processing chamber. A plasma is subsequently ignited from the reactant gas, causing the reactant gas to react with the ionized precursor molecules that have been deposited onto the substrate to form a deposited layer on the workpiece.

Integrated chips are formed by operating upon a semiconductor workpiece with a plurality of different processing steps. In general, the processing steps may include lithographic patterning to selectively mask one or more areas of a workpiece (e.g., a semiconductor substrate), implantations to modify electrical properties of a workpiece, etches to remove portions of a workpiece, and depositions to form one or more layers on a workpiece.
Deposition processes are widely used on varying surface topologies in both front-end-of-the-line (FEOL) and back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) processing. For example, in FEOL processing deposition processes may be used to form polysilicon material on a substantially flat substrate, while in BEOL processing deposition processes may be used to form metal layers within a cavity in a dielectric layer. Deposition processes may be performed by a wide range of deposition tools, including physical vapor deposition (PVD) tools, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) tools, atomic layer deposition (ALD) tools, etc.


The purpose is to provide a nautical chart display device which enables a measurement of a distance on an electronic nautical chart, like a measuring method which is performed by using a divider. The nautical chart display device includes a display unit, an operation detector, a registration processing module, and a change processing module. The display unit has a screen and displays a nautical chart on the screen. The operation detector detects a touch operation to the screen. The registration processing module accepts two points of the touch operation on the screen, and registers a scale at which a distance between the touched points on the screen matches a distance setting on the nautical chart as an additional scale. The change processing module changes the scale of the nautical chart to the additional scale.

Patent Document 1 discloses a display device which displays navigational information including a nautical chart. This display device is configured as a touch panel, and executes various processings based on touch operations to a screen. For example, a scale of the nautical chart is changed by moving two fingers touching on the screen closer to and apart from each other, without the fingers being separated from the screen. Moreover, by touching two points on the screen with the fingers while the nautical chart is displayed, a distance on the nautical chart between the two touched points is displayed on the screen.

Nautical chart display device, nautical chart display method, and nautical chart display program


The present invention includes an imaging catheter for providing a three-dimensional representation of a body vessel wall. The imaging catheter includes an expandable deformable balloon which is inserted into a lumen of the body vessel at a position of interest on the vessel wall. After the balloon has been inflated, the balloon is then deflated and withdrawn from the body vessel to provide a three-dimensional image of the position of interest on the vessel wall.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of angioplasty and, in particular, to an imaging catheter for insertion into a patient's vascular system to record and remember the configuration or shape of an obstruction therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Angioplasty has gained wide acceptance in recent years as an efficient and effective method for treating certain types of vascular diseases. In particular, angioplasty is widely used for expanding a constricted area or a lesion in a coronary artery. It is also used for treatment of lesions in other parts of the vascular system as well.
The most widely used form of angioplasty makes use of a balloon dilatation catheter which is introduced into a patient's vascular system and is positioned across a stenosis. The balloon is inflated by supplying fluid under pressure through an inflation lumen connected to the balloon. The inflation of the balloon imparts a stretching force to the stenosis or artery wall to reestablish an acceptable blood flow through the artery.
However, balloon dilatation is not always the method of choice for treating a stenosis within a coronary artery. Depending on the nature of the obstruction and other factors regarding the general condition of the patient, balloon dilatation may not be the preferred method for reestablishing the initial integrity of the artery. In fact, balloon dilatation can result in dissection of the artery wall. Other treatment methods for consideration include thrombolysis, atherectomy and laser ablation. Since balloon dilatation is not always the preferred procedure for reestablishing the flow of blood through an artery, it is essential that there be a method for examining the damage or obstruction. Having the capability to evaluate, among other things, the extent of artery disease and the length and eccentricity of a lesion allows a physician to choose the most effective method of treatment.
There are several known methods for examining an obstruction or stenosis for the purpose of evaluating the correct procedure for treatment. One such procedure, known as angiography, involves the examination of the obstructed blood vessel by radiography. Essentially, a radiopaque substance is introduced into a patient through the obstructed artery. With the aid of a fluoroscope, X-rays are used to examine the path of the radiopaque dye as it travels through the artery to the stenosis. A two-dimensional vision of the obstruction or stenosis is produced on the fluoroscope screen by the interaction of the X-rays with the radiopaque dye. A doctor may then examine this two-dimensional image for evaluating treatment.
Another method for imaging a lesion or stenosis in preparation of a revascularization procedure is through the use of intravascular ultrasound. The intravascular ultrasound also provides a two-dimensional cross-sectional image of the obstructed artery for examining the stenosis therein. With software enhancements, computer generated 3-D images can be generated but image quality is poor and the system cost is high.
Alternatively, European Patent Application 0289021 (Samson et al.) discloses another method of imaging, employing a plurality of optical fibers. The optical fibers are attached to a distal end of a catheter which is introduced into the obstructed artery. The optical fibers are positioned proximate to the obstruction to record and transmit an image of the obstruction so that it may be examined by a physician. This system requires the stoppage of blood flow and the introduction of clear saline into the artery for imaging. Imaging can therefore only be done for a short time and the system is difficult to pass through a tortuous coronary artery.
Although, several imaging systems have been described, there has been a continuing need to provide a simple, easy to use three-dimensional imaging system for the purpose of ascertaining the configuration of a cavity or lumen within a body. In particular, there is a need for such an imaging system for vascular applications to learn the configuration of an artery having an obstruction therein for the purpose of proposing and assessing treatment therefor. It would be advantageous if such an imaging system were available that is relatively easy to manufacture at a low cost and did not require capital support equipment.

Imaging balloon catheter and methods for use and manufacture


A method of analyzing properties of a porous sample, typically a cylinder of porous rock, comprises centrifuging the sample while it contains at least one liquid, determining the distribution of at least one liquid in the sample by magnetic resonance imaging of the sample, and also determining the distribution of at least one magnetic resonance parameter, where the parameter is one of longitudinal relaxation time T1, transverse relaxation time T2 and diffusion coefficient D. Pore throat sizes can be determined from the distribution of at least one liquid in the sample and pore body sizes can be determined from the distribution of the magnetic resonance parameter enabling determination of a relationship between pore throat sizes and pore body sizes in the sample. This can be a relationship between individual values of pore throat size and an average of body sizes of pores having that individual pore throat size.

This disclosure relates to the examination of porous samples, which may be porous rock, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In some embodiments of this invention the samples may be material collected in the course of drilling into subterranean rock formations.
It is conventional practice when drilling through underground rock to drill around a central cylinder of rock which is subsequently detached and brought to the surface as a sample, habitually referred to as a rock core. Once brought to the surface, rock cores or pieces cut from them may be subjected to various measurements and tests. The collection of such samples and their examination may be done in connection with exploration for, or exploitation of, hydrocarbons in underground reservoirs. It is also possible that it may be done in connection with exploration for, or the utilisation or management of, underground water, or in connection with schemes for the storage of captured carbon dioxide.
These tests may relate to the pore space of the sample and liquid therein. One characteristic which may be examined is capillary pressure and it can be desirable to determine a capillary pressure curve for the rock sample. Capillary pressure arises when there is an interface between two immiscible fluids in the pores of porous rock. Commonly both fluids are liquids with one wetting the rock and the other being a non-wetting phase, although it is also possible that one fluid is a gas. Capillary pressure arises because the pores, and more specifically the pore throats, act as capillaries. A pore throat is the narrowest point in the pathway into a pore. This capillary pressure can oppose the displacement of a wetting fluid by a non-wetting fluid and has a magnitude dependant on properties of the fluids and on pore throat size. Where there is a distribution of pore throat sizes there will be a distribution of capillary pressures, with the smallest pore throats giving the largest capillary pressure. A capillary pressure curve is a graph of the saturation of the pore space of the sample, usually expressed as a percentage of the total pore space, plotted against capillary pressure.
Determination of pore throat size distribution or the related parameter of a capillary pressure curve is one approach to characterizing rock properties. Another approach to the characterization of rock is the distribution of pore body size which can be obtained by measurement of the distribution of an NMR parameter: transverse relaxation time T2
Pore throat size and pore body size are of course different although there has been some tendency to assume that a pore body size distribution correlates with the pore throat size distribution and then assume that a curve calculated from a pore body size distribution is an acceptable approximation to a capillary pressure curve.
A number of methods of measurement are commonly used examination of rock samples. Generally these obtain values or distributions of values which are an average for the whole sample under examination.
One well-established method of determining the sizes of pores in a rock is Mercury Injection Capillary Pressure (MICP) or Mercury Porosimetry. This core analysis measurement is widely used in reservoir engineering for Reservoir Rock Typing (RRT) i.e., classification of rocks in a petroleum-bearing formation. The injection of mercury into a dry, evacuated rock at various pressures is measured and the incremental injection volumes at various pressures are used to derive a Pore Size Distribution (PSD) for the rock, where the pore "size" is pore throat size derived from the Washburn equation for a capillary.
Another approach to measurement recognizes that a capillary pressure curve can be established for sample which contains, or is in contact with, two immiscible fluids. Such a curve can be established for a sample where a liquid is being replaced by a gas, usually air (drainage) or where a liquid is replacing gas (imbibition) or where one liquid is replacing another. A known test procedure for obtaining a capillary pressure curve entails centrifuging a liquid-saturated porous sample at various speeds. Liquid drains from pores in the sample when centripetal acceleration overcomes capillary pressure, which can therefore be determined by measuring the amount of liquid which drains from the sample at the various speeds, as originally described in Hassler, G. L., Brunner, E., "Measurement of Capillary Pressure in Small Core Samples", Trans. AIME, 1945, 160, 114-123 also published as Society of Petroleum Engineers paper SPE 945114-G.
It is also known, for the purpose of obtaining a capillary pressure curve, to centrifuge a sample and then use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sometimes termed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure a liquid saturation profile, i.e., measure the amount of liquid at a plurality of positions along the length of the rock sample.
This has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,500 for brine which is replaced by air as a centrifuge forces drainage of brine from the rock sample. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,807 it has been described for a combination of oil and brine where centrifuging causes one liquid to replace the other within the rock sample. See also Chen and Balcom in Journal of Chemical Physics Vol. 122, 214720 (2005) and the related U.S. Pat. No. 7,352,179.
The extent of pore saturation, i.e., the amount of the liquid in the pores, may be determined from the intensity of the magnetic resonance signal for each position along the length of the rock sample. The spatial position from which resonant nuclei emitted signals may be detected using coils to superimpose a magnetic field gradient onto the main magnetic field, so that the spatial position is "frequency encoded".
The literature has also disclosed techniques in which the spatial position in a rock sample is indicated by the phase of the received signals, so that the spatial position is said to be "phase encoded." An advantage of phase encoded imaging is that each data point is recorded at a fixed time after initial excitation, so any effects arising from relaxation after the initial excitation are the same for the entire sample.
A phase encoded single point imaging (SPI) pulse sequence disclosed by S. Emid and J. H. N. Creyghton, "High-resolution NMR imaging in solids," Physica B & C, Vol. 128(1), pp. 81-83, 1985 may be used for the measurement of saturation profiles in reservoir rock samples. The SPI pulse sequence has been improved by use of small angle radio frequency spin excitation pulses (see B. J. Balcom et al., "Single-point ramped imaging with T1 enhancement (SPRITE)," J. Magn. Reson. Ser. A, Vol. 123(1), pp. 131-134, 1996).
Whilst there is a distinct difference between phase encoded and frequency encoded techniques, as pointed out above, it should also be appreciated that the literature describes a variety of frequency encoded techniques as well as a variety of phase encoded techniques.

Magnetic resonance examination of porous samples


A method and system for charging for services in a communication system comprises a charging entity and at least two connection support entities for providing resources to support a connection in the communication system. Various steps include detecting initiation of a connection by the connection support entities; generating a charging identity for identifying the connection; determining a first charge for supporting the connection by the first connection support entity; determining a second charge for the support of the connection by the second connection support entity; transmitting a first charging message from the first connection support entity to the charging entity, the message specifying the first charge and including the charging identity; and transmitting a second charging message from the second connection support entity to the charging entity, the second charging message specifying the second charge and including the charging identity.

This invention relates to charging for services in a communication system such as a mobile telephony system.
In a basic communication system a simple communication network is provided, which can link together two communication terminals so that the terminals can communicate with each other in a communication session or call. Conventionally, a designated entity in the network uses a stored tariff to determine a charge for a call based on the call's duration. Each terminal user has a charging account with the operator of the network. The charge for a call is then allocated to the charging account of the user of the terminal that originated the call. When a call is in progress the network may use the tariff to estimate the charge due in respect of the call so far. The network may periodically transmit that estimated charge to the terminal that originated the call, and the estimated charge may then be displayed by that terminal so that its user can see the ongoing cost of the call.
Pre-paid communication accounts are becoming increasingly popular. Under a pre-paid account scheme a user pays in advance for communication services. As the user makes use of services the charges for those services are deducted from the balance of the user's account until the balance has diminished to zero. Then the network blocks the usage of services by the user until the account has been topped up. Pre-paid services have the advantage that the network operator does not need to trust the user to pay in arrears for services. However, in order to successfully implement a pre-paid system the operator's network must be able to stop the user using services when the balance of his account falls to zero. In the basic communication system described above this can be achieved simply by the network estimating the charge for a call whilst it is in progress, comparing that charge with the remaining balance of the pre-paid account that is to be charged for the call and terminating the call if the charge exceeds the remaining balance.
In more complex communication systems, for example communication systems according to the UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) standard for third generation (3G) communication systems the systems of more than one operator may be used for carrying a call, and operators of all of those systems may be able to levy charges independently for the services the provide in supporting the call. However, a system of this sort would rely on the possibility of reliably applying to the correct account the charges made by a number of operators for a single call. Furthermore, if in a system of that sort the user who is to be charged for the call has a pre-paid account the network would have to be able to track the ongoing charge for a call as it was in progress even though the charges for the call derived from a number of operators. Otherwise, the call might be allowed to continue when its cost exceeded the user's pre-paid balance.
There is therefore a need to provide for enhanced charging capability in communication networks.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The blower comprises: a blower case; a motor case; and a shaft pierced through the both cases. A first communication hole, which is formed in one of axial end faces of the motor case, introduces a part of compressed air into the motor case. A second communication hole, which is formed in the other axial end face of the motor case, discharges the compressed air to outside of the motor case. An external guidance path introduces the discharged air toward an outside face of the motor case. By actuating a motor, the compressed air, which has been introduced from the blower case into the motor case via the first communication hole, is discharged from the second communication hole, and the discharged air is introduced by the external guidance path and blown out toward the outside face of the motor case.

Various types of spindle units, which cool motors for rotating rotors, have been developed. For example, in a digital copier, laser beam printer, etc., a polygon mirror is rotated, by a motor, at a high rotational speed, so a wire diameter of motor coils must be increased so as to pass high electric current. However, an amount of heat generation of the motor is increased by increasing an amount of the electric current passing through the motor coils. So, a temperature of the motor increases significantly. Further, heat is generated in a bearing section, which rotatably holds a rotor of the motor.
To solve the above described problem, a modified spindle unit is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-275457. In the spindle unit, an air suction hole is formed in a mirror case which accommodates a polygon mirror, an air discharging hole is formed in a motor case which accommodates a motor, a communication hole is formed in a separator which separates the mirror case from the motor case, and communication holes are formed in a motor core and located on an outer side of a slot. By applying electric current to motor coils, the polygon mirror is rotated by rotation of a rotor, air which has been sucked through the air suction hole by negative pressure produced around the polygon mirror flows from a rotational center of the polygon mirror to an outer circumferential part thereof, and the air flows into the motor case through the communication hole of the separator. Since the cool air flows into the motor case, hot air in the motor case is discharged to outside of the motor case through the communication holes of the motor core, so that a stator can be cooled.
In case of using a high-current motor, a motor case having high heat capacity must be cooled. The motor case cannot be sufficiently cooled by sucking air thereinto. To sufficiently cool the motor case, a modified cooling mechanism is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 5-56603. In the cooling mechanism, a cooling fan is provided to a rotary shaft which is outwardly extended from the motor case, and a fan cover is provided to cover the cooling fan. With this structure, the motor case can be cooled.


The stator structure for improving the efficiency of motor is described which includes: a) a ring; b) N pieces of upper salients spacedly connected to the ring and located on a first plane; c) N pieces of lower salients spaced at intervals and located on a second plane; d) N pieces of waist posts arranged between the first and second planes for forming a magnetically conductive path, wherein one end of each of the waist posts is connected to the ring within an interval between two adjacent upper salients and the other end is connected to a corresponding one of N pieces of lower salients located between two adjacent upper salients. Its forming method includes steps of: a) integrally forming a hollow cogged plate consisting of a first ring, N pieces of short and N pieces of long salients alternately connected to the first ring; and b) bending N pieces of long salients to form the stator structure having N pieces of waist posts, N pieces of upper salients, and N pieces of lower salients.

The conventional stator structure of motor has defects of magnetic leakage phenomenon and inaccurate positions of upper and lower poles. Please refer to FIG. 1 showing a stator of a prior art. The stator consists of piled silicon steel sheets 101 and the arms of silicon steel sheets are T-shaped that four groups of coils are twined around them. The costs for the stator and twining coils are very expensive.
In order to improve the defects described above, a scheme of forming poles by using a pair of coils had been adopted. Please refer to FIG. 2 which includes two pole layers (upper and lower) 201, a magnetically conductive cylinder 203 and a pair of coils 202. Two ends of the magnetically conductive cylinder 203 is tightly engaged with the hollow of two pole layers 201 having a insulator therebetween. The insulator is twined by a pair of coils 202. During engaged process, two pole layers are positioned which is complementary to each other in order that every pole is well distributed in a ring by a mechanical angle. In spite of its low cost, the scheme is not good enough because a crack 204 generated therewith will influence the magnetic conduction.
In order to avoid a crack which may affect the magnetic conduction and to avoid the need of matching the upper and lower pole layer, it is necessary to make a simple and stable stator for improving the efficiency of the motor.

Stator structure of motor and its forming method


An approach is provided for providing identity based encryption in distributed computations. An identity based encryption platform causes, at least in part, a segmentation of a computation closure into at least a first part and one or more second parts. The identity based encryption platform also causes, at least in part, an encryption of the one or more second parts using the first part as a public key of an identity-based encryption.

Mobile devices with various methods of connectivity are now for many people becoming the primary gateway to the internet and also a major storage point for personal information. This is in addition to the normal range of personal computers and furthermore sensor devices plus internet based providers. Combining these devices together and lately the applications and the information stored by those applications is a major challenge of interoperability. This can be achieved through numerous, individual and personal information spaces in which persons, groups of persons, etc. can place, share, interact and manipulate (or program devices to automatically perform the planning, interaction and manipulation of) webs of information with their own locally agreed semantics without necessarily conforming to an unobtainable, global whole.
Furthermore, in addition to information, the information spaces may be combined with webs of shared and interactive computations or computation spaces so that the devices having connectivity to the computation spaces can have the information in the information space manipulated within the computation space environment and the results delivered to the device, rather than the whole process being performed locally in the device. It is noted that such computation spaces may consist of connectivity between devices, from devices to network infrastructure, to distributed information spaces so that computations can be executed where enough computational elements are available. These combined information spaces and computation spaces often referred to as computation clouds, are extensions of the 'Giant Global Graph' in which one can apply semantics and reasoning at a local level.
In one example, clouds are working spaces respectively embedded with distributed information and computation infrastructures spanned around computers, information appliances, processing devices and sensors that allow people to work efficiently through access to information and computations from computers or other devices. An information space or a computation space can be rendered by the computation devices physically presented as heterogeneous networks (wired and wireless). On the other hand, different levels of proactive computational elements may be available to the device in various other components of various architectural levels (e.g. device level, infrastructure level, etc.), wherein different distributed components may have different capabilities and support different processes. In various example circumstances, to enhance the information processing power of a device and reduce the processing cost, one might consider minimizing or at least significantly improving exchange of data, information and computations among the distributed components within a computational architecture by providing multi-level distributed computations, such that the data can be migrated to the closest possible computation level with minimized or improved cost.
However, despite the fact that information and computation presented by the respective levels of computation architecture can be distributed with different granularity, still there are challenges in certain example implementations to achieve scalable high context information processing within such heterogeneous environments. For example, in various implementations, due to distributed nature of the architecture, (e.g., devices, infrastructures, and clouds), data, information, and computation elements (e.g., computation closures) are being exchanged among distributed devices within heterogeneous network environments wherein information with various levels of granularity and various structures is provided by and transmitted among various independent sources. However, there is no identity-based encryption of the computation closures such that allows a component to place a restriction on computation closures of other components within the distributed environment. Furthermore, there are no anonymization mechanisms for protecting the privacy of the computation closure owners.

Method and apparatus for providing identity based encryption in distributed computations


A weather strip exhibiting excellent sealing properties, of which a tubular seal portion is prevented from readily tilting when attached to a curved flange in a vehicle body. The weather strip includes a trim portion having a generally U-shaped cross-section and a tubular seal portion. The tubular seal portion includes a first outer seal wall, a second outer seal wall, a first inner seal wall, a second inner seal wall, an outer flexing part and an inner flexing part. The thickness of the tubular seal portion decreases in the order of joint areas of the first outer seal wall and the first inner seal wall to the trim portion, the second outer seal wall and the second inner seal wall, and the outer flexing part and the inner flexing part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weather strip for attachment to a flange provided in an opening surface around an opening in a body of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
A motor vehicle has openings such as door openings, a trunk room openings, etc., and weather strips are attached to opening surfaces around these openings to effect seals between the opening surfaces and closing members for closing the openings, such as doors, trunk lids, etc.
Upon attaching of these weather strips to the opening surfaces, normally, flanges provided in the opening surfaces are inserted in interior spaces of trim portions of the weather strips.
For example, in order to seal around an opening of a rear trunk of a motor vehicle, as shown in FIG. 1, a weather strip 10 is attached to a flange 12 projecting from an end edge of an opening surface 14 of a vehicle body so as to face a periphery of a trunk lid 16 of the rear trunk.
The weather strip 10 has a trim portion 18 for attachment to the flange 12, and a tubular seal portion 20 for contacting and sealing a rear face of the trunk lid 16.
The trim portion 18 includes an outer side wall 22, an inner side wall 24 and a bottom wall 26, and has a generally U-shaped cross-section. Outer flange holding lips 28 and 30 and inner flange holding lips 32 and 34 respectively project obliquely from interior faces of the outer side wall 22 and the inner side wall 24 towards the bottom wall 26 in an interior space of the U-shaped trim portion 18. An insert of a metal plate is embedded in the trim portion 18.
Upon attaching of the weather strip 10 to the flange 12, a projecting end of the flange 12 provided around the opening of the rear trunk is inserted in the interior space of the trim portion 18. As described above, the trim portion 18 has the outer flange holding lips 28 and 30 and the inner flange holding lips 32 and 34, and these flange holding lips 28, 30, 32 and 34 hold and seal the flange 12, thereby retaining the posture of the weather strip 10 and preventing the weather strip 10 from coming off the flange 12. At this time, the tubular seal portion 20 contacts and seals the rear face of the trunk lid 16.
And a gap between the opening surface 14 and the weather strip 10 is sealed with a body seal lip 36 projecting from an exterior face of the outer side wall 22 of the trim portion 18 to contact the opening surface 14.
The opening surface 14 has curved parts according to the configuration of a vehicle body 38, and the flange 12 has curved areas, too.
Where the trim portion 18 is attached to the curved areas of the flange 12, the tubular seal portion 20 may unfavorably collapse or tilt, and consequently, the tubular seal portion 20 cannot contact the rear face of the trunk lid 16 in position, whereby the seal between the weather strip 10 and the trunk lid 16 may become insufficient.
In addition, the body seal lip 36 may not closely contact the opening surface 14 to form a gap therebetween.
Under these circumstances, in a weather strip 40 including a trim portion 42 and a tubular seal portion 44, as shown in FIG. 2, there has been disclosed the technique of making a lower part 46 of an outer seal wall 48 of the tubular seal portion 44 thickest while making an upper part 50 thereof thinnest (See Unexamined Japanese Patent application publication No. Hei 10-203167, for example). In this case, the thickness of the outer seal wall 48 varies, but the thickness of an inner seal wall 52 does not vary so that tilting of the tubular seal portion 44 cannot be sufficiently prevented.
And, in a weather strip 54 for a wind shield glass, as shown in FIG. 3, there has been proposed to make a top lip 56 projecting from a lozenge-shaped tubular seal portion 58 thickest while making one L-shaped seal wall 60 of the tubular seal portion 58 thinner than the top lip 56 but thicker than the other L-shaped seal wall 62 (See Japanese Utility model publication No. Hei 4-37800, for example).
In this case, the thickness of the tubular seal portion 58 is varied for maintaining the load of the weather strip 54 against the wind shield glass, but, where the weather strip 54 is attached to corner areas of a vehicle body, undesirable tilting of the tubular seal portion 58 of the weather strip 54 has not been prevented.


A fire resistant structure includes a bottom plate and a cover plate connected together, a heat insulation layer between the bottom plate and the cover plate, wherein the bottom plate includes a fire prevention opening, the fire prevention opening having a fire prevention opening cover nut, wherein one side of the fire prevention opening near the heat insulation layer is provided with a fire prevention opening filter, the fire prevention opening filter connected to the bottom plate. A fire arrester is provided on the cover plate, the fire arrester includes a fire arrester shell, an accommodating cavity provided therein, a fire blocking core in the accommodating cavity, and a connection portion extending from one end of the fire arrester shell, wherein a plurality of connection holes are provided on the connection portion. An end face of the fire blocking core is flush with an end face of the connection portion.

A fire safety cabinet is a storage cabinet with an antistatic design and a fire protection function which provides safe storage, packaging and classified management of hazardous chemicals. The main functions of fire safety cabinet equipment are as follows: 1) different sizes and types of fire safety cabinets can provide safe storage, packaging and classified management of hazardous chemicals; and 2) different sizes of fire and explosion-proof cabinets can provide safe storage of combustible and flammable liquids and chemicals. Chemical storage cabinets can be placed in the workplace to store combustible, flammable and other organic solvents, eliminating the need to go to a special dangerous goods storage room.
The main functions of chemical fire safety cabinets are as follows: 1) they can prevent fires, and the leak tank can prevent accidental liquid leakage from overflowing the chemical fire safety cabinet; 2. they can save human life, property and environment; 3) they can reduce costs and improve work efficiency; because of its small size, it can be placed in the workplace to store flammable and explosive materials without having to frequently go to a special dangerous goods storage room, thus saving time and effort; 4) they can provide effective management of various dangerous goods; the safety cabinets of different colors may have different functions, and store different chemicals, the chemicals can be in different categories for easy management at a glance; and 5) in the process of storing chemicals, colored labels may be used to identify, sort, and separate various flammable or dangerous liquids, which will also make it easier for firefighters to identify dangerous materials in the event of a fire.
The fire safety cabinets in the prior art generally include a bottom plate and a cover plate. There is a certain distance between the bottom plate and the cover plate in order to prevent the temperature from rising rapidly within the cabinet, which may make the temperature in the cabinet reach the ignition point. Due to the volatile nature of chemicals, the chemical concentration in the cabinet will rise, which could easily poison people using it. Therefore, ventilation openings are generally provided on one or more sides of the cabinet to better maintain ventilation and exhaust the hazardous gases. During testing and use, it has been found that the fire safety cabinet of this structure is short of the fire rating requirements. In the event of a fire, the temperature of the ventilation openings is likely to increase rapidly, which may accelerate the ignition rate, cause chemicals to burn or explode, which is extremely dangerous and may seriously threaten the workplace and personal safety. Therefore, it is necessary to design a fire arrester and a fire safety cabinet fire resistant structure to solve the above technical problems.

Fire arrester and fire resistant structure of a fire safety cabinet


The present disclosure relates to anti-ROR1 binding proteins, including those that bind to a ROR1 or portion thereof such as an intracellular C terminal portion of a ROR1 protein, and the use of such binding proteins in immunohistochemical and diagnostic methods. Related kits and methods of using the binding proteins are also provided, as are methods of treatment of subjects having diseases or conditions determined to be candidates for such treatments by the binding proteins or methods of this disclosure.

The receptor tyrosine kinase ROR1 is an oncofetal antigen that is overexpressed in a wide variety of tumors, yet overexpressed in very few normal tissues. ROR1 is highly expressed in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and in some epithelial cancers. Human ROR1 is encoded by the gene Ror1, which encodes two putative splice variants: a 937 amino acid full-length isoform that localizes to the cell surface (ROR1_v1), and a short (truncated) 393 amino acid isoform containing primarily the N-terminal portion of full-length ROR1 that remains localized intracellularly (ROR1_v2) (Hudecek et al., Blood 116:4532, 2010).
Based on high expression of ROR1 on the cell surface of tumors and minimal ROR1 expression in normal tissues, ROR1 is a good tumor-specific or tumor-associated antigen to target with therapeutics. For example, T cells expressing a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) have been designed to target ROR1-expressing tumors (Hudecek et al., Blood 116: 4532-41, 2010). To determine whether a patient has a malignancy that expresses ROR1 and is suitable for a ROR1-specific therapy, it is important to have a diagnostic reagent capable of detecting expression of endogenous ROR1 in cells of the subject, such as those in a sample obtained from the subject, e.g., a form of ROR1 that is expressed on the cell surface, such as cell-surface-expressed, full-length ROR1 molecules, in, for example, histologic sections.
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a common technique used in medical diagnostics for determining the presence or absence of proteins in tissues. Tumor tissues are routinely formalin-fixed-and-paraffin-embedded (FFPE tissues) before they are subjected to IHC analysis. Accordingly, a ROR1 diagnostic antibody should be able to detect endogenously expressed ROR1 in histologic samples. Commercially available anti-ROR1 antibodies do not effectively detect endogenous ROR1 in FFPE tissues. Furthermore, most commercial antibodies target the N-terminal portion of ROR1 and may not detect the difference between full-length ROR1 and the short ROR1 isoform containing only the amino-terminal portion of full-length ROR1.
Therefore, there remains a need for antibodies useful for detecting and quantifying endogenously expressed ROR1. The present disclosure meets such needs, and further provides other related advantages.


A semiconductor memory storage cell and a memory comprising an array of these storage cells is disclosed. The storage cell comprising: a feedback loop comprising two devices for storing opposite binary values; data input and output for inputting data to and outputting data from said two devices; and each of said two devices comprising a power source input, such that each device can be powered independently of the other.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to data processing and in particular to memory storage cells.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Memory storage cells formed from semiconductors in integrated circuits are known. They are conventionally formed of bistable circuits that can be flipped between one of two stable states. If the circuits are well balanced then they do not preferentially store either state. A well balanced cell that does not preferentially store a particular value will have the advantage of holding either value with approximately the same power loss and will be as easy to write a "one" to as it is to write a "zero". However, a potential drawback of such a cell is that on power up it is unknown which value will to be stored in these cells and there are circumstances where it would be advantageous to initialise a memory in a known state.
There is a continual demand to reduce the size and power consumption of such memory storage cells. However, with decreasing size, read and write operations which make conflicting demands, may no longer both be successful due to variable threshold voltages of the devices used caused by increasing process variations at the smaller geometries or technology nodes. This is particularly the case where a wide range of voltage, temperature or process limits are used. To extend the range of the cell and enable writes to be performed consistently a write assist signal has been introduced which is used to help flip the cell in cases where the high voltage rail VDD and pull up device hold the node at the input to the cell at too strong a value for the data input to be able to flip the cell to its new state.
One known write assist system uses two power supply rails connected by respective gates to each memory cell to be written. A first of these power supplies is used to power the memory cell in modes other than a write mode and utilises a relatively high supply voltage level. The second power supply has a lower voltage level and is used during write operations to power the memory cell. The lower supply voltage used during such write operations enables the memory cell to be more readily written. A disadvantage with this approach is that although it improves the writing of a zero and increases the pulldown speed for this write it slows the writing of the one. It also requires two separate power rails to be routed through the memory.
Another known approach to providing a write assist mechanism is using the memory cell with a gated power supply from a single source. When operating other than to perform a write, the memory cell is supplied with power through the gate. When it is desired to write to that memory cell, the gate isolates the memory cell from the power supply such that the memory cell is unpowered during the write operation. This makes it easier for a new data value to be written into the memory cell. Memory cells are not normally provided with individually controllable power supplies since this would consume a disadvantageous number of gates and reduce the memory density. Rather, a group of memory cells usually share a power supply line, which may be a virtual power supply line separated by a gate from a permanently powered power supply line in accordance with this technique. However, when multiple memory cells share a power supply in this way, all of these memory cells will be isolated from the power supply and be unpowered whilst one of the memory cells is being written. This will leave the unpowered memory cells vulnerable to data loss. This risk is increased when one considers manufacturing and process variations which can occur rendering individual memory cells particularly vulnerable to data loss when unpowered. This approach suffers from the disadvantage of potentially rendering a memory unreliable. Furthermore, as for the previous example it suffers from the disadvantage of improving the speed for writing a zero but slowing the writing of a one.
A further write assist method is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 11/392,961 the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In accordance with this technique a memory cell is provided with power via a power supply control circuit including at least two gates which are switched by a write assist signal to provide either a low resistance or high resistance path through the power supply control circuit. Thus, the memory cell is always powered and connected to the power supply, but when the high resistance path is in use during writing to the memory cell, then this will effectively weaken the power supply to the memory cell such that it is easier for a new data value being written into that memory cell, i.e. to change the state of the memory cell and overcome the inherent stability in the memory cell which tends to oppose changes in its state. Once again this suffers from the problem of increasing the speed of writing a zero, but decreasing performance for writing a one.

Controlling power supply to memory cells


The present disclosure provides a method, apparatus, electronic device and readable storage medium for translation and relates to translation technologies. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the at least one knowledge element is obtained according to associated information of content to be translated, and respective knowledge element in the at least one knowledge element comprise an element of the first language type and an element of the second language type so that the at least one knowledge element can be used to obtain a translation result of the content to be translated. Since the at least one knowledge element obtained in advance is taken as global information of the translation task of this time, it can be ensured that the translation result of the same content to be translated is consistent, thereby improving the quality of the translation result.

Conventional machine translation performs translation processing by taking sentences as translation units.
Since sentences are taken as translation units for translation processing so that sentences are independent from one another, it might occur that the translation result of the same content to be translated is inconsistent, thereby reducing intelligibility of the translation result.

Method, apparatus, electronic device and readable storage medium for translation

BEIJING BAIDU NETCOM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A grain drill add-on consists of load cells that suspend a grain drill's seed tank or hopper above the body of the grain drill. By adding mounting brackets that connect the load cells to the hopper and to the body of the grain drill, and by connecting the load cells to a digital readout visible to the operator, the downward weight of the hopper will cause deflections in the load cells which are translated into measurable weights displayed to the operator.

This invention relates to a mounted grain drill scale that allows accurate and constant measurement of seed loads.
Weigh scales utilizing load cells with strain gauges are commonly used in various applications in the prior art. For example, in the agricultural industry, scales are typically used to obtain the measurement of grain loads. These scales may consist of either stationary or portable units designed to support the weight of a vehicle so that the vehicle can be weighed empty and then loaded to measure the load. Typical devices of the prior art are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,714,121 and 5,440,078. The load cells of these devices transmit the downward weight of the entire vehicle and its load to the readout system. If stationary, it is of course necessary that the load be transported to the scale. If portable, it is necessary that the load and scale be transported to and used upon a solid foundation.
Among the shortcomings of the stationary scales is their limited application as they necessarily demand that the load be transported to the scale. In addition to the added time and expense associated with transport to a stationary scale, the stationary scale may not be available after hours. Portable scales, too, are of limited use as the portable scale must be placed on a solid foundation and cannot provide continuous measurements of a dynamic load.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, grain drills have been known and used for many years to plant soybeans and other crops. Grain drills common in the prior art require that the operator set a seed population or planting density. Setting the population correctly requires measurement of the load as seeds are planted. Among the shortcomings of these grain drills is that they typically require that the operator exit the tractor and climb onto the grain drill to inspect the level of grain in the tank or hopper. This exposes the operator to chemicals applied prior to planting and to increased risk of injury due to slipping or falling off of the equipment. Current scales available for weighing the grain drill and its load require that the operator leave the field in order to bring the drill to the scale. This requirement may pose working hour limitations on a planter if the available scale is commercial and not available after-hours. Moreover, this limits the operator's available planting time. These excursions from the tractor cab and from the field, and limitations on working hours, decrease efficiency by increasing the time required for planting. Neither the stationary nor portable type of scales common in the prior art allow measurement of a load while the load is in motion, and neither allows constant measurement as the load decreases due to planting.
Accurate measurement of population is important in drill planting since planting at a slight percentage over the desired population may result in dramatically increased costs per acre, lead to plant lodging, and make plants more susceptible to disease. Planting below the target population may also lead to added expense and crop damage as yields are lowered and more weeds may emerge through the crop canopy. Accurate measurement of the grain drill's load is therefore vital to efficient planting.
There is therefore a need for an improved way of continuously monitoring the amount of seed remaining in the seed bin of a grain drill or planter at all times. It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a mounted scale utilizing load cells that allows accurate measurement of static or dynamic loads while the implement upon which the load and scale are carried is stationary or in motion.
A further object of this invention is to provide a mounted scale utilizing load cells that is easily installed onto grain drills, that reduces the need for the operator to exit the tractor, and that allows convenient and accurate setting of the seed population through constant measurement of remaining grain.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a cab-mounted display, visible in the dark, thus allowing after hours planting when commercial, stationary scales are closed.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of the invention set forth hereinafter.


Systems and methods consistent with the present invention manage the purchasing data of purchasing entities. The systems and methods can efficiently and automatically analyze the purchasing activity of the entities to prepare information used to form and operate purchasing consortiums. The system receives purchasing data from a purchasing entity. The purchasing data relates to purchase transactions for a plurality of products purchased by the purchasing entity. After receiving the purchasing data, the system identifies, for each transaction, a product related to the transaction by comparing the received purchasing data with product information stored in a product index. The product information in the index associates at least a portion of the received purchasing data with a particular product. The system then modifies the received purchasing data to include data representing the identified product and processes the modified purchasing data to reflect all purchase transactions concerning the identified product. The processed information can then be used, for example, by a manager of a consortium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for managing purchasing data, and more particularly, to methods and systems for managing purchasing data of a plurality of entities in order to facilitate the creation and operation of purchasing consortiums.
2. Description of the Related Art
Purchasing consortiums make it possible to achieve better prices on purchased goods and services on behalf of the member entities of the consortium, such as individual companies or organizations, through volume negotiating and buying. However, to successfully form and operate a purchasing consortium, it is important to have an accurate picture of the purchasing needs of the member entities.
Specifically, data obtained with respect to the member entities should include the total amount spent by each entity in the consortium, the quality and types of purchases made by each entity, and the suppliers from whom each entity purchases goods or services. All of the data from the individual entities must be compiled into a portfolio, which contains valuable information about the purchasing activities of the consortium as a whole. This data includes the total amount spent by the consortium members on each type of good or service, as well as the degree of supplier concentration among member entities.
Most companies and organizations have a vast amount of valuable purchasing data in their back-office systems. However, this data is often difficult to access, because the systems in which the data resides were designed for other purposes. Even if it were possible to easily extract this data, analysis of the purchasing data of the member entities would remain difficult, due to the thousands of ways those entities structure their data and categorize their purchases. Even within a single entity itself, each department may structure this purchasing data differently.
Further, some of the purchasing data may be incomplete, or may contain inaccurate or incorrectly entered information. In this case, even if the data can be extracted, it would be difficult to determine which entities use the same products as well as the same suppliers of those products. If the consortium cannot determine matching products and suppliers amongst the member entities, then the consortium cannot successfully utilize its volume leverage to obtain better prices for its members.
Thus, in order to facilitate the creation and operation of a purchasing consortium, there is a need for a system that can obtain purchasing data from a variety of member entities (as well as the departments within those entities) and organize that data so as to clearly display what products and services are purchased by the member entities and from whom these products and services are purchased. Further, there is a need for such a system to be able to analyze the purchasing data to obtain information used to negotiate better prices on products and services purchased by member entities of the consortium.

Methods, systems, and computer for managing purchasing data


A knife sharpening system mountable in a small vehicle is disclosed. The knife sharpening system includes a grinding device including a motor, and an abrasive member directly connected to the motor without using a reduction device, to reduce loss of power transmitted from a battery to the abrasive member, and a water-proof device for preventing scattering of water and dust caused by rapid rotation of the abrasive member. The abrasive member can rotate using small force in accordance with direct connection of the abrasive member to the motor. Even when the abrasive member rotates at high speed, scattering of water or dust is prevented in accordance with direct connection of the abrasive member to the motor. Accordingly, the abrasive member can be driven using a battery of a small vehicle.

In a knife sharpening system in which a grinding member is rotated by a motor, rotation of the grinding member is achieved under the condition that RPM of the motor is reduced. Rotation of a polishing brush is also carried out under the above-mentioned conditions. For this reason, it is necessary to employ a reduction gear in a conventional knife sharpening system. As a result, there is a disadvantage in that relatively high power is required. To this end, such a knife sharpening system should be mounted in factories to which electricity can be supplied. Otherwise, a separate electric generator should be equipped to power the knife sharpening system. In particular, when such a knife sharpening system is mounted in a vehicle, to be movable, the electric generator is essentially necessary. However, such an electric generator not only generates severe noise, but also causes enlargement of the system. Due to the enlarged size of the knife sharpening system, it is difficult to mount the electric generator in a small vehicle.


A system and methods rank results of database queries. An automated approach for ranking database query results is disclosed that leverages data and workload statistics and associations. Ranking functions are based upon the principles of probabilistic models from Information Retrieval that are adapted for structured data. The ranking functions are encoded into an intermediate knowledge representation layer. The system is generic, as the ranking functions can be further customized for different applications. Benefits of the disclosed system and methods include the use of adapted probabilistic information retrieval (PIR) techniques that leverage relational/structured data, such as columns, to provide natural groupings of data values. This permits the inference and use of pair-wise associations between data values across columns, which are usually not possible with text data.

A popular aspect of the query model in Information Retrieval is ranking query results. However, the Boolean query model used in database systems does not support the ranking of query results. For example, a selection query on an SQL database returns all tuples that satisfy the conditions in the query. Furthermore, there are two scenarios that are not handled gracefully by an SQL system. These scenarios are, (a) the Empty-Answers Problem: when the query is too selective, the answer may be empty; and (b) the Many-Answers Problem: when the query is not selective enough, too many tuples may be in the answer. In both cases, it is desirable to rank the database tuples by their degree of "relevance" to the query (though the user may not have explicitly specified how) and return only the top-K matches. The difference in the two scenarios is that in the empty-answers case, the returned tuples only approximately match the query conditions, whereas in the many-answers case they are a subset of the tuples that match the query conditions.
Automated ranking of database query results has beneficial applications, such as for customers browsing product catalogs. Consider, for example, a potential home buyer searching for homes in a realtor, home-search database. The Empty-Answers Problem is illustrated by a very selective query such as "City=Seattle and Price=cheap and Pool=yes and Location=waterfront", which may yield very few or no results. In this case, ranking the query results may not be particularly important. On the other hand, the Many-Answers Problem is illustrated by a query such as "City=Seattle and Location=waterfront". This query is not very selective and may yield too many tuples in the results. Accordingly, a query model that could rank the database tuples by their degree of "relevance" to the query and return only the top-K matches would provide significant benefit. Currently, however, there are no query models available for structured databases that adequately address the Many-Answers Problem.
Ranking functions have been investigated in areas outside database research, such as in Information Retrieval (IR). The vector space model and probabilistic information retrieval (PIR) models are very successful in practice. However, such models are adapted for retrieving information in text data environments and do not necessarily benefit a structured data environment such as a database. The structured data environment of a database includes, for example, columns that signify groupings of attribute values, something which is not available in text data. Additionally, most ranking functions in Information Retrieval assume some form of independence between data values, because deriving associations/dependencies between data values is notoriously hard due to the huge size of the term space in text data. Ranking is also an important component in collaborative filtering research.
Previous database research includes some work on the automatic extraction of similarity/ranking functions from a database. Early work considered vague/imprecise similarity-based querying of databases. There have also been various methods proposed for integrating databases and information retrieval systems. Some prior methods employ relevance-feedback techniques for learning similarity in multimedia and relational databases. Other methods use keyword-based retrieval system over databases. However, previous methods have various disadvantages including, for example, the use of training data using queries requiring user attention, employing ad-hoc techniques loosely based on the vector-space model, and a failure to account for associations and dependencies between data values that exist in structured data environments.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved way to rank database query results that takes advantage of probabilistic information retrieval (PIR) and accounts for associations and dependencies between data values that exist in structured data environments.

Ranking database query results using probabilistic models from information retrieval