A three-dimensional laminating molding device includes ejection heads that eject support material for a support, and an ejection head that ejects mold material for a mold. The support material is sold at room temperature. An inner temperature of the laminating molding device during the laminating molding is controlled to a range of (a melting point of the support material−30)° C. to (the melting point of the support material−5)° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional laminating molding device that forms three-dimensional objects using an inkjet system.
2. Related Art
A principle of a laminating molding is the same as that of a method for forming a three-dimensional contour map. That is, a three-dimensional object is sliced to produce sliced shapes, and then the sliced shapes are molded and laminated one on the other.
Examples of laminating molding methods include stereolithography using a photo-curing resin, powder lamination using metallic or resin powders, melt deposition in which resin is melted and deposited, and sheet lamination in which paper sheets, plastic sheets, or thin metal plates are laminated.
These laminating molding methods have spread rapidly along with a recent spread of a three-dimensional Computer Aided Design (CAD) and are also called rapid prototyping techniques. In these laminating molding methods, a three-dimensional object can be directly obtained from three-dimensional CAD data. The rapid prototyping technique is not only used in the field of trial manufacture, but also in the field of actual manufacture, since metallic molding has become possible. Further, by using a three-dimensional printer, a digitizer, or a scanner as an output device of a three-dimensional CAD, the rapid prototyping technique has become used also as a three-dimensional copying machine. In particular, a laminating molding device using an inkjet system is expected to be used in general-purpose three-dimensional printers or three-dimensional copying machines because the laminating molding device using an inkjet system has a simple configuration and is easy to handle compared with those using different system.
The laminating molding methods using an inkjet system are classified into a powder laminating method and a melt resin deposition method. The powder laminating method is developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the powder laminating method, binder is ejected into a powder layer of starch or plaster using an inkjet device, and then the ejected binder is cured. On the other hand, in the melt resin deposition method, resin is ejected to directly form a laminated shape without using any support layer.
The powder laminating method using powders requires a removal of unnecessary powders after molding and is not suited for an office environment because the powders scatter. Thus, the powder laminating method is less apt to a general-purpose three-dimensional printer or three-dimensional copying machine. On the other hand, the melt resin deposition method can be used in an office environment and is suited for the general-purpose three-dimensional printer or the three-dimensional copying machine.
The melt resin deposition method includes a method in which an arm of a robot attached with an ejection nozzle (the same as an inkjet head, in principle) is moved in three dimensions of XYZ and a method in which an inkjet head is placed in an X-Y plane and a Z direction. However, because these methods do not use a support for supporting a mold during molding process, floating island shapes (shapes that suddenly appear in layers when laminating sliced data) or long beam shapes, such as a crossbar of a letter H, could not be formed by these methods. Therefore, moldable shapes are restricted, and so these methods are not suited for forming complex shapes, such as practical industrial products and medical models.
As a counter measure for those, Japanese Patent No. 3179547 proposes a method that uses a support. Specifically, support resin and mold resin are both laminated, and a surface is planarized if necessary. By this method, even complex shapes can be molded. The support can be formed such that a mold is buried within the support. Alternatively, a columnar or tabular support can be formed at necessary places. However, the former method is preferable from a view of enabling correspondence to any complex shape and not requiring special data processing. (The latter method requires data processing for providing the support.)
Materials used in such an inkjet-type laminating molding are classified into materials which are liquid at room temperature and materials which are solid at room temperature. There has been proposed to use photo-curing resin or thermosetting resin, which is liquid at room temperature, for the inkjet-type laminating molding. However, if viscosity of the resin is high, then clogging occurs in nozzles, and on the contrary, if viscosity is low, then "dripping" occurs during photo-curing or thermosetting after lamination. Therefore, Japanese Patent No. 2697138 proposes to emit light in a flight path of the photo-curing resin droplets so as to irradiate the resin droplets in flight with the light. However, this method had a disadvantage that leakage light or reflected light irradiates an inkjet head, resulting in clogging of nozzles.
On the other hand, as a material which is solid at room temperature, resin which converts to liquid by heating, such as wax or hot melt resin, is often used. In Japanese Patent-Application Publication No. HEI-9-123290, the method in which a support is formed such that a mold is buried within the support is used, and materials with different melting points are used for the mold and the support so that the support can be removed by using a difference in melting points after mold process. However, those materials have some disadvantages. That is, these materials are brittle as a mold material, and the molds are easily broken. Further, these materials warp from shrinkage so that dimensional stability of the molds is impaired.
In order to overcome the brittleness of material, Japanese Patent-Applications Publication No. 2001-214098 proposes a mold material to which ductility is imparted.
Also, in order to maintain the dimensional stability of molds, Japanese Patent-Application Publication No. 2001-58357 proposes a method in which laminating molding is performed while performing a smoothing process using a revolving or high-temperature roller, a rotary cutter, or the like, every time a single layer or several layers of mold are formed. However, performing the smoothing process during the laminating molding process lowers a laminating molding speed.

Three-dimensional laminating molding device


A computer-implemented method of performing image processing for images of biological objects includes: storing definitions of a plurality of descriptors; receiving image data relating to an image of a reference population of biological objects; receiving image data relating to an image of a target population of biological objects; processing the reference population image data to obtain a reference set of measurements, containing data for each of the descriptors; processing the target population image data to obtain a target set of measurements, containing data for each of the descriptors; and selecting a combination of the descriptors on the basis of comparing the reference set with the target set to define a preferred combination of the descriptors for use in identifying characteristics of a further population of biological objects which are similar to those of the target population.

There is currently a need in drug discovery and in general biological research for methods and apparatus for accurately performing cell-based assays. Cell-based assays are advantageously employed for assessing the biological activity of chemical compounds.
In addition, there is a need to quickly and inexpensively screen large numbers of chemical compounds. This need has arisen in the pharmaceutical industry where it is common to test chemical compounds for activity against a variety of biochemical objects, for example, receptors, enzymes and nucleic acids. These chemical compounds are collected in large libraries, sometimes exceeding one million distinct compounds.
Performing cell-based assays typically involves recording cellular images and quantifying these images using algorithms of image analysis software. Instruments are known for imaging fluorescently labelled cells and software of these instruments have a number of analysis modules which quantify, for example, biological protein translocations and reactions to stimuli of cellular pathways within the fluorescently labelled cells.
Such instruments typically require a user to initially set up image processing software parameters to recognise cells having particular characteristics. In order for a user to correctly train the software, the user needs to be trained to a required standard, which is often a time consuming, complex and expensive procedure. A lack of user training can result in poor output data leading to an inefficient use of the technology for biocellular analysis.
The article with reference: 'Location Proteomics; Providing Critical Information for Systems Biology', G.I.T. Imaging and Microscopy 2/2005, describes use of subcellular location features to cluster images into sets. Images with similar patterns of protein locations may be grouped together automatically without human assistance.
International patent application WO 2002097714 describes an expert system and software method for image recognition optimised for the repeating patterns characteristic of organic material. The method is performed by computing parameters across a two dimensional grid of pixels. The parameters are fed to multiple neural networks, one for each parameter, which have been trained with images. Each neural network then outputs a measure of similarity of the unknown material to the known material on which the network has been trained. However, using a neural network makes it difficult for a user to adjust the system and influence the outcomes of the analyses.
International patent application WO 2004088574 and scientific poster entitled 'Learning Algorithms Applied to Cell Subpopulation Analysis in High Content Screening', by Bohdan Soltys, Yuriy Alexandrov, Denis Remezov, Marcin Swiatek, Louis Dagenais, Samantha Murphy and Ahmad Yekta describe a method of classifying biological cells into cellular subpopulations. A user supervises creation of a 'training data set' by selecting individual cells from an image and classifying the selected cells into a particular subpopulation. Thus, the user determines which, and how many, cellular descriptors are best for classifying the cells. The training data set includes classification data which identifies characteristics of cells of a certain subpopulation. The training data set is subsequently applied to a cellular image to identify and classify further cells without user supervision. When a large set of descriptors is used, the classification process becomes a time consuming and complicated task. In order to provide successful training, the size of the training data set should grow exponentially with the number of used descriptors. This is known as the "curse of dimensionality", as described by Trevor Hastie, Robert Tibshirani and Jerome Friedman in the publication "The Elements of Statistical Learning" at page 25. The use of supervised classification methods for cellular assays is therefore relatively limited.
International patent application WO 2006001843 describes a system for characterising a multidimensional distribution of responses from the objects in a population subject to a perturbation. The methods enable the creation of a "degree of response" scale interpolated from non-perturbed and perturbed reference populations. A "fingerprint" of an object, such as a cell, is measured in terms of a feature vector, namely a vector of descriptor values that characterise the object. However, the manner of selection of features that constitute a fingerprint in any particular application is not disclosed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a more automated and efficient method of setting up a system for performing image and data analysis, in particular for systems that typically contain several populations of biological objects.

Method of, and apparatus and computer software for, performing image processing


A system comprises a motor and a base. The motor is configured to control the physical movement of the system and the base is configured to be coupled with a computing device. The computing device is configured to receive an indication of a target object and detect an obstacle object in a physical environment of the system. In response to detecting an obstacle object, the computing device provides to a user an inquiry associated with the detected obstacle object and receives a natural language response. Based at least in part on the natural language response, the computing device controls the motor to navigate the system around the detected obstacle object. Once the target object is detected, the computing device provides an indication that the target object has been located.

Traditional robotic systems such as a voice artificial intelligence (AI) robot agent are capable of responding to generic queries. Examples of a query and response include asking and receiving a response for the current weather or movie show times. These queries typically rely on backend databases, such as weather or movie show times databases, to retrieve general knowledge information. Typically, the queries are directed from the human user to the AI robot and not vice versa. Moreover, traditional AI robots are not able to formulate context-specific questions to learn from the responses of human users to solve a common goal. The ability for an AI robot to query a user and learn from the user's responses helps to create a more interactive and rich user experience. Therefore, there exists a need for an interactive game utilizing the features of an autonomous AI robotic system that allow the robotic system to interact with game players in a more natural and friendly manner.


A method provides early estimation of product life using accelerated stress testing data. In an embodiment, data measured from a product operating in a first, high-stress environment is used to predict how long the product will operate in a second, normal operating environment before failure using a quadratic acceleration model. An additional feature of the present invention provides a quantified indication of how much the product has improved from a redesign.

Over the years, practitioners of HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Test) and HASS (Highly Accelerated Stress Screen) have wanted a way to predict their product's MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) from the results of HALT and HASS.
An important design characteristic of any commercial product (particularly electronic products) is the reliability of the product (system). The military broadly defines reliability as "the probability that an item will perform a required function without failure under stated conditions for a stated period of time" (see MIL-HDBK-721C, "Definition of Terms for Reliability and Maintainability"). Other related references on this subject matter include MIL-HDBK-217, "Reliability Prediction of Electronic Equipment"; MIL-HDBK-883, "Test Methods and Procedures for Microelectronics"; and Nelson, "Accelerated Testing: Statistical Models, Test Plans, and Data Analyses".
Indeed, the commercial viability of any product may be strongly determined by the product's reliability as potential users will not spend a significant sum of money on an unreliable product. The vital importance of product reliability spurred the emergence of Reliability Engineering as an engineering discipline that devotes itself to establishing, maintaining, and evolving the reliability of a product.
An exemplary useful reliability parameter is the product's failure rate (Failure In Time—FITS, failures per billion device hours) or the inverse measurement of Mean-Time-Between-Failures (MTBF). A failure is commonly defined as any event that prevents the product from performing its specified operations. A product's failure rate is the average rate at which the product will fail over its lifetime (e.g., 2 failures over 50 years). Conversely, the MTBF is total operating time divided by the number of failures over that period (e.g., 25 years/failure or 219,000 hours) which is generally regarded as the average length of time a user may reasonably expect the product to work before a failure occurs. Therefore, a primary design objective is to have a very low product failure rate or inversely a very high MTBF. For example, most commercial telephone switching equipment is designed for less than two hours of downtime in 40 years; undersea telephone systems are designed for less than three failures in 25 years; and personal computers are designed for a MTBF of at least 1,000,000 hours (assuming end-of-life replacement of component parts).
Therefore, an important reliability engineering procedure is to determine the MTBF for a product. Many reliability engineering methods determine MTBF by observing the product in the field during normal usage and by tracking the frequency of failures. However, this method is very costly and time-consuming and does not meet the practical commercial needs of a product manufacturer who wants to accurately predict the MTBF early in the development process, which is not possible with currently available methods. Early prediction of MTBF allows the product manufacturer to make any necessary design changes at a low cost to ensure a product deployment with a very low failure rate. Without early prediction of MTBF, a product manufacturer must rely on very time-consuming field use data (requiring months and years of field testing) which delays product deployment and adversely affects future sales. Alternatively, product quality may be reduced if deployment cannot wait for the field use data or the field use data is no longer useful once it is finally obtained, thereby increasing the risk of distributing defective products to the market.
To provide early prediction of MTBF, product manufacturers commonly use a procedure standardized by the military described as the "Bill of Materials" (BOM) approach (Standard MIL 217 and MIL-HNBK-217F Reliability Prediction of Electronic Equipment). The BOM approach theoretically determines the product's MTBF by using the MTBF of each product component. For example, each individual resistor, integrated circuit and other component in a system may have a known MTBF, and the MTBF of the complete product can be calculated using these values. However, the BOM approach is notoriously unreliable because of interactions between product components and other factors which may include, but are not limited to, manufacturing process control, end-use environment, and design validation and ruggedness.
Thus, there exists a need to provide an accurate and early estimation of a product's MTBF, enabling product manufacturers to deploy relatively defect-free products.

Method for estimating changes in product life resulting from HALT using quadratic acceleration model


A simulated wafer image of a physical mask and a defect-free reference image are used to generate a severity score for each defect, thereby giving a customer meaningful information to accurately assess the consequences of using a mask or repairing that mask. The defect severity score is calculated based on a number of factors relating to the changes in critical dimensions of the neighbor features to the defect. A common process window can also be used to provide objective information regarding defect printability. Certain other aspects of the mask relating to mask quality, such as line edge roughness and contact corner rounding, can also be quantified by using the simulated wafer image of the physical mask.

Mask/Reticle Defects
To fabricate an integrated circuit (IC) in a semiconductor substrate, a physical representation of the IC is transferred onto a pattern tool. Then, the pattern tool is exposed to transfer this pattern onto the semiconductor substrate. A mask is a standard pattern tool used in IC processing. Typically, a mask includes patterns that can be transferred to the entire semiconductor substrate (for example, a wafer) in a single exposure. A reticle, another standard pattern tool, must be stepped and repeated to expose the entire substrate surface. For ease of reference herein, the term "mask" refers to either a reticle or a mask.
A typical mask is formed from a quartz plate having a chrome coating. Generally, a mask is created for each layer of the IC design. Specifically, a portion of the IC layout data file representing a physical layer (such as a polysilicon layer or a metal layer) is etched into the chrome layer. Thus, each mask includes the pattern that represents the desired circuit layout for its corresponding layer. In high density ICs, a mask can also include optical proximity correction (OPC) features, such as serifs, hammerheads, bias, and assist bars. These OPC features are sub-resolution features used to compensate for process artifacts and/or proximity effects.
In high-density IC designs, those skilled in the art of IC fabrication have recognized the importance of using masks that provide accurate representations of the original design layout. Unfortunately, a "perfect" mask is not commercially viable. In fact, even under optimal manufacturing conditions, some mask defects can occur outside the controlled process.
A defect on a mask is any deviation from the design database (i.e. an irregularity) that is deemed unacceptable by an inspection tool or an inspection engineer. FIG. 1 illustrates a flowchart 100 of a prior art method of inspecting an integrated circuit. In step 110, an IC is designed. In step 112, a data file of mask design data, e.g. a layout of the IC, is created. This data is used to manufacture the mask in step 114. At this point, the mask is inspected in step 116 by scanning the surface of the mask with a high-resolution microscope and capturing images of the mask. Irregularities in the mask are identified in a list by their location. In one embodiment, the mask has an associated grid pattern and the list designates the squares in the grid pattern in which the irregularities are located. This inspection and irregularity identification can be performed by specialized equipment/software provided by companies such as KLA-Tencor or Applied Materials.
To determine whether the mask passes inspection (step 118), a skilled inspection engineer or a semi-automated inspection device reviews the irregularities identified in step 116. Note that only irregularities deemed to be outside the tolerances set by the manufacturer or user are characterized as defects. If irregularities are discovered and are outside tolerances, then a determination is made in step 128 if the mask can be repaired. If the mask can be repaired, then the mask is cleaned and/or repaired in step 130 and the process returns to step 116 of inspecting the mask. If the mask cannot be repaired, then a new mask must be manufactured and the inspection process returns to step 114. If the mask passes inspection, as determined in step 118, then an actual wafer is exposed using the mask in step 120.
To ensure that the mask has produced the desired image on the wafer, the wafer itself is typically inspected in step 122. If irregularities are discovered and are outside tolerances as determined in inspection step 124, then a determination is made in step 128 if the mask can be repaired. If the mask can be repaired, then the mask is cleaned and/or repaired in step 130 and the process returns to step 116 of inspecting the mask. If the mask cannot be repaired, then a new mask must be manufactured and the inspection process returns to step 114. If irregularities on the wafer are discovered, but are determined to be within tolerances, then the mask passes inspection in step 124 and the inspection process ends in step 126.
Unfortunately, the above-described process has a number of significant disadvantages. For example, an automated inspection device measures tolerance principally by size. Thus, if a pinhole on the mask has a predetermined size, then the automated inspection device would probably designate the pinhole as a defect regardless of its location on the mask. In contrast, a skilled inspection engineer can use additional, more subjective methods based on his/her level of experience. Specifically, an experienced engineer might be able to determine whether a pinhole of even less than the predetermined size but in a critical area would have an adverse effect on functionality or performance and therefore should be characterized a defect, or whether a pinhole greater than the predetermined size but not in a critical area would not affect functionality or performance. However, this skill set must be developed over time at considerable expense. Moreover, like all human activity, even after developing this skill set, the quality of review inevitably varies. Thus, the step of characterizing the irregularity is prone to error.
Another disadvantage of the above-described process is the triggering of false defect detections. For example, an automated inspection device can falsely report an OPC or an imperfect OPC feature as a defect. As noted previously, an OPC feature is a sub-resolution feature used to compensate for proximity effects. Therefore, the OPC feature would typically not constitute nor contribute to a defect.
Mask Inspection System
To address these disadvantages, a mask inspection system designed by Numerical Technologies, Inc. provides mask quality assessment without resorting to an actual exposure of a wafer. This mask inspection system is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/130,996 (herein referenced as the NTI system), entitled, "Visual Inspection and Verification System", which was filed on Aug. 7, 1998 and is incorporated by reference herein.
FIG. 2 illustrates a process 200 of inspecting a mask for defects in accordance with the NTI system. Process 200 utilizes an inspection tool 202 and a wafer image generator 209. In one embodiment, inspection tool 202 includes an image acquirer 203, typically a high resolution imaging device, to scan all or a portion of a physical mask 201. A defect detection processor 204 compares the mask images provided by image acquirer 203 to a set of potential defect criteria and determines what areas of the mask contain potential defects. If a potential defect is identified, defect detection processor 204 signals a defect area image generator 205 to provide a defect area image of the area including and surrounding the potential defect.
In one embodiment, inspection tool 202 then provides defect area image data 206 to wafer image generator 209. In another embodiment, this data is digitized by digitizing device 207, stored in storage device 208, and then provided to wafer image generator 209 at a later point in time. In yet another embodiment that analyzes both areas identified as potential defects and areas not identified as potential defects, the scanned image provided by image acquirer 203 can be provided directly to wafer image generator 209 or indirectly through digitizing device 207 and storage device 208.
Wafer image generator 209 includes an input device 210 that receives data directly from inspection tool 202 in a real time feed or off-line data from storage device 208. An image simulator 211 receives the information from input device 210 as well as other input data, such as lithography conditions 212. Lithography conditions 212 can include, but are not limited to, the wavelength of illumination, the numerical aperture, the coherence value, the defocus (wherein the term defocus as used herein refers to focal plane positioning), the exposure level, lens aberrations, substrate conditions, and the required critical dimension. Using these inputs, image simulator 211 can generate a wafer image 213 that simulates physical mask 201 being exposed on a wafer. Image simulator 211 can also generate a simulated process window 214, and performance output 215. In one embodiment, image simulator 211 also takes into account the photoresist and/or the etching process as indicated by block 216.
Although process 200 provides valuable information to the customer via the simulated wafer image 213, for example, the customer must still review that information to make a determination regarding the appropriate action to take (e.g. repair the mask or fabricate a new mask). Thus, process 200 can be subject to human error. Therefore, a need arises for a mask inspection system and process that provides an objective, accurate measure of mask defect printability and mask quality.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method of providing mask defect printability analysis


Primary molecules are formed by sublimation in a sublimation chamber (2), they are then transferred at a transfer flow-rate to a decomposition head (10) at a higher temperature, and they are transformed therein into secondary molecules that are lighter in weight to form molecular beams (16). In accordance with the invention, the transfer flow-rate is adjusted by adjusting an effective vector flow-rate which is the vector flow-rate of a vector gas inserted into the sublimation chamber via a feed tube (26) and sucked out via a suction tube (30). The invention applies, in particular, to making III-V type semiconductor components by molecular beam epitaxy.

Widespread use of molecular beam epitaxy for III-V components has led to the development of new effusion cells for arsenic and phosphorus. Such cells make it possible to obtain the fluxes of arsenic and phosphorus that are required for epitaxial growth of materials such as GaAs, GaAlAs, InP, GaP, GaInP, etc.
Over the last few years, the improvements researched by the manufacturers RIBER, VG, and INTEVAC (formerly VARIAN) have had two objectives:
a) Making high-capacity cells enabling arsenic and phosphorus to be used in charges of about 300 grams (g). This improvement makes it possible for the enclosure to be used between two openings thereof for considerably longer periods of time.
b) Developing effusion cells including high-temperature (900.degree. C.) decomposition heads for decomposing As.sub.4 and P.sub.4 molecules into As.sub.2 and P.sub.2.
A typical known cell includes two regions heated to different temperatures:
a low-temperature (about 300.degree. C.) sublimation chamber in which solid arsenic or phosphorus is sublimed to form tetramers by means of the following reaction: EQU As.sub.sol .fwdarw.As.sub.4 EQU P.sub.sol .fwdarw.P.sub.4 ; and
a decomposition head in which the following decomposition operation is performed at about 900.degree. C.: EQU As.sub.4 .fwdarw.As.sub.2 EQU P.sub.4 .fwdarw.P.sub.2.
Using dimer molecules, in particular P.sub.2, enables the growth conditions of phosphorus-based materials to be considerably improved by increasing the bonding of the phosphorus. This results in a very significant reduction in phosphorus consumption (by a factor of 10).
Cells currently developed by manufacturers incorporate those two important improvements. But it remains difficult to control the flow-rates of As.sub.2 and P.sub.2 to within 1% when growing alloys of the GaInAsP type, or to obtain rapid variations in two distinct flow-rates of As.sub.2 and P.sub.2, such variations being necessary for making certain heterostructures or alloys based on GaInAsP.
Currently, "MOMBE" or "EJMSG" techniques using the gaseous hydrides arsine and phosphine enable the above-described drawbacks to be mitigated. But this requires highly toxic hydrides to be used, and costly precautions must be taken.
An object of the present invention is to provide a simply-made cell making it possible to control the flow-rate of molecular beams rapidly and accurately without using dangerous substances.

Effusion method and an effusion cell for forming molecular beams

Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale d'Electricite


A display flag for drawing attention to a product where the display flat contains a set of foldable panels for supporting an LED in a viewable condition with the display flag cantileverly supportable through a lateral extension from each of the foldable panels.

One of the objectives of a merchandizer is to draw attention to a particular product located on a store shelf. The art is replete with various devices such as an advertising flag to draw attention to a product to increase the sale of the product by enhancing a consumer awareness of the product. Oftentimes the items may be highlighted or advertised for a limited amount of time. There is a need for an inexpensive disposable time limited shelf edge display flag that not only provides a professional appearance and is quickly mounted or removed from a store shelf with the disposable time limited shelf edge display flag made from inexpensive disposable materials.


A method to generate an SQL sub-expression that implement access control rules stored in a library server. The SQL sub-expression is then merged with the SQL passed from an application program interface (API). The access control checking mechanism is implemented on the server side of the content management system. In this client/server environment, the query SQL statement is built in two layers: the API (client) layer and the server layer. The API sends the query string to the underlying stored procedure. The stored procedure then generates the access control logic based on the configuration parameters of the library server. This access control logic is dynamically added to the query string sent by the API. The stored procedure prepares, builds and executes this new query string as a dynamic SQL statement.

Conventional content management systems typically include a library server (LS), one or more resource managers (RMs) and a client access application program interface (API). A client is coupled by a network to the API and seeks information stored in the resource manager. The library server stores metadata relating to the objects or data stored in the resource manager. The library server also controls the particular objects that a particular client user can access. Client users can submit requests known as queries through the API to search or retrieve metadata stored in the library server or objects stored in the resource manager.
Content management systems typically store three types of information, namely primary content (data), user metadata, and system metadata. Primary content is stored in the resource manager and includes both structured and semi-structured data such as text files, images, web pages, video clips, for example. Descriptions of, and information about the primary content stored in the resource manager, which are normally provided by client users, are referred to as "user metadata," and are stored in the library server.
In contrast to "user metadata," "system metadata" is the information created by the content management system itself for access control, storage management, and content tracking and reference. Both user metadata and system metadata reside in the library server that acts as a repository for the metadata in database form.
As compared to primary content, both user and system metadata are well structured. In general, content management systems provide a set of functions for content (data and metadata) creation, content search and retrieval, and content distribution that enable user to manage data, system metadata and user metadata. As mentioned earlier, one approach is to store the metadata in the library server and to store the primary content (data) in a separate component designated the resource manager. Another approach is to store both metadata and primary content in a common database.
In most content management systems, both system metadata and user metadata are searchable using SQL generated by a client-side API. For security purposes, the search methodology should allow only authorized personnel to view specific documents and folders. Skilled users can modify the SQL produced by the API to bypass security rules.
Current search mechanisms in content management systems can, in response to such a query, return to an unauthorized user a folder that matches a query. The folder does not include the sensitive information, but the existence of the folder gives information to the user that should not be released. Consequently, a skilled user can probe for the existence of classified or sensitive information through the query mechanism. By obtaining a response advising the user that a document matching the search request exists within the folder, a skilled user can search for other types of documents within the folder even though they are not actually authorized to view the documents, potentially creating a serious security exposure.
What is therefore needed is a system and method for enforcing security rules during a search for specific data stored in the content management system while maintaining the performance advantages of client-side query generation. The need for such a system and method has heretofore remained unsatisfied.

Method for implementing access control for queries to a content management system

International Business Machines Corporation


A network services system (100) uses frequency tables (300) to store real-time network performance data such as delay, jitter, loss, loss burstiness, and mean opinion score (MOS) for a real-time communications protocol such as the Real Time Protocol (RTP).

When monitoring the performance of real-time transmission protocols such as the Real Time Protocol (RTP) in a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) environment, there are several performance-related metrics that need to be recorded. These include delay, jitter, packet loss, loss burst, and Mean Opinion Score (MOS). In a system designed to monitor the quality—either real or simulated—of VoIP calls, there is a need to store values of these performance metrics over time so that they may be analyzed and historical observations can be made. Given the potential high volume of calls, an efficient storage structure must be used in order to minimize the amount of data that must be stored while still providing enough detail in the data to make intelligent observations.
The commercial practice for storing similar data has been to store the minimum, maximum, and/or averages of the observed data over time. Examples thereof are the VoIP Monitoring Manager (VMM) application from Avaya Inc., and the MultiRouter Traffic Grapher (MRTG), a popular monitoring freeware tool, both of which store data as averages. Because this approach tends to "smooth" the data over time, it results in the loss of the details of the distribution of the data when the data is aggregated. Another known technique is "box-and-whisker" distribution. A typical box-and-whisker distribution consists of recording only the values for the 1st, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 99th percentiles within the distribution. While this technique yields storage in constant size and retains some higher-level resolution of the distribution, it is inadequate because percentile data cannot be aggregated over longer time periods. For example, hourly data cannot be aggregated to yield daily results.
Therefore, there is a need to solve the problem of storing real-time network performance data for an arbitrary number of calls between pairs of entities, such as endpoints or subnets, for example, in a limited amount of space while retaining the details of the distribution of the data. Furthermore, this must be done in a manner that allows for the data to be aggregated over time without losing the details of the distribution or introducing substantial error or smoothing effects in the values of the data.

Frequency-table-based storage for network performance data


Disclosed is a Sabatier reactor apparatus including a carbon sorbent bed having an inlet for introducing a reactant stream to the carbon sorbent bed and an outlet for exiting a treated reactant stream from the carbon sorbent bed; and a Sabatier reactor having an inlet for introducing the treated reactant stream to the Sabatier reactor and an outlet for removing a product stream from the Sabatier reactor. Also disclosed is a method of preparing a reactant stream for a Sabatier reactor.

The Sabatier reaction provides a method for in-situ resource utilization of carbon dioxide and for production of required human consumables, specifically, water and oxygen, for space missions. The Sabatier reaction specifically converts a mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst into a mixture of water and methane. The reaction accomplishes a primary goal of converting carbon dioxide, built-up in a space capsule or ubiquitous to an extraterrestrial environment, into valuable human consumables, specifically water, which is valued in itself or is converted into life-supporting oxygen. The Sabatier reaction eliminates the need to transport large quantities of water from Earth into space and, in this aspect, the Sabatier reaction reduces the payload projected from Earth and maintained on space voyages.
Improvements to the Sabatier system are desired to improve system productivity and longevity.


An open top solution supply or recovery tank that is removably mounted on a carpet extractor or wet pickup vacuum cleaner and has a lid that is removably mounted to and seals the top of the tank. A generally U-shaped carry handle is pivotally attached to opposite sides of the tank for carrying the tank. The ends of the carry handle have lid latching member extending therefrom that engage lid retaining members extending from opposite sides of the lid, to securely latch the lid on the tank at least when the carry handle is in a latched position. Tank latch arms are also provided that securely latch the tank to the cleaner when the carry handle is in the latched position. The tank latch arms are pivotally connected to the ends of the handle. Key pins extending from opposite sides of the tank are received in key ways in the latch arms. The key pins control the motion of the latch arms and ensure that the latch arms latch the tank to the cleaner when the handle is pivoted to the latched position.

Canister type carpet extractors having a large recovery tank, a removable power head that encloses the top of the tank, and a carry handle that selectively latches the powerhead to the recovery tank are known. Such a carry handle may be used to carry the entire extractor when the powerhead is latched in place by the handle. This type of handle may also be unlatched, so that the powerhead may be removed. Once the powerhead is removed the tank may be carried by the handle to a sink and emptied. Since the electric motor and fan assembly are located in the power head, it is cumbersome to remove the relatively large and heavy powerhead from the recovery tank in this type of arrangement. Furthermore, when the powerhead is removed from the tank to empty the tank of recovered solution, dirty solution frequently drips from the powerhead onto the floor. As a result, removing the powerhead to empty this type of an extractor is typically a messy cumbersome process.
Carpet extractors are also known that have a base or caddy portion onto which the solution supply tank and solution recovery tank are removably mounted. The supply and recovery tanks on this type of extractor are typically held in place upon the caddy by the force of gravity or by latches located on the base portion. The tanks frequently have carry handles for ease of lifting and carrying the tanks. Some tanks contain a lid having a latch thereon for releasably latching the lid onto the tank to prevent the tank from spilling while being carried separate from the base portion. This type of tank typically requires the user to release the latch on the base to remove the tank from the base (often after removing a cover or housing that encloses the tank) and to release the latch on the lid to remove the lid from the tank in order to empty or clean the tank.
Carpet extractors are also known to include a removable cleaning solution supply tank having a carry handle that serves as a carry handle and as a latch for selectively latching the supply tank to the extractor. Such a handle provides for ease of mounting the supply tank to and ease of removing the supply tank from the extractor. An example of this type of handle is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,673 issued on Apr. 18, 1997 entitled Tank Carry Handle and Securement Latch.


The present invention extends a servlet filter chain model to include the ability to dynamically define helper functions. These dynamic helper functions modify the state of an XCAP or SIP request or response as it transitions through the filter chain. The dynamic helper functions are defined via descriptor files that are based on the document type. Each filter in the filter chain has the ability to reference and invoke the helper functions to modify the state of the request and/or response.

The present disclosure relates to the field of computers, and specifically to software. Still more specifically, the present disclosure relates to processing document requests.
The IBM WebSphere™ Extensible Markup Language (XML) Document Management Server (XDMS) is an implementation of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) XML Document Management (XDM) standards for storage, retrieval, and management of XML documents. The XDMS is used in a service plane of the Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) for Service Providers in the Telecommunications industry to centrally store various types of documents used by their next generation applications. The previous product implementation of the XDMS was the IBM WebSphere™ Group List Server which implemented the OMA XDM standards, but was not flexible enough to accommodate the customer's need for injecting new code into the processing of XML Configuration Access Protocol (XCAP) or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) requests.

XCAP and SIP filter chain state transforms via dynamic helper functions for internet multimedia subsystems


A method for specifying an error location by an information processing apparatus that includes a plurality of devices connected to each other through a transmission path includes deciding, when an interrupt is generated, whether the interrupt is a periodic interrupt or an error interrupt, and storing, where the generated interrupt is a periodic interrupt, history information of errors of each of the devices, but analyzing, where the generated interrupt is an error interrupt, the stored history information of errors of the devices to specify a suspect location of the error.

An information processing apparatus generally includes a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as "CPU"). Some CPU includes a function for transiting to a system management mode (hereinafter referred to as "SMM") that is one of operation modes of the CPU by a kind of interrupt called system management interrupt (hereinafter referred to as "SMI"). As an example of a CPU that transits to the SMM, a CPU of the x86 architecture of Intel or a like architecture is available.
If an SMI is received, then the CPU transits to the SMM mode. In the SMM mode, the CPU executes an SMI handler. An SMI handler is a program for processing the SMI in a system management random access memory (hereinafter referred to as "SMRAM") space that is an independent address space in a memory space and cannot be accessed from any other operation mode.
If the processing of the SMI is completed, then the CPU restores the mode before the transition to the SMM.
The PCI Express (PCIe) is one standard for an I/O serial interface.
In a connection configuration of the PCIe, devices (ports) of the PCIe are connected to each other through a link of the PCIe. In detail, a root port of the PCIe and functions as a start point of the connection configuration, a PCIe switch for routing a packet between the PCIe ports and an endpoint such as a PCIe card positioned at a terminal end, which all exist in a chip set, are connected to each other through the link of the PCIe.
FIG. 12 schematically depicts an example of a connection of the PCIe. In the connection of the PCIe, as depicted in FIG. 12, an upstream device 101 near to the root port (or the CPU) and a downstream device 102 are connected to each other by a physical transmission path (hereinafter referred to as "transmission path") 103 such as a cable, a connector, a wiring line and so forth.
To specify, where an error occurs in such a PCIe connection as described above and the link of the PCIe is disconnected (hereinafter referred to as "link down"), a location (suspect location) at which an error occurs is referred to as "fault location process".
Here, as depicted in FIG. 12, the suspect location is one of three locations including the upstream device 101, downstream device 102 and transmission path 103.
In the fault location process, the contents of status registers 104 and 105 provided in the devices 104 and 105, respectively, are analyzed to specify a suspect location when a fault occurs. However, if a link down occurs, then the status register 105 of the device 102 on the downstream side with respect to the link down location cannot be acquired.
Thus, specification of a suspect location of the link down is carried out, for example, by mounting an apparatus for exclusive use on an information processing apparatus and then causing the fault to be reproduced. Therefore, at a site at which an information processing apparatus operates, a suspect location of the link down cannot be specified immediately.
Here, since the downstream device 102 is a PCIe device or a PCIe card connected through a cable, the downstream device 102 is in most cases exchanged readily in comparison with the upstream device 101. Since the downstream device 102 can be readily exchanged in this manner, the conventional fault location process takes a countermeasure assuming that the suspect location upon occurrence of the link down is the downstream device. Then, a procedure manual or the like is used to let the technical staff know well that there is the possibility even that the suspect location may be the upstream device or the transmission path different from the downstream device.
However, since some of the technical staff who attempts to cope with the fault at the site at which the information processing apparatus is operating does not necessarily have sufficient expertize skills or the working time is limited, the possibility of some other suspect location may not be able to be examined sufficiently.
Where the estimated suspect location is mistaken in such a situation as described above, the fault member incorrectly determined to be "normal" is not exchanged. Therefore, after the error is dealt with, an error may occur with a high degree of possibility. Further, even if an investigation of the causes is attempted with regard to a normal article which has been incorrectly determined as a fault article, since the article originally is normal, it is difficult to specify a cause of the error.
In this manner, the conventional technology has a subject that very much time and labor are required and besides expertize skills are required in order to specify and deal with a suspect location when a link down occurs.

Error location specification method, error location specification apparatus and computer-readable recording medium in which error location specification program is recorded


Described herein are sample loading systems for loading a sample into a processing and/or analysis system comprising: a sample reservoir for receiving a sample and a metering volume reservoir, the sample reservoir and a first side of the metering volume reservoir being interconnected through a first channel with a first flow resistance to allow filling of the metering volume reservoir with sample; a further reservoir for receiving a second fluid interconnected with the metering volume reservoir at the first side via a second channel having a smaller second flow resistance; a first valve for blocking flow of sample from the metering volume reservoir into the second channel; a second valve connected to a second side of the metering volume reservoir for controlling the blocking and flowing of sample; and a first timing circuitry for timing the opening of the second valve as a function of filling of the further reservoir.

Metering or precisely measuring of the volume of a fluid sample is needed in many applications. One such application is in blood cell differentiation or counting, where the volume of the blood sample processed must be accurately known. In a system where a relatively large amount of blood (>10 μL) is added to a sample reservoir, it may not be desirable to process the entire sample of blood since only a minute quantity (<2 μL) is needed to get accurate statistics on the blood cell make-up. Therefore, a microfluidic system needs to measure off a known quantity of blood from the sample reservoir for processing. In a capillary-driven microfluidic system, metering is challenging because most existing capillary-based valving technologies do not allow for shutting or closing off a fluid stream once it has started. In such a system, it is not possible to extract a metered volume of fluid from the sample reservoir by shutting off the flow to prevent too much sample from flowing into the system.
Conventional solutions make use of active phase change valves or use electrowetting devices or splitting off a droplet of fluid from a reservoir.


An example system includes an incompressible, airtight pressurized container operable to maintain a pressure level in an internal pressurized environment, a transport system including at least two liquid transport conduits, and a mixing component, the two liquid conduits each being releasably coupled to a pressurized container interface coupled to the pressurized container and a dispensing interface, each liquid transport conduit including a controllable valve to enable or disable a flow of the liquid volume, the pressurized container interface capable of maintaining the pressure level, the mixing component being coupled to the at least two liquid transport conduits and the dispensing interface, a pressure regulation system connected to the pressurized container, the pressure regulation system operable to exert and maintain the pressure level within the pressurized container to enable compression of the first compressible liquid volume, and a control system operable to control the controllable valves and the pressure regulation system.

The ever-increasing consumption of wine and similar beverages, both in various commercial establishments (e.g., restaurants, bars, lounges, etc.) and homes, coupled with growth in consumer perception of wine as an "experience" meant to be paired with proper food or enjoyed though "tastings," has resulted not only in growing consumer demand for a wider selection of wines made available in commercial establishments (leading to a proliferation of dedicated "wine bar" establishments) but also fueled the desire of many consumers to be able to bring the "wine bar" or equivalent experience to their home.
Restaurants have traditionally relied on bottle purchases by their patrons, leaving only a few low-end wines available for "by the glass" pours from bottles. Bottles that provide "by the glass" service may remain in use for several days after being opened. However, the quality of the product deteriorates due to inherent changes (e.g., oxidation) in wine over time when exposed to air.
In view of market trends, many establishments have been nevertheless forced to expand their "by-the-glass" (referred to as "BTG" herein) selections to meet consumer demand. The expansion of BTG service has greatly increased cost due to rapid deterioration of unsealed wine bottles and increased labor costs in managing a wide range of BTG pours. Stand-alone bars and lounges have traditionally offered limited wine selections, but in view of the trends mentioned above, these entertainment venues are faced with the same obstacles as restaurants. Finally, wine bars are forced to deal with the challenge of keeping a sufficiently wide-ranging BTG selection by their very nature.
Virtually all attempted solutions to the above challenges involve devices and systems for preservation and/or dispensation of bottled wines. As a result, these solutions are quite limited in their success due to inherent disadvantages of utilization of bottled wine in a commercial establishment environment. Moreover, because virtually all bottle-based wine preservation systems are sized and configured only for use with standard 750 ml bottles, these systems require frequent and time-consuming bottle replacement when the establishment is busy (i.e., precisely at a time when employees of an entertainment venue are under the greatest pressure to maintain an appropriately high level of speedy service to the customers). Moreover, because higher-end conventional wine preservation/dispensing systems comprise a separate chamber for each bottle, the expense of systems that includes a sufficient number of wine bottle chambers for larger establishments quickly rises into stratospheric levels.
To address the disadvantages of the use of bottled wine in commercial establishments, various companies proposed utilization of larger volume/less expensive "wine bags" (often offered in a "wine-in-bag"/"bag-in-box" format) (referred to herein as "WinB products").
The previously known WinB products have different disadvantages when used in commercial establishments, which in some cases can make them less desirable than bottled wine under many circumstances. These disadvantages have resulted in at least the following key obstacles to wide-ranging successful use of WinB products in commercial and environments:                the difficulties in preserving and pouring wine from WinB product containers;        the amount of space taken up by WinB products and their containers-an especially serious issue for commercial environments where space is at a premium;        the challenge posed in commercial environments by the necessity of metering wine pours of specific volume from the WinB products, and the difficulty in tracking such pours automatically; and        The aesthetic appearance of most WinB products and their containers do not permit their use in tastefully decorated commercial and consumer environments.
For these reasons, WinB products have only found very limited acceptance in all but a few smaller establishments. To date, there has not been a suitable solution offered that would enable commercially practical use of wine-in-bag products in virtually all restaurant/bar (and similar) environments.

Scalable modular system and method for storing, preserving, managing, and selectively dispensing beverages


An exhaust emission control device includes a plurality of devices for removing particulates accumulated in a particulate filter. A temperature increasing device increases a temperature of the particulate filter. A temperature estimator estimates the temperature of the particulate filter. A particulate accumulation quantity estimator estimates a quantity of accumulated particulates. A temperature increase quantity controller controls a temperature increase to an output of the temperature estimator when the quantity of accumulated particulates exceeds a predetermined value. A time ratio processor computes a time ratio between performance and interruption of a temperature increasing operation. A base period processor computes a base period such that the base period varies from time to time. A switching device switches between performance and interruption of the temperature increasing operation based on the time ratio and the period that becomes the base.

In recent years, an exhaust emission control device, which treats exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine with a catalyst or a filter to reduce the discharge of toxic components, has gained importance as an environmental protection measure. For example, an exhaust emission control device has been known in which a diesel particulate filter (hereinafter referred to as "DPF") is disposed in an exhaust pipe to collect particulate matters (hereinafter referred to as "PM") discharged from the diesel engine. The DPF is regenerated by combusting and eliminating the accumulated PM regularly and, hence, can be used continuously.
The regeneration of the DPF is performed by increasing the temperature of the DPF to a certain temperature, for example 600° C. or more, at which the particulate matters can be combusted, when the quantity of the accumulated PM calculated based on a pressure difference across the DPF reaches a predetermined value. At this time, temperature increasing means includes means of post-injection, retardation of fuel injection timing, restriction of intake air and the like. However, such temperature increasing means cause deterioration of fuel consumption.
On the other hand, as a regeneration temperature is increased, the combustion rate of the PM is increased and, hence, the regeneration is finished in a short time so that the deterioration of fuel consumption caused by the regeneration of the DPF can be reduced. However, if the temperature of the DPF is too high, there is a possibility of causing the DPF to be broken or an oxidation catalyst supported by the DPF to deteriorate. Hence, to prevent the deterioration of fuel consumption and to regenerate the DPF safely, the temperature of the DPF needs to be maintained near a predetermined temperature. Therefore, usually, the temperature of exhaust gas upstream or downstream of the DPF is sensed and the temperature increasing means is operated such that the detected temperature becomes a target temperature.
For example, Japanese patent document JP-11-101122A discloses the following control method: the temperature of exhaust gas upstream of the DPF is detected as a DPF temperature and when the DPF temperature becomes higher than a predetermined temperature (for example, 500° C.), a temperature increasing operation is interrupted and when the DPF temperature becomes lower than the predetermined temperature (for example, 500° C.), the temperature increasing operation is performed. However, changes in the temperature of the DPF caused by the temperature increasing operation develop time lag. Hence, the method disclosed in JP-11-101122A, in which the temperature increasing operation is performed or interrupted after temperature changes are sensed, causes large variations in temperature and hence is hard to keep the temperature of the DPF near the target temperature.
The inventors of the present invention studied a method for controlling an operation of increasing a DPF temperature with higher accuracy and proposed a method of controlling the quantity of operation of increasing temperature by controlling the ratio between a time period during which a temperature increasing operation is performed and a time period during which the operation is interrupted (hereinafter referred to as "time ratio between the performance and interruption of a temperature increasing operation"). An example of such is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-94851. The time ratio is expressed by the ratio of a period τ1 during which the temperature increasing operation is performed to a predetermined basic period τa, as shown, for example, in FIG. 12A. By performing the post-injection of the temperature increasing means at this time ratio, the quantity of supply of HC can be controlled stepwise or continuously to control the DPF temperature optimally, as shown in FIG. 12B. Further, by controlling the state of injection suitably (for example, by correcting injection timing and the quantity of injection suitably) such that the torque when the temperature increasing operation is performed is equal to the torque when the temperature increasing operation is interrupted, torque shock can be prevented at the time of switching the temperature increasing operation.
However, there has been presented a problem that when the state of combustion varies from the initial shipment due to age deterioration of an injection system, a torque difference is caused by switching between performing the temperature increasing operation and stopping the operation to develop a periodic torque shock at intervals of the basis of the time ratio. In this case, there is a possibility that the periodic torque shock may be transmitted to a driver to cause the deterioration in drivability.

Exhaust emission control device of internal combustion engine


A large current connector consists of a male plug and a female socket. The male plug includes a shell, a coupling member, a first upper metal plate and a first lower metal plate. The female socket includes a sleeve, an insulation member, a second upper metal plate and a second lower metal plate. The sleeve has latch cavities on two sides corresponding to and engageable with elastic latch elements on two sides of the shell. Thus the male plug and the female socket can be coupled together rapidly. The insulation member anchors the metal plates of the male plug and the female socket to prevent loosening thereof. Deformation of the metal plates also can be prevented to avoid short circuit.

Innovations of the peripherals and accessories of electric appliances progress constantly. Among them the connector elements consisting of a male plug and a female socket are widely used. They can be assembled and coupled together easily. However there are still room for improvement especially on enhancing the connectivity and simplifying assembly and coupling.
Coupling of the male plug and the female socket of the conventional connector generally adopts screwing elements. In practice, the screwing elements tend to loosen when subject to external forces. Moreover, if screwing holes have a slight deviation on the tolerance, the male plug and the female socket cannot be fastened securely. Not only saving time on assembly and coupling cannot be achieved, electric conductivity also could be affected.


A method (e.g., for monitoring a braking system of a vehicle system) includes monitoring fluid pressures of a braking system and modeled braking efforts of the braking system in a vehicle system traveling along a route, identifying one or more time periods at least one of before a brake event of the braking system or after the brake event, calculating residual forces exerted on the vehicle system during the one or more time periods, and determining at least one of an estimated braking effort of the braking system or an estimated propagation rate at which the estimated braking effort is applied by the braking system using the residual forces that are calculated.

Some known vehicle systems include braking systems that rely on air pressure to control the braking system. (As used herein, the term "vehicle system" may refer to a single vehicle or multiple vehicles mechanically coupled with each other, such as in a vehicle consist. A vehicle may include a propulsion-generating vehicle capable of self-propulsion or a non-propulsion-generating vehicle that is incapable of self-propulsion.) For example, air brakes are prevented from engaging moving parts of the vehicle systems by maintaining sufficient air pressure in conduits of the braking system that includes the air brakes. In order to activate the air brakes, the pressure is decreased so that the braking system no longer is prevented from engaging the moving components of the vehicle system. The braking system engages the moving components to stop or slow movement of the vehicle system.
Operators of vehicle systems may assume that the vehicle systems can provide a certain amount of braking force (e.g., braking effort) at a given rate (e.g., propagation rate) when the braking systems are activated. Due to inaccurate information used in calculating these forces and/or rates, degradation of the braking system, changes in the route being traveled, and other causes, the actual braking force that is applied may be less and/or the actual braking force may be supplied at a slower rate.
Because operators rely on the expected amounts of braking force that can be supplied and the rate at which the braking force is supplied to be accurate in order to safely operate the vehicle systems, inaccuracies in the braking force and/or rate can result in unsafe operation of the vehicle systems.

System and method for monitoring braking effort


A radiant therapeutic wrist heating pad, which is not hot to the touch, provides substantial infrared radiation to a user's wrist to alleviate symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. It can be used for extended periods without feeling uncomfortable to the skin, while imparting deep therapeutic heat to the user's wrist. The heating pad is comprised of a radiant heat generating layer having a plane surface comprising means for radiating heat evenly from its surface, a pair of flexible electrically insulating and radiation permeable layers located adjacent and covering opposite sides of the layer, a thermal insulation layer disposed against and covering one of the electrically insulating layers, and a sealed radiation permeable envelope enclosing the entire heater. Preferably the flexible heat generating layer is comprised of a fiberglass material impregnated with a resistive material, which material provides a surface temperature, when current is conducted therethrough, which is no greater than about 54 degrees Celsius. Current limiting thermostats are provided to prevent energy and temperature spikes in the event that any of the electrical components are creased or bent. A stiffening element helps protect the electrical components, and also orients the user's hand with respect to the forearm so as to place the wrist in a therapeutic position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved heating pad that has been found to be useful for therapeutic applications, and more particularly to an improved radiant therapeutic heater.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Certain types of painful conditions of the muscles or joints such as arthritic pain often have the application of heat prescribed to relieve the pain. Heat is normally applied in a variety of ways, for instance by the use of irritant rubbing compounds which cause local stimulation of blood vessels thereby increasing body heat carried to the location, the use of infrared lamps, the use of radio frequency apparatus such as diathermy machines, the use of hot water bottles or electrically operated heating pads.
While some or all of the aforenoted apparatus is alleged to work to some degree, all have certain disadvantages. For instance, the prolonged use of an infrared heating lamp can cause localized burning of the skin. Diathermy machines are specialized apparatus that require expensive skilled operators. Irritant rubs, while apparently generating local heat, sometimes irritate the skin. Hot water bottles maintain an uneven temperature with time, generally are applied too hot to the skin, and later cool to an ineffective temperature. They are thus uncomfortable for most of their time of application.
A common malady for which heat has heretofore not been generally applied is carpal tunnel syndrome, which generally occurs when tendons or ligaments in the wrist become enlarged, often from inflammation after being aggravated. The narrowed tunnel of bone and ligaments in the wrist pinches the median nerve on the palm side of the wrist, nerves that reach the fingers and the muscles at the base of the thumb. This can result in pain, weakness or numbness in the hand and wrist, often radiating up the arm. Carpal tunnel syndrome can be the result of a combination of factors that increase pressure on the median nerve and tendons in the carpal tunnel, rather than a problem with the nerve itself. While the disorder tends to be congenital—the carpel tunnel is smaller in some people than others—other contributing factors include trauma or injury to the wrist that cause swelling. Some cases are due to work-related cumulative trauma of the wrist. Although in some cases no particular cause can be identified, it is generally believed that repetitive and forceful movements of the hand and wrist during work or leisure activities can cause carpal tunnel syndrome.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is generally treated by immobilizing the wrist in a splint to minimize or prevent pressure on the nerves. Medication to reduce inflammation may also be prescribed. In extreme cases, a surgical procedure is preformed in which doctors open the wrist and cut the ligament at the bottom of the wrist to relieve the pressure. When using a splint or brace, the user's hand is caused to be placed in a preferred position, with the hand bent at the wrist to relieve pressure on the median nerve. The brace can also provide an additional benefit in that the skin temperature of the user the may become slightly elevated and thus provide heat to the user's tendons and ligaments.
What is needed is a brace or splint that can properly position a user's hand with respect to their forearm to alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a carpal tunnel syndrome therapy wrist brace, which brace properly positions the user's wrist while also having a radiant heat therapy unit for decreasing inflammation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of treating repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a non-invasive system for the temporary relief of pain associated with repetitive strain injuries.


An apparatus for presenting information of document files, the document files being stored on a document database where the document files are categorized and stored into any of predefined category bins, the apparatus includes: a selecting section that selects at least some of document files stored on the document database and categorized in object category bins as representative document files for each of the object category bins, the object category bins being at least part of the category bins; and a presenting section that presents information relating to the selected representative document files to a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus presenting guide captions for categorizing files into a directory or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
For most recent databases of documents, a general practice of categorizing and managing document files using an organization of directories has been applied. For instance, in the case of a corporate managerial document database, directories labeled "general affairs," "sales," "personnel affairs," etc. are created for document categories and document files are categorized and stored into the directories. The organization of the directories is generally hierarchical. That is, under a top-level directory of "general affairs," subdirectories labeled "accounting," "messages," etc. for subcategories of documents are often created.
For conventional document databases mentioned above, however, a database manager or the like generally predefines document category bins. In some situations, when adding a new document file to a database, a user has encountered difficulty in selecting a suitable directory for storing the file. For instance, when a user who does not have complete understanding of the category bins attempts to find a directory for storing a message document file, the user may be puzzled if he or she first looks in a "personnel affairs" directory to look for a suitable category bin.

Storage medium storing program, method and apparatus presenting guide captions for categorizing files


A computer implemented tool and method for assisting users of earphones with selecting an earbud that will provide the best fit for the user. The tool collects image data of the user's ear, along with fit data associated with the user's experience (for example, comfort and/or stability data). The tool further includes a database of ear data and associated objective/subjective data that is utilized to calculate a fit value representative of the quality of fit based on the image data and the fit criteria data generated by the user. The tool will output at least one of an indication of fit level of the earphone in the user's ear based on the fit value, and a recommendation to the user for altering the selected earphone to improve fit of the earphone within the user's ear based on the fit value.

The present disclosure is directed generally to in-ear headphones and earbuds, and more particularly to a computer implemented tool that assists in selecting an ear tip for an earbud with the optimum fit for a user's ear.
The popularity of smart phones and portable audio players has led to in-ear headphones and earbuds becoming widely-used types of headphones. Earbuds are easily transportable and less bulky for users to carry and/or wear when using a mobile audio device. Although advancements have been made in ergonomics for earbuds, there is still room for improvement in fit for many users. While earbuds offer the potential for great comfort and sound quality for a variety of user's ears, they rely heavily on the earbud forming a good seal with the ear canal, amongst other anatomical and ergonomic considerations that factor into the best fit.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a tool that assists users in selecting the ear tip for an earbud that has the optimum fit for his or her ear.

Computer-implemented tools and methods for determining optimal ear tip fitment


The present invention relates to active compound combinations, in particular within a fungicide composition, which comprises (A) a thiazolylisoxazoline of formula (I) and a further fungicidally active compound (B). Moreover, the invention relates to a method for curatively or preventively controlling the phytopathogenic fungi of plants or crops, to the use of a combination according to the invention for the treatment of seed, to a method for protecting a seed and not at least to the treated seed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to active compound combinations, in particular within a fungicide composition, which comprises (A) a thiazolylisoxazoline of formula (I) and a further fungicidally active compound (B). Moreover, the invention relates to a method for curatively or preventively controlling the phytopathogenic fungi of plants or crops, to the use of a combination according to the invention for the treatment of seed, to a method for protecting a seed and not at least to the treated seed.
2. Description of Related Art
It is already known that certain thiazolylisoxazolines can be used as fungicides (see WO08/013,925, WO09/094,407, WO09/094,445, WO09/055,514 and PCT/EP2010/070156).
Since the environmental and economic requirements imposed on modern-day crop protection compositions are continually increasing, with regard, for example, to the spectrum of action, toxicity, selectivity, application rate, formation of residues, and favourable preparation ability, and since, furthermore, there may be problems, for example, with resistances, a constant task is to develop new compositions, in particular fungicidal agents, which in some areas at least help to fulfil the abovementioned requirements.


An indexable cutting insert is disclosed in which, an insert body is formed into a polygonal plate-like shape when viewed from the front, and has a cutting face and a flank face. In the insert body, a cutting edge is formed at an intersection of the cutting face and the flank face. The cutting face is formed into an inclined face downsloped toward the inner side of the front face of the insert body. A breaker face is formed on the front face connected with the cutting face. The breaker face projects outwardly in the direction of the thickness of the insert body with respect to the extended plane stemming from the cutting face. On the cutting face, protrusions projecting out from the cutting face are formed, and when viewed from the front, extend towards the inner side from the periphery of the insert body. The protrusion has a ridge portion, which extends perpendicular to the direction of the thickness of the insert body. During cutting operation, cuttings produced by the cutting edge are slightly curled by the ridge portions of the protrusion, the cuttings are guided to the inner side of the front face of the insert body, and as a result, the resistance exerted to the cuttings can be reduced and clogging of the cuttings can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an indexable cutter insert having a cutting edge and a cutting face provided with protrusions for breaking cuttings produced by the cutting edge into chips.
2. Prior Art
As indexable cutting inserts (hereinafter referred to simply as "tips") of this kind, for example, there is known a tip as illustrated in FIG. 1. This tip 1 is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application, Laid-Open Number 61-151806. The tip 1 comprises a plate-like insert body 2 in the shape of a polygon (in this example a parallelogram) shown in a plan view. A cutting face 3 is formed on a front face of the insert body 2, and cutting edges 6 having a nose portion 5 at the corner of the above-mentioned polygon are formed at the intersection of the cutting face 3 and a flank face 4 formed on the peripheral face of the insert body 2.
The cutting face 3 is connected as shown in FIG. 2 to a cutting edge 6 via a land portion 7, and is formed with an inclined face which is downsloped toward the center portion of the above-mentioned front face. The inclined angle .alpha..sub.0 of the inclined face is equal to the rake angle of the cutting edge 6. Furthermore, on the front face, a plane face perpendicular to a line extending in the direction of the thickness of the insert body 2 is formed. The plane face is used for a chip breaker face 8 which projects outwardly in the direction of the thickness of the insert body 2 with respect to the extended plane stemming from the cutting face 3. Furthermore, the cutting face 3 formed in an inclined face, and the chip breaker face 8, are smoothly connected to each other by a curved face 9 with a large radius of curvature.
Similarly, on the curved face 9 and cutting faces 3, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, protrusions 10 are formed a certain distance away from the cutting edge 6. The protrusion 10 is in the shape of a hemisphere projecting outwardly from the cutting face 3 and curved face 9, in the direction of the insert thickness. In this example, a plurality of these types of protrusions 10 are arranged along the direction of the cutting edge 6. Additionally, in this example, protrusions 11 are formed at a location further from the projections 10 away from the cutting edge 6. The protrusion 11 are in the shape of a hemisphere larger than the projection 10, and outwardly project from the chip breaker face 8 in the direction of the insert thickness. Furthermore, in FIG. 1, numeral 12 indicates an installation aperture used for installing the insert 1 to a tool such as a cutting tool.
On the other hand, there is known another tip 13 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. The tip 13 comprises a cutting face 3 which concaves inwardly towards the thickness of insert body 2, and a chip breaker face 8 which projects outwardly in the direction of the insert thickness with respect to the extended plane stemming from the cutting face 3.
The cutting face 3 and the chip breaker face 8 are smoothly connected by the curved face 9 with a large radius of curvature, as in the case of the above-mentioned tip 1. Moreover, on the cutting face 3, chip breaker face 8 and curved face 9, protrusions 14 are formed as illustrated in FIG. 6 showing a cross section.
The protrusion 14, as shown in FIG. 6, is formed in a so-called tear-drop shape. That is, an end portion 16 of the protrusion 14, which is disposed near the cutting edge 6, is generally a half-conical shape. In contrast, opposite end portion 17 of the protrusion 14 is generally a quarter-spherical shape, and is smoothly connected to the end portion 16. In the insert 13 shown in FIGS. 4 through 6, identical numerals were used to indicate corresponding portions with the insert shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, thus this explanation will be omitted.
The purpose of these protrusions 10, 11, and 14 provided in inserts 1 and 13 is to break cuttings produced by the cutting edge 6 into small chips during a cutting operation. That is, in the inserts 1 and 13 provided with protrusions 10, 11, or 14, cuttings shaved off from the workpiece elongate contacting with the curved face 9; pass over protrusions 10, 11, or 14; and are forced curl so as to be broken into small chips.
In the tips 1 and 13, by means of the outwardly curved surface shape or tear-drop shape of the protrusions 10, 11, and 14, a V-shaped concave portion 18 is formed between the cutting edge 3 and the protrusions. For this construction, cuttings shaved off by cutting edge 6 pass over the concave portion 18 and pass over protrusions 10, 11 and 14; in this way, the curl diameter of the cuttings is reduced, and due to this, breaking of the cuttings can be more effectively accomplished.
In the cutting process using this type of insert, when the cutting depth and the cutting feed rate are small, the thickness of cuttings formed during this so-called light cutting operation become relatively small. In contrast, during heavy cutting operations, in the case when the cutting depth and the cutting feed rate are fairly large, cuttings with a relatively large thickness are formed.
However, in the case when the cuttings with this type of relatively large thickness are formed, in the inserts 1, 13 possessing outwardly curved protrusions 10 and 11 or tear-drop shaped protrusions 14, as mentioned above, these successively formed cuttings are forced to curl at the V-shaped concave portion 18, so that a small curl diameter is rapidly formed. As a result, large resistance is exerted on the tip 1. Moreover, the curled cuttings is brought into continual contact with the cutting face of the workpiece before being broken, so that the smooth discharge of chips is disrupted and the chips become clogged and accumulated at the cutting position.
When these chips clog and are accumulated, the cutting resistance becomes large and cutting accuracy is deteriorated. Additionally, there is a danger of breaking of the cutting edge by a large load exerted thereon.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, there is proposed the formation of the protrusion 10 with a small height to curl the cuttings T.sub.1 of large thickness in a large diameter, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 7.
However, in the case when the feed rate is low, and the thickness of the cuttings T.sub.2 is small, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 7, the cuttings cannot be sufficiently curled. Consequently the cuttings are discharged in the form of a continuous ribbon. As a result, the ribbon of the cuttings comes into contact with the cutting face of the workpiece W and cutting accuracy is deteriorated; the cuttings also become coiled around the tool and the workpiece W, which prevents a smooth cutting operation.
Additionally, even after the cuttings are curled, it is difficult to rapidly break them into chips. Therefore, the shapes of the cuttings generated by this continuous generation can be classified into several different categories, depending on the cutting conditions such as the feed rate and the cutting depth, as well as the shape and the size of a tip. That is, cuttings are produced in the shape of a straight ribbon running along the cutting face almost without being curled in the a shaved off condition caused by the cutting edge. Moreover, there are also the cases when a coiled shape (running along the cutting face), a cylindrical shape (set away from the cutting face or the cutting edge), or a conical shape, are drawn and set slanting in relation to the cutting edge and the cutting face.
However, as mentioned above, in the case when the straight ribbon (running along the cutting face) or coiled shapes are created, two types of problems occur: when the aforementioned type of cuttings come into contact with the cutting face, the cutting accuracy is deteriorated; and when the above generated cuttings are accumulated in between the tip and the workpiece to be cut, there arises to a large increase in cutting resistance.
In order to avoid the occurrence of these types of problems, it is possible to create the cuttings in a direction set apart from the cutting face of the material to be cut. However, in the tip of the above mentioned example, due to the outwardly-curved projections, there is the possibility that the cuttings, which are in contact with the aforementioned outwardly-curved surface, may be discharged in any direction. Thus, it is extremely difficult to control the direction in which the cuttings will be generated.


One aspect of the invention is a method for assigning categorical data to a plurality of clusters. The method includes identifying a plurality of categories associated with the data. The method also includes, for each category in the plurality of categories, identifying at least one element associated with the category. The method also includes specifying a number of clusters to which the data may be assigned. The method additionally includes assigning at least some of the data, wherein each assigned datum is assigned to a respective one of the clusters. The method further includes, for at least one of the clusters, determining, for at least one category, the frequency in data assigned to the cluster of at least one element associated with the category. Further, the invention provides for detecting outliers, anomalies, and exemplars in the categorical data.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to assigning data to clusters. More particularly, some examples of the invention concern assigning categorical data to clusters and/or identifying outliers and/or anomalies in the categorical data.
2. Description of Related Art
The problem of clustering concerns finding groupings of data where data gathered together in each group are similar, and are at the same time different from those in other groups. Clustering has received a great deal of attention for numeric data. In this case, it is easy to construct mathematical formulas to measure the degree of similarity and separation between data points. One such method is known as k-means, where the person who wants to cluster data chooses the number of clusters (k) ahead of time, and assigns each data point to one of the k clusters with the objective of finding the assignment that minimizes:Σ(i=1, . . . , k)Σ(j=1, . . . , ni)∥xj−μi∥2 where ∥xj−μi∥2 is the Euclidean distance between vectors xj and μi, μi is the hypothesized mean of the ith cluster, xj is the jth point assigned to cluster i, where there are ni such points, j iterates from 1 to the number of points in each cluster, ni, and i iterates from 1 to the number of clusters k. In the case where x and μ are not vectors but are instead scalar numbers, the distance is calculated as the square of the difference between the two numbers. The k-means approach seeks to minimize the within-cluster distance of every point assigned to the cluster to the mean of the cluster.
While k-means and other methods have been developed for clustering numeric data, categorical data present significant difficulties for these methods. Categorical data are data in which the data elements are nonnumeric. For example, within a category of fruit, there may be apples, bananas, pears, and so forth. Within another category of colors, they may be red, yellow, and green. A clustering problem might require grouping data consisting of these fruits and colors, rather than a numeric characteristic associated with the fruits (e.g., length, volume) or colors (e.g., intensity, wavelength).
After data are clustered, it is often of interest to identify those data that are not well associated with any cluster. When treating numeric data, this is often accomplished by determining the minimum distance from any particular data point to a center of mass (center) of a cluster (for example, the mean of all points assigned to a cluster). If a point is not sufficiently close to the center of any cluster then it can be regarded as an "outlier" or "anomaly." Distance is typically calculated in terms of the common Euclidean metric:Σ(i=1, . . . , n)∥xi−yi∥2 where there are n points, x1, . . . , xn, and n points y1, . . . , yn and the function ∥. ∥2 is:Sqrt[(x1−y1)2+(x2−y2)2+ . . . +(xn−yn)2]and Sqrt is the square root function. Although these techniques are useful for numeric data, known techniques are inadequate for clustering categorical data and for identifying categorical data that are not well associated with any cluster.

Method and device for clustering categorical data and identifying anomalies, outliers, and exemplars


Methods, systems, program products are disclosed that control placement of dummy shapes about sensitive circuit elements such that the dummy shapes are at least substantially similar for each circuit element even though the dummy shapes are auto-generated. In one embodiment, the invention includes providing dummy shape pattern pitch information to a designer, and allowing placement of circuit elements at integer multiples of one or more of the pitches such that the dummy shapes are at least substantially similar about each instance of the circuit element. Another embodiment includes allowing placement of a marker about a circuit element to indicate an area in which dummy shapes are to be substantially identical, and then using the marker to place the circuit element. Dummy shapes generated within the marker ensure substantially identical dummy shapes for each instance of the circuit element. The invention also includes the integrated circuits formed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) design, and more particularly, to IC design providing substantial matching functioning of circuit elements despite use of auto-generated dummy shapes.
2. Related Art
As silicon technologies offer constantly increasing levels of integration, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designers are continually challenged to increase productivity and produce larger and larger designs with the same or less resources. Use of smaller circuit elements, sometimes referred to as "macros," each of which include a predetermined structure for a part of an integrated circuit (IC) and can be used repetitively, is one technique for addressing this challenge. Use of repetitive circuit elements eliminates the need for the IC designer to continually re-design sections of the chip, and therefore improves productivity. As a result, design reuse methodology involving the use of IC circuit elements has become an essential part of IC design.
The designer that uses IC circuit elements is challenged to provide a product that has predictable functioning for these IC circuit elements. One challenge is matching the electrical behavior of two or more instances of the same circuit element in different locations in an IC design. This is generally at odds with automatically generated filler shapes, which are placed in the overall design after the layout is complete, and after the designer has performed all circuit analyses. In particular, if the design system uses automatically placed "dummy fill," or other auto-generated dummy shapes, the dummy shapes will be automatically placed around the circuit element. If the circuit element is a sensitive circuit, the designer may wish to insure that every instance of the circuit element function matches as identically as possible to every other instance within the IC. Auto-generated dummy shapes, however, are typically located on a consistent grid across an IC design such that different instances of the circuit element may find themselves in substantially different local environments. That is, there is no guarantee that different instances of the same circuit element will see the same local environment, e.g., dummy fill and hole shapes, when placed within the IC design. Any resulting mismatch in electrical parameters (e.g., resistance, capacitance, etc.) is unknown to the designer, and acts to degrade the function of the precision circuits in question. In order to address this issue, many designers attempt to inhibit the automatic generation of dummy shapes in the vicinity of sensitive circuits, and place all required dummy shapes by hand. This approach, however, is more difficult for the designer, and is generally detrimental to the overall manufacturability and process window.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a way to design ICs that overcomes the problems of the related art

Circuit element function matching despite auto-generated dummy shapes


Provided is a pharmaceutical formulation transporting device capable of easily ensuring a large exposed area of a solid pharmaceutical formulation during transport. A pharmaceutical formulation transporting device 10 comprises a first pulley 11, a second pulley 12, and a plurality of endless transport belts 13, 14 wound around the first pulley 11 and the second pulley 12, wherein the plurality of transport belts 13, 14 are disposed so as to be capable of holding a solid pharmaceutical formulation between respective first side surfaces.

As a mechanism for transporting solid pharmaceutical formulations such as tablets and capsules, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a configuration that includes two drums for retaining tablets on the circumferential surfaces by suction and is capable of delivering the tablets from one drum to the other drum. According to this configuration, it is possible to inspect the appearance of the front surface of the tablets during transportation of the tablets by one drum and inspect the appearance of the back surface of the tablets during transportation of the tablets by the other drum. Patent Literature 2 discloses an inkjet marking device having such a tablet transporting mechanism.

Pharmaceutical formulation transporting device and pharmaceutical formulation printing device