A method for acquiring image data obtains, for an intraoral feature, optical coherence tomography (OCT) data in three dimensions wherein at least one dimension is pseudo-randomly or randomly sampled and reconstructs an image volume of the intraoral feature using compressive sensing, wherein data density of the reconstructed image volume is larger than that of the obtained OCT data in the at least one dimension or according to a corresponding transform. The method renders the reconstructed image volume for display.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that employs interferometric principles to obtain high resolution, cross-sectional tomographic images that characterize the depth structure of a sample. Particularly suitable for in vivo imaging of human tissue, OCT has shown its usefulness in a range of biomedical research and medical imaging applications, such as in ophthalmology, dermatology, oncology, and other fields, as well as in ear-nose-throat (ENT) and dental imaging.
OCT has been described as a type of "optical ultrasound", imaging reflected energy from within living tissue to obtain cross-sectional data. In an OCT imaging system, light from a wide-bandwidth source, such as a super luminescent diode (SLD) or other light source, is directed along two different optical paths: a reference arm of known length and a sample arm that illuminates the tissue or other subject under study. Reflected and back-scattered light from the reference and sample arms is then recombined in the OCT apparatus and interference effects are used to determine characteristics of the surface and near-surface underlying structure of the sample. Interference data can be acquired by rapidly scanning the sample illumination across the sample. At each of several thousand points, OCT apparatus obtains an interference profile which can be used to reconstruct an A-scan with an axial depth into the material that is a factor of light source coherence. For most tissue imaging applications, OCT uses broadband illumination sources and can provide image content at depths of a few millimeters (mm).
Initial OCT apparatus employed a time-domain (TD-OCT) architecture in which depth scanning is achieved by rapidly changing the length of the reference arm using some type of mechanical mechanism, such as a piezoelectric actuator, for example. TD-OCT methods use point-by-point scanning, requiring that the illumination probe be moved or scanned from one position to the next during the imaging session. More recent OCT apparatus can use a Fourier-domain architecture (FD-OCT) that discriminates reflections from different depths according to the optical frequencies of the signals they generate. FD-OCT methods simplify or eliminate axial scan requirements by collecting information from multiple depths simultaneously and offer improved acquisition rate and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Because of their potential to achieve higher performance at lower cost, FD-OCT systems based on swept-frequency laser sources have attracted significant attention for medical applications that require subsurface imaging in highly scattering tissues. There are two implementations of Fourier-domain OCT: spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) and swept-source OCT (SS-OCT).
SD-OCT imaging can be accomplished by illuminating the sample with a broadband illumination source and dispersing the reflected and scattered light with a spectrometer onto an array detector, such as a CCD (charge-coupled device) detector, for example. SS-OCT imaging illuminates the sample with a rapid wavelength-tuned laser and collects light reflected during a wavelength sweep using only a single photodetector or balanced photodetector. With both SD-OCT and SS-OCT, a profile of scattered light reflected from different depths is obtained by operating on the recorded interference signals using Fourier transforms, such as Fast-Fourier transforms (FFT), well known to those skilled in the signal analysis arts.
One of the challenges to SS-OCT is providing a suitable light source that can generate the needed sequence of wavelengths in rapid succession. To meet this need, swept-source OCT systems conventionally employ a high-speed wavelength sweeping laser that is equipped with an intracavity monochrometer or uses some type of external cavity narrowband wavelength scanning filter for tuning laser output. Examples of external devices that have been used for this purpose include a tunable Fabry-Perot filter whose cavity length is adjusted to provide a linear change of longitudinal mode, and a polygon scanner filter that selectively reflects dispersive wavelength light. Fourier domain mode locking is a recently reported technique that has been used to generate a sweeping frequency, generally most useful for OCT imaging using broadband near infrared (BNIR) wavelengths.
References for providing a tunable laser include the following:
S. R. Chinn, E. A. Swanson, and J. G. Fujimoto, "Optical coherence tomography using a frequency-tunable optical source," Opt. Lett. 22, 340-342 (1997);
B. Golubovic, B. E. Bouma, G. J. Tearney, and J. G. Fujimoto, "Optical frequency-domain reflectometry using rapid wavelength tuning of a Cr4+:forsterite laser," Opt. Lett. 22, 1704-1706 (1997);
S. H. Yun, C. Boudoux, G. J. Tearney, and B. E. Bouma, "High-speed wavelength-swept semiconductor laser with a polygon-scanner-based wavelength filter," Opt. Lett. 28, 1981-1983 (2003);
Woojin Shin, Boan-Ahn Yu, Yeung Lak Lee, Tae Jun Yu, Tae Joong Born, Young-Chul Noh, Jongmin Lee, and Do-Kyeong Ko, "Tunable Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser based on digital micromirror array," Opt. Express 14, 5356-5364 (2006);
Xiao Chen, Bin-bin Yan, Fei-jun Song, Yi-quan Wang, Feng Xiao, and Kamal Alameh, "Diffraction of digital micro-mirror device gratings and its effect on properties of tunable fiber lasers," Appl. Opt. 51, 7214-7220 (2012).
Reference is also made to the following:
Huang, D; Swanson, E A; Lin, C P; Schuman, J S; Stinson, W G; Chang, W; Hee, M R; Flotte, T et al. (1991). "Optical coherence tomography". Science 254 (5035): 1178-81. Bibcode:1991Sci . . . 254.1178H. doi:10.1126/science.1957169.PMID 1957169;
U.S. Pat. No. 7,355,721 B2 entitled "Optical coherence tomography imaging" to Quadling et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 8,345,261 B2 entitled "Optical coherence tomography imaging" to Quadling et al.;
U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,928,888 B2 and 8,345,257 B2 , "Swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) method and system", both to Bonnema et al.
U.S. Patent Application No. US20130330686A1 entitled " Dental optical measuring device and dental optical measuring/diagnosing tool" by Kaji et al.;
Hung, K.-W.; Siu, W.-C., "Fast image interpolation using the bilateral filter," in Image Processing, IET, vol. 6, no.7, pp. 877-890, October 2012. doi: 10.1049/iet-ipr.2011.0050;
D. L. Donoho, "Compressed Sensing," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 52(4), 1289-1306 (2006);
E. Candes, J. Romberg, and T. Tao, "Robust uncertainty principles: Exact signal reconstruction from highly incomplete frequency information," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 52(2), 489-509 (2006);
Foucart, Simon, and Holger Rauhut. A mathematical introduction to compressive sensing. Vol. 1. No. 3. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2013;
Evgeniy Lebed, Paul J. Mackenzie, Marinko V. Sarunic, and Faisal M. Beg, "Rapid Volumetric OCT Image Acquisition Using Compressive Sampling," Opt. Express 18, 21003-21012 (2010);
Xuan Liu and Jin U. Kang, "Compressive SD-OCT: the application of compressed sensing in spectral domain optical coherence tomography," Opt. Express 18, 22010-22019 (2010).
One aspect of OCT imaging that constrains its practical usability and effectiveness for medical and dental imaging applications relates to the speed of data acquisition. Because the OCT scan requires surface sampling at numerous points spaced along the surface, the scanner must be held stationary during the sampling period. Movement of the scanner probe while obtaining data can disrupt the sampling process and prevent or delay acquisition of sufficient and accurate data for surface reconstruction.
Thus, it can be appreciated that there is a need for improved scanning apparatus and methods for OCT imaging that can improve efficiency and that can help to make OCT more usable.


A subsea assist snubbing jack comprises bi-directional slip bowls and can hold light or heavy pipe loads, create clamping load internally without relying on pipe weight or the force of the subsea assist snubbing jack to develop clamping force; do not require pipe motion to unseat the clamp on the pipe; utilize smooth faced inserts that do not mark the pipe; and are suitable for subsea control by wire operation. In embodiments, it is also instrumented to directly measure the pipe weight being held by one or both slip bowls.

Snubbing units were primarily designed to work in well control situations to "snub" drill pipe and or casing into, or out of, a well bore when conventional well killing methods could not be used. Unlike conventional drilling and completions operations, snubbing can be performed with the well still under pressure (not killed). When done so, it is called hydraulic workover which can also be performed without having to remove the Christmas tree from the wellhead.
Typically, a minimum of four slip bowls are used in snubbing operations. Two slip bowls are designated for "pipe light" operations, ones where the well bore forces are greater than the tubular weight in the well bore. The other two slip bowls are designated for "pipe heavy" operation, one which occur when, e.g., enough pipe has been snubbed into the well bore and fluid weight inside of the pipe is greater than the snub forces acting against the pipe in the well bore. Traditional slip bowls can only hold pipe load in one direction, require jack force or pipe weight to generate clamping force, require reversed pipe motion to unseat the clamp on the pipe, have no method of measuring the pipe weight being held by the slip bowl, rely on serrated toothed inserts that mechanically bite and mark the pipe, and are not used subsea.
In addition, traditional snubbing jacks are not used subsea, use hydraulic power to drive hydraulic jacking cylinders, use mechanical and/or hydraulic interlocks, and do not have leg motion misalignment measurement and control, relying instead on equalizing pressure across cylinders. Further, traditional snubbing jacks use hydraulic circuits to control jack leg and slip bowl, use hydraulic power to drive hydraulic jacking cylinders, use mechanical and/or hydraulic interlocks, and do not have leg motion misalignment measurement and control, relying instead on equalizing pressure across cylinders.
However, using direct hydraulic drive is not practical in deeper water; very high pressure is required or heavy walled cylinders, high hysteresis circuit losses leading to poor system response


This is a process and apparatus for using a passive desuperheater for passively desuperheating a superheated gas stream before the stream is transmitted to a heat exchanger. A spent gas stream of a liquid condensate is accumulated in the passive desuperheater. An incoming superheated gas stream comes into the passive desuperheater below the liquid level of the liquid condensate in the passive desuperheater for maximum direct contact heat transfer between the incoming steam and the liquid condensate. An outgoing stream of saturated gas exits the desuperheater above the level of the condensate.

Utility steam is typically available at superheated conditions for heat transfer applications. Superheated steam is less efficient for heat transfer than saturated steam. Superheated steam requires more exchanger surface area than an appropriate level of saturated steam to achieve the same energy input.
A refinery typically operates several levels of utility steam headers. The high pressure steam level is nominally 600 psig and is superheated to ˜700° F. These conditions are too severe for direct application as reboiler heat source for several distillation tower applications in the refinery. For instance, the steam is too hot for use in debutanizer reboiler service. The high temperature steam can be cooled by injecting water. However, traditional desuperheaters are complex, expensive, and suffer from poor reliability.
Traditionally, utility steam is de-superheated by the controlled injection of condensate to reduce superheat prior to use in heat exchangers. These injection type desuperheaters require a high pressure condensate source (typically requiring a new pump), an in-line injection nozzle and control valve, and are prone to reliability problems in field service.


The specification discloses a disposable low-cost constant pressure infusion pump intended to be used with an infusion cuff, or other infusion device for the infusion of sterile physiological solutions into the human body. The device utilizes an enclosure, which may be an infusion cuff or a pressurizing chamber that is adapted to receive a disposable bag of physiological solutions therewithin. A pressurizing chamber is formed about and around the bag of physiological solution, to define a pressure chamber to which is supplied a regulated pressure. The regulated pressure is provided from a small low-cost disposable canister of freon or other pressurizing fluid through a pressure regulating mechanism. The canister is equipped with a springloaded discharge valve, and the pressure regulating mechanism balances the spring constant of this discharge valve against an elastic wall or other resilient diaphragm to balance the loading between the elastic wall and springloaded discharge valve. A variety of actuating means and mechanisms are disclosed for balancing the two force specters to achieve a predetermined regulated pressure.

Physiological solutions stored in plastic bags need to be pressurized when infusion of the solutions is inhibited by either high solution viscosity (e.g., pack red blood cells), high pressure (e.g., infusion into the arterial tree), or when rapid infusion is required (e.g. crystalloid cardioplegia, hypovolumic shock). In addition, flush solutions used during invasive pressure measurements need to be pressurized to a constant pressure in order to maintain a constant infusion to keep the intravascular catheter patent. There are presently several types of devices that are commercially available to pressurize bags. The most popular is a two compartment soft bag with an inflatable bladder on one side and a pocket on the other side. The bag to be pressurized is inserted in the pocket. The bladder is inflated with air via a hand pump, tubing and valves. As the bladder inflates, it imparts external compression on the encased bag in the pocket. A pressure gauge indicates the pressure within the bladder. This type of device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,514.
A second type of device available is a non-disposable rigid housing into which the solution bag is inserted. The bag is compressed by a spring-loaded plate which also supports the bag within the housing. The spring-loading is engaged by a mechanical crank mounted on the box. This type of device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,635. A third type of device is similar to the first two types except that it incorporates a pressure regulator that maintains the inflatable bladder at a constant pressure. The unit requires an external gas source (e.g. "wall-supplied" oxygen) and is very expensive.
These commercially available devices have the following problems:
1. Cost - All, except one, are non-disposable, and relatively expensive. A variety of non-repairable malfunctions make the life expectancy of these devices short.
2. Sterility - They are used with blood, blood products and intravenous solutions in high risk areas of the hospital where cross contamination between patients is a prime consideration. Washing and/or sterilization of the non-disposable units is not easy and can lead to failure of these units.
3. Accuracy - Inaccurate infusion pressure occurs as the physiological solution is infused. The soft system, intermittently has to be manually compressed to maintain the same compression pressure against the bag with the physiological solution. Even when the compression pressure is maintained constant, the infusion pressure decreases as the volume in the bag decreases. Therefore, proper bladder pressure, as indicated on the pressure gauges, does not assure proper infusion pressure. The prior art systems require appropriate initial over pressurization, higher than 400 mmHg, to maintain the infusion pressure above 250 mmHg, as the volume of the bag changes from full to empty. When the bag's volume is emptied to 100 ml, the pressure may be as low as 200 mmHg. Additional inaccuracies may occur with (a) inappropriate placement of the bag within the compression devices causing herniation and solution trapping, a decrease in infusion pressure and decrease in infusion rate; (b) malfunctioning gauges - the gauges are usually not calibrated and are usually discarded only if "stuck". In fact the manufacturer of one of the most widely used pressure cuffs warns against the use of the cuff for use in monitoring arterial or venous pressure.
4. Safety - A decrease in infusion rate can be detrimental to the patient in two ways. First, the patient does not get the required solutions at the rate set initially unless an adjustment is made in the flow controlling resistor located in the I.V. line. Second, when heparinized solutions are used for continuous flush of intravascular catheters, a decrease in flush solution can result in formation of thrombus at the catheter tip which may lead to vessel damage and inaccurate pressure reading. The latter can result in an inappropriate therapy. The rigid device also poses a possible safety hazard to a patient lying under it. Should the device fall, patient injury can result.
In addition to the devices that are currently commercially available, the prior art includes a number of patents which describe constant pressure infusion pumps which include both ambulatory devices, and fixed location devices intended to be attached to hospital air supplies.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,308 discloses a pressure infusion device for ambulatory patients with a pressure control means. FIGS. 10-12 of this reference disclose an infusion device having a portable CO.sub.2 cartridge, a separate pressure regulator, a pressure chamber, and a bladder for discharging a solution into an ambulatory patient This device, however, is not intended to be a low cost disposable device which may be disposed of to avoid cross-contamination of patients. In addition, it is not capable of receiving standard disposable bags of physiological solution. The saline bladder must be refilled after each discharge.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,842,123 and 3,044,663, disclose pressurized transfusion devices that are particularly adapted to be connected to a compressed air line available in most hospitals. These devices are not disposable low cost devices, nor are they capable of accepting or discharging the contents of disposable bags of physiological solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,994 describes a self inflating liquid container for physiological solutions that may be disposed of. The devices are adapted to be pressurized by a sealed cartridge of CO.sub.2, but it is not a constant pressure device, nor may it be reused with disposable bags of sterile physiological solutions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,116 discloses a device particularly adapted for receiving and discharging the contents of a disposable bag of sterile physiological solutions. The device includes an accumulator 20 which is intended to be dilated with excess pressure pumped by bulb 10 to maintain the discharge pressure of the device at a somewhat constant level. The device uses a relatively linear portion along the curve of elastic deformation of the bladder to provide its constant discharge pressure. While conceptually feasible, the device would require an accumulator having the capacity to store, at the desired pressure-volume ratios, the amount of air necessary to discharge 500 to 1000 ml of solution, before a constant pressure could be achieved for the entire bag of solution. This would result in a rather bulky and expensive device with the volume of the accumulator approaching that of the infusion device.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,506,005 and 4,419,096 disclose constant pressure infusion devices, wherein the constant pressure is supplied by elastomatic bladders that are expanded along a linear portion of their curves of elastic deformation to achieve their constant pressure discharge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,543 discloses an infusion device particularly adapted for use with disposable bags of sterile physiological solution, wherein the pressure generating means for discharging this solution is supplied by a pair of chemical agents which generate a gas when mixed. However, once activated, the device generates a fixed amount of compressed gas, and the discharge of the physiological solution for the bag results in a declining pressure for the discharge solution. The device does not utilize any pressure regulating means. Similar gas generating devices intended for use in the medical field are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,203,441 and 4,300,542.
Since the currently available prior art devices are expensive, and not disposable or if disposable, are inaccurate and possibly dangerous to the patient, it is felt that a device which would overcome these problems would be both new and useful.


The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a dielectric filter. The method comprises the steps of: (a) preparing a ceramic substrate; (b) applying a conductive paste on the ceramic substrate, wherein the conductive paste comprises, (i) 100 parts by weight of a conductive powder, (ii) 0.1 to 10.0 parts by weight of a glass frit comprising silicon oxide, boron oxide, aluminum oxide and an alkaline metal oxide, and (iii) an organic vehicle; and (c) firing the applied conductive paste.

An electrode on a ceramic substrate of dielectric filter needs to contribute to better performance of the electrical component.
WO2009006242 discloses a conductive paste for a ceramic substrate of alumina or aluminum nitride. The conductive paste comprises a) a conductive metal powder comprising silver and palladium, b) a Bi2O3—SiO2—B2O3 glass powder and c) an organic solvent, wherein the conductive metal powder has an average particle diameter of not more than 1.2 μm.
EP2940783 disclose a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode dielectric filter, wherein the TEM mode dielectric filter comprises a dielectric body and a silver plating layer, wherein the silver plating layer covers a surface of the dielectric body, and a dielectric constant of the dielectric body is less than or equal to 21.

Dielectric filter and method for manufacturing the same


A window assembly for an operator's cab of a vehicle includes an upper window section which is movable from a closed position to an open, stored position in the roof of the cab. The window assembly includes first and second upper locking mechanism and first and second lower locking mechanism, and first and second release levers for simultaneously releasing the upper and lower locking mechanism. Current designs of removable windows require difficult and awkward operations to lock and unlock the latching mechanisms and for moving the window between closed and open positions. The subject window assembly incorporates simple and easily operated locking and unlocking mechanisms, as well as a convenient apparatus for moving and storing the opened window sections.

It is known, in earthmoving vehicles or the like, to provide the driver's cab with a front window assembly in which the front window can be moved from a closed position to an open position, in which open position the front window is retained to the inside roof of the vehicle. In this open position, the whole of the front of the driver's cab may be completely open. Owing to the nature of the tasks undertaken by earthmoving vehicles or the like, the front window of the driver's cab can become smeared with mud or the like to an extent which is unacceptable to the driver, despite the action of windscreen wipers on the front window. In any event, clearly, drivers favor the facility of being able to move the front window completely out of the way, leaving the front of the cab completely open in certain operating conditions. Current designs of such window assemblies tend to be disadvantageous in some respects. For example, multiple, difficult to co-ordinate operations may be necessary to move the front window between closed and open positions (for example involving separate, awkward operations of locking and unlocking catches in addition to separately gripping widely spaced handles on the window to lift the window into the roof area). The action of moving the window between closed and open positions may be far more complicated or difficult than need be the case, as well as the release and locking action of the window in open and closed positions. In short, it is believed that such window assemblies can be made much more "user friendly". Additional problems may exist in the ease and reliability of opening and closing the window and it is believed that the whole window design may be made much more versatile.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the aforementioned, or other, problems associated with window assemblies.


There is described a portable electronic device capable of managing screen orientation. The portable electronic device comprises a display, a motion sensor, an image sensor and a processor. The display provides an image at a first orientation. The motion sensor attempts to detect a rotation of the portable electronic device. The image sensor attempts to detect one or more body features. The processor determines a second orientation of the image at the display based on the rotation detected at the motion sensor and/or the body feature or features detected at the image sensor. The portable electronic device may determine an orientation of the image at the display in response to detecting the rotation at the motion sensor and/or the body feature or features at the image sensor.

Portable electronic devices are increasingly being used for accessing content, applications and functionalities. For example, a portable electronic device may include a touch-sensitive screen that enables one to interact directly with what is displayed. The touch-sensitive screen can be used to activate a function of the electronic device or otherwise interact with a user. Users typically use the touch-sensitive screen in two basic orientations, namely a portrait orientation in which the screen is viewed vertically and a landscape orientation in which the screen is viewed horizontally.
A portable electronic device may include an accelerometer to assist with portrait-to-landscape rotations and landscape-to-portrait rotations of its screen. The accelerometer of the device measures device orientation relative to the gravity of Earth and, then, rotates the screen accordingly. Due to the limits of physical law, the orientation cannot be resolved when the device lies flat relative to the surface of the ground. In fact, automatic screen rotation often doesn't work when the device is more horizontal than vertical relative to the surface of the ground. Many users, particularly those who understand the physical limitations of conventional screen rotation, avoid the problem by positioning the device vertically whenever screen rotation is desired.

Method for managing screen orientation of a portable electronic device


A crystal article comprises;. a substrate having i) a nonnucleation surface (S.sub.NDS) having a small nucleation density, ii) at least one single-nucleation surface (S.sub.NDL -S) provided adjacent to said nonnucleation surface (S.sub.NDS), having an area small enough for a crystal to grow from only a single nucleus and having a larger nucleation density (ND.sub.L) than the nucleation density (ND.sub.S) of said nonnucleation surface (S.sub.NDS), and iii) at least one multiple-nucleation surface (S.sub.NDL -M) having an area large enough for crystals to grow from plural nuclei and having a larger nucleation density (ND.sub.L) than the nucleation density (ND.sub.S) of said nonnucleation surface (S.sub.NDS); PA0 at least one monocrystal grown from said single nucleus and extending over said single-nucleation surface (S.sub.NDL -S) to cover part of said nonnucleation surface (S.sub.NDS); and PA0 a polycrystalline film grown from said plural nuclei to cover said multiple-nucleation surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crystal and a method for the growth of a crystal. More particularly, it is concerned with a crystal article comprising a substrate on which single crystals and polycrystals are formed in a controlled manner, and a method for the formation of the same. 2. Related Background Art
Monocrystalline thin films used in semiconductor devices or optical devices have hitherto been formed by epitaxial growth on a monocrystalline substrate. For example, on a Si monocrystalline substrate (or silicon wafer), Si, Ge, GaAs or the like is known to be epitaxially grown from a liquid phase, gaseous phase or solid phase. On a GaAs monocrystalline substrate, monocrystals of GaAs, GaAlAs or the like are also known to be epitaxially grown. Using semiconductor thin films thus formed, semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, light-emitting devices such as semiconductor lasers and 1 LEDs, etc. are fabricated.
Recently, research and development were also made extensively on very high-speed transistors employing two-dimensional electron gas, super lattice devices utilizing a quantum well, but it is the high precision epitaxial technique as exemplified by MBE (molecular-beam epitaxy) using ultra-high vacuum, MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition), etc. that has made these possible.
In the epitaxial growth effected on such a monocrystalline substrate, it is required to adjust the lattice constant and thermal expansion coefficient between the monocrystalline material of the substrate and the epitaxial growth layer. An insufficiency in this adjustment may result in growth of a lattice defect in an epitaxial layer. It may also occur that the elements constituting the substrate are diffused in the epitaxial layer.
Thus, the conventional method of forming a monocrystalline thin film by the epitaxial growth is seen to greatly depend on the materials of the substrate. Mathews et al have examined the combination of the substrate material with the epitaxial growth layer (see EPITAXIAL GROWTH, Academic Press, New York, 1975, ed. by J. W. Mathews).
Also, size of the substate is 6 inches or so at present in the case of Si wafers, and more further progress is needed in making GaAs or sapphire substrates larger in size. In addition, the monocrystalline substrates involve high production cost, making high the cost per chip.
Thus, the formation of monocrystalline layers capable of fabricating devices of good quality according to the conventional methods has involved the problem that the kinds of substrates are limited to a very narrow range.
On the other hand, research and development have been also made extensively in recent years on three-dimensional integrated circuits formed by laminating semiconductor devices in the normal direction of a substrate to achieve a highly integrated and multifunctional state. Research and development are also extensively being made year by year on large area semiconductor apparatus in which devices are set in array on an inexpensive glass sheet, such as solar batteries and switching transistors for liquid crystal picture elements.
What is common to both of these is that needed are techniques by which a semiconductor thin film is formed on an amorphous insulating material and electronic devices such as transistors are formed thereon. Particularly sought after among these is a technique by which monocrystalline semiconductors of high quality are formed on an amorphous insulating material.
In general, the build-up of a thin film on the amorphous insulating material such as SiO.sub.2 may make amorphous or polycrystalline the crystalline structure of the built-up film for lack of long-distance order of the substrate material. Here, the amorphous film refers to a film kept in a state that the short-distance order as in most vicinal atoms is retained but there is no long-distance order more than that, and the polycrystalline film refers to a film in which monocrystal grains having no particular crystal direction have gathered in a manner separated at the grain boundaries.
For example, in an instance in which Si is formed on SiO.sub.2 by a CVD process, it forms amorphous silicon when the deposition temperature is about 600.degree. C. or less, and, when the temperature is more than that, it forms polycrystalline silicon having grain size distributed in the range of from several hundred to several thousand .ANG.. The Grain size and its distribution of the polycrystalline silicon may greatly vary depending on formation methods.
Polycrystalline thin films having a large grain size of the order of microns or millimeters have been obtained by fusing and solidifying amorphous or polycrystalline films by use of energy beams of lasers, rod-like heaters or the like (see Single Crystal Silicon on Non-single-crystal Insulators, Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 63, No. 3, October, 1983, edited by G. W. Cullen).
Measurement of electron mobility based on the properties obtained when transistors are formed on the thus formed thin films of each crystalline structure have revealed that there is attained a mobility of not more than 0.1 cm.sup.2 /V.sec in the case of amorphous silicon; a mobility of from 1 to 10 cm.sup.2 /V.sec in the case of polycrystalline silicon having a grain size of several hundred .ANG.; and, in the case of polycrystalline silicon having attained the large grain size by fusion and solidification, a mobility of the same degree as in the case of monocrystalline silicon.
It is seen from these results that there is a great difference in electrical properties between the device formed on the monocrystal area in crystal grains and the device formed across grain boundaries. In other words, the built-up films on amorphous substrates, which are obtained by conventional methods, have the amorphous structure or the polycrystalline structure with a grain size distribution, such that the devices formed thereon have much poorer performance as compared with the devices formed on the monocrystalline layers. For this reason, uses are limited to simple switching devices, solar cells, photoelectric transducers, etc.
Also, in the method of forming the polycrystalline thin films having a large grain size by fusion and solidification, the amorphous or monocrystalline thin film is scanned with energy beams for each wafer. Accordingly, there have been involved the problems such that the method requires much time to make the grain size larger, it is poor in mass-productivity, and it is not suited for achieving a large area.
As stated in above, the conventional crystal growth methods and the crystals fromed thereby can not readily achieve the three-dimensional integration and the large area and have difficulties in practical application to devices, so that it was impossible to easily form and with a low cost the crystals such as monocrystals and polycrystals which are necessary for the fabrication of devices having good properties and multi-functionality.

Crystal articles and method for forming the same


A compact, lightweight printer capable of using multi-track ink ribbons that facilitates multicolor printing, without having a dedicated track switching drive system. The printer employs a printing track setting member that is activated by contact pressure from a print head carriage when it moves in one direction and vertically displaces a ribbon frame supporting the ribbon to one of several preselected heights with respect to the print head. The setting member is preferably made in the form of a setting lever with a drive end for interacting with the print head carriage and a setting end with a series of setting height stops that interact with the ribbon frame. Rotation of the setting lever places different setting level stops under the frame which varies its height accordingly. A printing track release member is also provided which is activated by contact pressure from the print head carriage when it moves in an opposite direction and raises the ribbon frame to disengage the track setting member and move the ribbon support frame to a new height. The track release member is preferably formed as a rotatable release shaft with drive end for interacting with the print head carriage and a release end with a lever extending under and toward the ribbon cassette. Rotation of the track release member shaft causes the lever to raise the ribbon frame accordingly.

1. Field Of the Invention
The invention relates generally to printers using ink ribbons having multiple widthwise printing tracks and more particularly to a switching mechanism for selecting a desired track on the ink ribbon. The invention further relates to a printing mechanism for achieving a compact color printer using multi-track multi-color print ribbons.
2. Description of Related Technical Art
The color printing process or color printers commonly employ ink ribbons having multiple ink tracks each with a different color. A printer is shown in FIG. 10 which is capable of printing in color using an ink ribbon 90 which has three widthwise color tracks, 91, 92, and 93 which are black, red, and blue, respectively. Switching between the three tracks 91, 92, 93, is typically performed using driver such as a motor 21. The illustrated printer is a dot matrix type of printer in which a print head 81, which has a series of electrically actuated print pins, is mounted on a carriage 83 that reciprocates laterally along a main guide shaft 82 to form a series of image forming dots during printing. An example of track switching technology using a multi-color ink ribbon is disclosed in more detail in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 3-41356, and is outlined further below.
Carriage 83 is moved back and forth along main guide shaft 82 by a carriage drive motor 85 typically using a timing belt 84. As head 81 is moved, printing along a path or line in the direction of travel is performed on recording paper 87 or other medium as desired, which is positioned on a platen 86. Three-color ink ribbon 90 is typically housed in a ribbon cassette 95, which rests on an appropriately shaped ribbon frame 96, here box-shaped. Ribbon frame 96 is moved or displaced up and down by a switching arm 23, which moves along a guide 22 fixed to a printer base 88, and as a result ribbon tracks 91, 92, and 93 are also moved up and down in front of print head 81, and selected for use. Switching arm 23 is pivoted up and down by a cam wheel 25 which is in turn driven or rotated by switching motor 21 using a gear 24, and the position of selected tracks 91, 92, and 93 can be confirmed using a position sensor 26 disposed on the cam wheel.
An alternative printer structure is shown in FIG. 11 in which an ink ribbon 90 is used having only two widthwise color tracks 91, which is black, and 92, which is red in this example, and print head 81 is driven along guide shaft 82 by a drive arm 30, which is rotated by carriage drive motor 85. Again, ribbon 90 is housed in a ribbon cassette 95 mounted on ribbon frame 96. Two solenoids, 31 and 32, are used to set or select either color track 91 or 92 in this printer structure as desired. First solenoid 31 is used to select upper track 91 of ribbon 90, by moving a setting rod 33. As a result of the rod 33 motion, ribbon frame 96 is pulled downward using a setting arm 34 which protrudes from ribbon frame 96.
When ribbon frame 96 moves downward, a spring 36 causes a setting hook 35 to be biased against and interlock with ribbon frame 96, which is then set or temporarily locked in this lower position. In this configuration, track 91 is selected and the color black is used by print head 81 during printing operations. When solenoid 32 pulls against setting hook 35 so as to resist the force of spring 36, setting hook 35 disengages its contact with ribbon frame 96 which is released to travel upward under the biasing action of a spring. This latter action results in track 92 being selected and the color red being used by print head 81 during subsequent printing operations.
Therefore, using the above configurations and general operating procedures, printing with a plurality of colors is facilitated using an ink ribbon on which a series of widthwise color tracks are formed.
Currently many printers are becoming increasingly compact with an eye to achieving portable use, while trying to maintain a multicolor printing capability. Such compact or portable printers must be particularly light in weight and have decreased power consumption, while also having low production costs. However, continuing to perform ribbon color track selection, as described above, using a motor, solenoid or other dedicated driver device, increases both the weight and power consumption of the printer. Aside from these drawbacks when using a heavy, power-consuming, drive system motor or solenoid, overall printer reliability is also decreased while production costs are increased due to an increased number of parts such as levers, hooks, and gears, employed in implementing such drivers.
At the same time, there is a demand for three or more colors instead of just two, which requires more complicated drive and control systems to be added to effect ink ribbon track selection the various tracks, thus, further aggravating the above problems.
What is needed is a technique for selecting different ink ribbon color tracks which does not employ specialized, heavy or excessively power consuming, track selection drivers. It is also desirable that any track selection system provide for efficient switching among three or more tracks with minimum complexity and few parts.


A method for inspecting a seal of a flexible container for a fluid, particularly a fluid medication, includes covering the container at least in part—preferably completely—by a gas-permeable layer. The container, together with the gas-permeable layer, is arranged in a flexible, substantially gas-tight bag, and the substantially gas-tight bag is evacuated by pumping out via a bag opening. The container is filled with a noble gas, and the presence of noble gas, which escapes out of the bag opening from the container via a leak through the gas-permeable layer, is detected.

The present invention relates to a method for inspecting a seal of a flexible container for a fluid, in particular for a fluid medicine, as well as the flexible container for a fluid medicine itself.
Flexible containers of this type for fluid medicines can, for example, be used as what are known as single use bags, in order to store and transport very valuable fluid biopharmaceuticals. They can consist of two layers of plastic—in particular plastic films—which are flexible and heat sealed at the edges ("flexible wall").
Inspecting the seal of these containers is a technical challenge, in particular because between production of the container and use thereof, the container is exposed to a number of influences which could be the cause of leaks or holes and the like. Such exposure may occur, for example, during packaging, sterilisation (for example using gamma radiation), transport, storage, unpacking as well as any manual manipulations and the like.
Thus, the prior art contains an established two-stage inspection method in which, initially at the production site for the container, a precise inspection is carried out and secondly, a further inspection is carried out at the point of use.
The inspection at the production site functions by introducing helium into the container. In this regard, it should be noted that this is actually only applicable to the container itself. Tubes, connectors, filters and the like, if any, are not tested along with it. The container filled with helium is disposed in a vacuum chamber. By evacuating the vacuum chamber and detecting helium present in the vacuum chamber which has escaped through any leaks, a conclusion can be drawn as regards the seal or the presence of a leak. This measurement is highly sensitive. Leaks with sizes of less than 5 μm can be detected. However, at the same time, a heavy load is placed on the container because pressurizing with helium causes the container to expand and inflate in the manner of a balloon. Greater precision at the point of use cannot be achieved using this prior art method, however, because appropriate equipment for high vacuum and the like is not readily available.
Leaks which only occur after this inspection has been carried out at the production site naturally cannot be detected in this manner.
As mentioned, a further inspection is carried out directly at the point of use. In this regard, the container is pressurized with a relatively low pressure (approximately 30 millibar) and monitored for approximately half an hour. A conclusion regarding the escape of a gas from the container can be drawn from the pressure changes. If these are too great, then the presence of a leak can be concluded. However, leaks with a size of 20 μm or less cannot be detected.
At the point of use, it is not practical to employ the prior art method carried out on the containers at the production site because the (industrial) facilities, such as a vacuum chamber and the availability of helium, might not be easy to reproduce at the point of use.
However, the sensitivity to leaks greater than 20 μm in size at the point of use is in the end not sufficient, because even holes of more than 3 to 5 μm are considered to be capable of leading to non-sterility inside the container (what is known as "bacterial ingress"). In short, a hole more than 3 to 5 μm in size allows bacteria to gain access to the interior of the container.
Thus, the objective of the invention is to provide a method and a device which can be used to reduce the risk of a failure of the sterility of a flexible container for fluid medicines and similar products, for example from the pharmaceutical production process.

Method for inspecting a seal of a flexible container


For detachable mounting onto a storage system including a pair of rodlike mounting elements mounted onto a common base and lying along an axis, a loose leaf holder comprising a planar member and apparatus associated with an edge of the planar member for detachably mounting the planar member onto the rodlike mounting elements by applying to the planar member a force having a component at right angles to the axis.

There is available on the market a wide variety of loose leaf holders by which standard size documents may be retained for storage. A conventional loose leaf holder comprises a pair of lockable flexible elements that are mounted on a common base and upon which one or more leaves may be mounted, by means of holes punched along an edge of the one or more leaves.
Also available are loose leaf holders having a planar base configured for retention by a ring binder, which generally comprises a pair of lockable, rigid, metal ring-shaped elements mounted on a base. Ring binder retainable holders are particularly useful for storing a number of sets of documents that it is wished to keep separate, and which it may be useful to remove individually from the ring binder.
There is further available a detachable ring binder retainable holder wherein a planar base is mountable onto a ring binder by means of a pair of L-shaped grooves configured for engagement with the ring-shaped elements of the ring binder. A leaf spring is also provided inside each groove, which prevents the holder from becoming accidentally detached from the ring binder.
Among disadvantages of the detachable holder described above is that the mounting thereof onto a ring binder, and the detachment thereof from a ring binder, may be achieved only by a series of relatively complex movements of the detachable holder and the ring binder relative to each other.


A thermal management system for a gas turbine engine includes a cooling airflow which enters through an air filter portion of a forward cover for filtration of particulate which may result in FOD to a rotational system of the engine. Filtered cooling airflow flows along a rotor shaft over and through a forward bearing, over and through a permanent magnet generator, then over and through an aft bearing to provide thermal management. Commensurate therewith, the cooling airflow atomizes and communicates a lubricant to the bearings. From the aft bearing, the cooling airflow merges with a primary airflow path from an intake which generally surrounds the forward cover.

The present invention relates to a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to thermal management of the bearing system for a miniature gas turbine engine.
Miniature gas turbine or turbojet engines (typically of 150 lbf thrust and smaller) are often utilized in single usage applications such as reconnaissance drones, cruise missiles, decoy and other weapon applications, including air-launched and ground-launched weapon systems. The use of such an engine greatly extends the range of the weapon in comparison to the more conventional solid fuel rocket engine.
To achieve economically feasible extended range expendable propulsion sources for such applications, it is necessary that the miniature gas turbine engines be manufactured relatively inexpensively yet provide the highest degree of starting and operational reliability when launched from air or ground systems. One component that greatly affects mechanical performance and reliability is the high speed bearings which support the rotating turbine machine. Reliability and efficiency of the bearing system is a priority for a successful expendable turbine engine. Such reliability and efficiency of the bearing system may be compromised through foreign object damage (FOD), inadequate thermal management, or inadequate lubrication distribution.
Current gas turbine bearing systems employ a relatively complex closed circuit lubrication scheme which is relatively expensive to manufacture and difficult to maintain over long term storage typical of single use systems. Other gas turbine bearing systems utilize open air flow-through systems which, although providing satisfactory thermal management, directly subject the rotating components to FOD which may increase the potential of an operational failure.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an uncomplicated and inexpensive thermal management and lubrication system for a miniature gas turbine engine which facilitates storage yet assures operational reliability.

Thermal management system for a gas turbine engine


Cleaning pads for cleaning a hard surface with a cleaning implement are provided. A cleaning pad can have distinct high friction region(s) and low friction(s). A cleaning pad can also have distinct hydrophilic region(s) and hydrophobic region(s).

The literature is replete with products capable of cleaning hard surfaces such as ceramic tile floors, hardwood floors, counter tops and the like. In the context of cleaning floors, and in particular in the context of cleaning floors with a cleaning solution, numerous devices are described comprising a handle rotatably connected to a mop head having retaining means for maintaining an absorbent cleaning pad attached during the cleaning operation and a liquid delivery mechanism connected to the handle for dispensing a cleaning solution on the floor surface.
Typical disposable cleaning pads used with these devices include a bottom layer (also called floor sheet or scrubbing layer) and an absorbent core. The bottom layer includes a "functional" surface which is the surface (generally the lower surface) in contact with the hard surface during the cleaning operation.
One example of a "wet" cleaning device is the SWIFFER WETJET® cleaning implement, sold by The Procter & Gamble Company, which produces a spray of fine droplets of liquid delivered onto an area of about 0.3 m2. The SWIFFER WETJET® implement is preferably used with disposable absorbent cleaning pads, such as the SWIFFER WETJET® cleaning pads, which has an absorbent core comprising a water insoluble, water-swellable superabsorbent gelling polymers having a high absorbent capacity for absorbing and locking the soiled solution removed from the hard surface. The combination of this type of pad with the previously described implement is optimized in the sense that the cleaning solution is spread over a large area and the pad is designed to assure that only a minimum amount of dirty solution is squeezed out of the pad and released back onto the hard surface.
Another example of such a cleaning device is the CLOROX® READY-MOP® cleaning implement, sold by The Clorox Company, which includes a liquid delivery mechanism removably attachable to a reservoir. This liquid delivery mechanism only uses the potential energy of the column of liquid in the reservoir to dispense a puddle of solution onto the hard surface in front of the implement. This implement can be used with a disposable cleaning pad, such as the READY-MOP® cleaning pad which has an absorbent core predominantly made of a cellulosic material. This pad has a relatively low absorbent capacity and tend to release much more of the dirty solution onto the hard surface in comparison to the WETJET® cleaning pad.
One would assume that a SWIFFER WETJET® type cleaning pad, when used with an implement which delivers the cleaning solution over a small area such as CLOROX® READY-MOP® implement, would provide the same benefits as when this pad is used with a WETJET® implement. It is found however, that because the implement dispenses the cleaning solution over a relatively small area, the cleaning efficacy of this pad is not fully optimized.
It is therefore one object of this invention to provide an optimized cleaning pad which can be used with a cleaning implement that delivers the solution within a relatively small area.
It is also another object of this invention to provide a method of cleaning a hard surface with a cleaning implement conceived to deliver a cleaning solution within a relatively small area of the surface to be cleaned with a cleaning pad offering the same benefits as the superabsorbent type cleaning pads discussed hereinbefore without any of the negatives (such as for example, low absorbent capacity and liquid release) previously discussed.

Abstract: A method of cleaning a floor surface with a cleaning implement and a cleaning pad by applying a cleaning solution on the floor surface while the implement and the pad are not in contact with the floor surface and then wipe the floor surface with the pad, is also provided.


A micropump device including a first wafer and a second wafer attached to the first wafer. The first and second wafers are configured to define a chamber therebetween having a predetermined volume. A third wafer is attached to the second wafer to define an inlet section and an outlet section in fluid communication with the chamber. At least one of the second and third wafers are formed to define a moveable diaphragm configured to change the predetermined volume of the chamber for pumping a fluid between the inlet section and the outlet section.

There is relatively high demand for microfluidic systems due to their needed small size, easy portability, and low cost for research, civil, and even some military applications. One core device of a microfluidic system is a micropump. In the past decades, researchers have proposed and developed various micromachining micropump prototypes. Commercially available micropumps made with batch fabrication techniques still under development and may be improved.
One example of a micropump includes a check valve diaphragm micropump. Due to the small stroke of the diaphragm and a comparatively large chamber volume, the diaphragm micropump usually has a relatively small compression ratio (i.e. the ratio of stroke volume to chamber volume). This makes it difficult for such a micropump to deliver gases that have a comparatively high compressibility. It is also difficult to transport liquid that contains air or gases, since the gas pockets accumulate in the chamber and have high compressibility.
For check valve diaphragm micropumps, rigid check valves and diaphragms are unsuitable, since the resistance of the valve is greater than the pressure difference created by the diaphragm actuation mechanism. However, overly flexible check valves and diaphragms are also unsuitable, since leakage would be high and the dynamic response of the micropump would be low, precluding an expected linear working range.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need for an improved micropump and method of producing micropumps.


The present application relates at least in part to methods for the administration of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to the spinal cord of a human or animal patient and also to a method of treatment for spinal cord injury and other diseases and disorders of the CNS. In particular, the application discloses methods to deliver an siRNA compound locally, directly and without the need for transduction vehicles and formulations in effective doses to the injured spinal cord to promote recovery of CNS function and or attenuation of allodynia.

siRNA represents a promising therapeutic technology, however hurdles remain to be overcome in the administration of siRNA to a patient. Various techniques have been employed to introduce siRNA into cells including cationic lipid-mediated transfection, viral delivery and nucleofection. Delivery using cationic lipids appears to be the easiest method for transfection, however its efficiency is often low and limited to specific types of cells. While viral delivery works well for some difficult cells, cell lines, and for in vivo delivery (Garraway et al., 2007, J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 322:982-8) it has raised safety concerns. Unmodified siRNA single strands or duplexes are extremely unstable in serum, with a half-life of less than 1 minute for the single strands and 3.3 to 5 minutes for the duplexes (Sioud, 2005. Curr Drug Targets. 6:647-53; Sioud and Iversen, 2005. Curr Drug Targets. 6:647-53). However, chemical modifications of the siRNAs have demonstrated dramatic improvement in stabilities; modified siRNA were approximately 900-fold more stable than unmodified siRNAs (Morrissey et al., 2005. Nat Biotechnol. 23:1002-7). Certain stable and active siRNA compounds are disclosed in PCT patent publications WO 2008/050329 and WO 2009/044392, assigned to an applicant of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Delivery of siRNAs to the central nervous system (CNS) is problematic because of the blood brain barrier (BBB) and most successful strategies have used an intrathecal route. Intracerebroventricular infusion of naked siRNA at a high concentration via minipumps into the rodent brain have successfully inhibited target gene expression, however, knockdown of target gene expression drops off significantly in regions distant from the infusion site (Thakker et al., 2004. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 101:17270-5). Using a lumbar indwelling cannula attached to an osmotic minipump, intrathecal application of high doses (400 μg/day) of siRNAs in the spinal cord silenced the ATP-gated cation-channel P2X3, and relieved chronic neuropathic pain (Dorn et al., 2004. Nucleic Acids Res. 32:e49). Other studies achieved therapeutic effects after intrathecal delivery with substantially lower doses using an implanted Alzet pump in a chronic mouse model for ALS progression (Wang et al., 2008. J Biol Chem. 283:15845-52) and with pretreatment in acute pain models (Christoph et al., 2006. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 350:238-43; Luo et al., 2005. Mol Pain. 1:29). Rohl and Kerreck review various methods of RNAi in pain models (J. Neurochem. 99:371-380). Inoue has implicated RhoA activation in neuropathic pain (Inoue et al., 2004. Nat Med 10(7): 712-8).
Contusive injuries to the spinal cord produce primary damage to the tissue and initiate a cascade of events called secondary injury, which progresses in several phases over days to weeks (Beattie et al., 2000. J Neurotrauma. 17:915-25). Microglia within the spinal cord become activated rapidly after injury. Activated macrophages begin to accumulate by 3 days after spinal cord injury in the rat (Schwab et al., 2004. Glia. 47:377-86). During the first several days after SCI there is extensive cell death in and around the injury site and the axonal processes of neurons die back from the injury site. These processes are accompanied by complex molecular changes including upregulation of RhoA and its activation in both neural (D'Alessandri et al., 1995. Curr. Eye Res. 14:911-926; Dubreuil et al., 2003. J Cell Biol. 162:233-43; Erschbamer et al., 2005. J Comp Neurol. 484:224-33; Yune et al., 2007. J Neurosci. 27:7751-61) and immune cells (Fu et al., 2007. J Neurosci. 27:4154-64; Pixley et al., 2005 J Cell Sci. 118:1873-83; Schwab et al., 2004), which are believed to contribute to secondary damage as well as to limit axonal regeneration and functional recovery. Cell permeable Rho antagonists (e.g. BA-210), which inhibit the activity of phosphorylated Rho family proteins including RhoA, have shown improved recovery after spinal cord injury in rodents (Lord-Fontaine et al., 2008. J Neurotrauma. 25:1309-22) and are being tested in clinical trials to promote axon regeneration and functional recovery (Baptiste et al., 2009. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 18:663-73). RhoA protein levels are upregulated several fold reaching their highest levels in the rat spinal cord ˜7 days following spinal cord contusion, providing a window for therapeutic intervention after SCI (Erschbamer et al., 2005 supra). However, BA-210 inhibition of RhoA was found only up to 4 days after acute treatment but not at one week (Lord-Fontaine et al., 2008) when RhoA expression is robust (Erschbamer et al., 2005). Methods for targeted delivery of siRNA to the CNS and enhanced activity in the target cells would be desirable.
Pain is the most common symptom of disease and the most frequent complaint with which patients present to physicians. Inadequate pain management remains a major public health problem. Currently available treatment options for allodynia/SCI associated pain are limited and since many SCI pain conditions are not amenable to treatment, particularly at-level and below-level neuropathic pain, management becomes largely symptomatic. A solution for the treatment of allodynia/SCI associated pain is therefore required.

Methods for delivery of siRNA to the spinal cord and therapies arising therefrom

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey


Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to model fitting. A target model having a large number of inputs is fit using a performance model having relatively few inputs. The performance model is learned during the fitting process. Optimal optimization parameters including a sample size, a damping factor, and an iteration count are selected for an optimization round. A random subset of data is sampled based on the selected sample size. The optimization round is conducted using the iteration count and the sampled data to produce optimized parameters. The performance model is updated based on the performance of the optimization round. The parameters of the target model are then updated based on the damping factor and the parameters computed by the optimization round. The aforementioned steps are performed in a loop in order to obtain optimized parameters and fit of the data to the target model.

One objective of model fitting is to tune the parameters of a model in order to fit some existing data, such as a training set, to either perform regression or classification, and to predict the function value at inputs not present in the training set. Model fitting is a crucial and often very time consuming component of machine-learning and forecasting algorithms. Example applications of model fitting may include image classification such as where the model is fitted to label a set of pictures based on an already labeled subset of the images. In this case, the application may learn to detect features and use the detected features to identify whether a picture belongs to a class. In general this has several practical applications, such as handwriting recognition, automatic labeling for search, filtering unwanted results, etc.
Another example application of model fitting may include natural language processing. In this example, classifying sound samples may be used to generate automated subtitles, translations, label sound/music files for search or filter them. Speech recognition can also be used to control devices.
A further example application of model fitting may include spam filtering in texts. For example, a model identifying spam messages may need to be tuned in order to classify new messages for automatic spam filtering.
Still another example application of model fitting may include tracking advertisements by click through rates in order to create predictions for online serving of advertisements.
Another example application of model fitting may include web traffic forecasting such as that used to estimate the amount of traffic on a website given a set of circumstances. This can be used for better resource allocation and also for inventory management of advertisement.
Yet another example application of model fitting may include product recommendation systems including those that provide suggested media, search information, or advertisements to users based on a browsing or purchase history
The above examples are only a small selection of where model-fitting is widely used. In addition supervised training for classification, model-fitting may also be used for unsupervised learning, where the task is to learn a sparse representation of the identity function on the training set. Some model fitting techniques may also utilize additional noise injection to create more robust models. Unsupervised learning may be useful if the number of unlabeled examples greatly exceeds that of the labeled examples. Supervised learning may typically be used as pre-training before a subsequent supervised learning phase. This can both improve the training speed and the generalization error.
Often the whole training set is too large to evaluate the objective function using the whole training set. Sometimes it is even infinite, as training examples may be generated on the fly. If it is not technically feasible to control the selection of the training examples, then the problem may be referred to as online training.
Most model fitting applications are based on sampling. Already the use of a training set can be regarded as a form of sampling. The most primitive form of sampling is the use of stochastic gradient without batching. This algorithm loops over all examples one-by-one and updates the objective immediately by adding a small correction based on the example to the model parameters. This method is one of the cornerstones of all machine learning applications. An improved version of stochastic gradient is using mini-batching, a randomly chosen subset of training examples is considered and the gradient is computed using the subset rather than a single individual training example. In the case of gradient descent, which is a first order method, this results in a modest improvement mostly due to improved memory management as the gradients would be added up and averaged over the long run.
Higher order methods, such as pseudo-Newton methods, cannot operate on single instances without a significant loss of performance. Their strength is to approximate the objective by a quadratic form and minimize this approximation subsequently. A prominent example of second order, or quasi-Newton, optimization in machine learning is the limited-memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (L-BFGS) method which manages a limited second order approximation of the model during optimization.
In the case of quasi-Newton methods, batching affects the performance of the algorithms profoundly. Theoretically, second order methods would require a test set that give a good approximation of the Hessian of the objective function. In praxis, however there is a tradeoff between accuracy of the estimation and computational costs. Better approximation of the Hessian can be obtained by increasing sample sizes, but the effect of a more accurate fit will not improve the performance significantly in the beginning of the optimization. As the optimization procedure progresses, larger and larger sample sizes may be required to get optimal learning performance.
Second order methods require larger batch sizes in general, and the choice of a reasonable batch size can affect the overall performance of the learning process drastically. However the optimum batch size depends on a various factors and its value changes considerably as training proceeds, so there is not one-fit-for-all solution.
Typical strategies for model fitting may involve a constant batch size or changing the batch size by some prescribed function which is empirically determined and tuned to the specific problem. A poorly tuned batch size (or batch size selection mechanism) may result in oscillating behaviors and inferior quality solutions. In addition, an ad hoc batch-sizing function may be well tuned for a specific setting, but the optimal sampling depends on the features of the model employed and as well as on the underlying optimization method. If either the algorithm or the training set changes significantly, then previously close-to optimal sampling may not converge for the changed situation. These strategies may also result in software-engineering issues such as hand-tuned, hard coded parameters that can seriously affect the reusability, refactorability and flexibility of the implementation.

Robust and fast model fitting by adaptive sampling


An improved system and method for rating subscribers based on wireless subscriber specific credentials. A wireless network operator, or a content/application provider assigns to a subscriber a unique username. For purposes of providing rating or feedback information, the assigned username acts uniquely to identify the subscriber, whose actual identity therefore remains anonymous. The subscriber uses his or her mobile phone to access a mobile telephony network. Evaluators may offer feedback or ratings of the subscriber using the internet.

Publicly available peer reviews have become a conduit for anonymous buyers and anonymous sellers to engage in commercial transactions over the Internet since the mass adoption of Internet-based technology. Companies such as eBay, Amazon and others have popularized such peer reviews, or "feedback systems". Such a medium allows a buyer and seller of goods and services the opportunity to build confidence in a person's level of credibility, trustworthiness and honesty.
Public ratings may be the basis upon which a consumer or business will make the decision to buy/sell products or services to/from other persons or businesses. For example, a seller using eBay that has amassed predominantly favorable ratings from its buyers is more likely to sell his products as compared with another seller with no, fewer, or lower ratings, all other things being equal.
Publicly available feedback or ratings are typically associated with a username, such as a self-originated name ("John Doe"), an email address ("email@example.com"), or a computer-generated name ("JohnDoe12345"). That is, the username is permanent (or quasi-permanent) and must be provided or initiated by the user. Feedback or ratings may only be provided if one knows the username of the entity to be rated.
There exists a need, therefore, to permit an individual or organization (hereafter, an "evaluator") to rate/review a provider of products or services where the username of the provider is not known by the individual or organization. More particularly, there exists a need to permit an evaluator to rate/review of provider of products or services offered by a mobile subscriber.
As used herein, the term "mobile phone" includes cellular and/or satellite mobile telephones; Personal Communications System (PCS) terminals that may combine a mobile phone with data processing, facsimile and/or data communications capabilities; Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) that can include a radio frequency transceiver and a pager, Internet/Intranet access, Web browser, organizer, calendar and/or a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; and/or conventional laptop and/or palmtop computers or other appliances, which include a radio frequency transceiver. As used herein, the term "mobile phone" also includes any other radiating user device/equipment/source that may have time-varying or fixed geographic coordinates, and may be portable, transportable, installed in a vehicle (aeronautical, maritime, or land-based), or situated and/or configured to operate locally and/or in a distributed fashion at any other location(s) on earth and/or in space. A "mobile phone" also may be referred to herein as a "subscriber station," "radiotelephone," "radioterminal," "terminal," "wireless terminal" or "wireless user device."
As used herein, the term "mobile telephony network" means any of a plurality of wireless telephony and/or data networks, including but not limited to those based on Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN), and/or 3GPP LTE.
As used herein, the term "electronic serial number" or "mobile equipment identity" each means an identification number that is globally unique for each CDMA mobile phone. It identifies that mobile phone to the mobile telephony network, and can be used to flag for enabling services. MEID is a replacement for ESN (electronic serial number).
As used herein, the term "International Circuit Card Identification" or "ICCID" means a 19- or 20-digit unique number that identifies an individual SIM card used in GSM/UMTS phones.
As used herein, the term "International Mobile Equipment Identity" or "IMEI" means a number unique to every GSM and UMTS mobile phone, for example, a device serial number.
As used herein, the term "International Mobile Subscriber Identity" or "IMSI" means a unique number associated with a subscriber in any GMS/UMTS network. The IMSI is stored on the (U)SIM/UICC.
As used herein, the term "Mobile Directory Number" or "MDN" means the actual phone number one would dial to reach a specific mobile phone in a CDMA network.
As used herein, the term "Mobile Identification Number" or "MIN" means a unique number assigned by the CDMA wireless service provider to each mobile phone it sells or includes in its service plans.
As used herein the term "Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network" or "MSISDN" means the actual phone number one would dial to reach a specific mobile phone in a GSM/UMTS network.
As used herein, the term "Universal Integrated Circuit Card" means a chip card used in mobile phones in GSM and UMTS networks that contain subscription, authentication and security information. A Universal Integrated Circuit Card may also contain applications or files for offering content or services.
As used herein, the term "3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution)" means the project within the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard to cope with future technology evolutions. Goals include improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum and refarmed spectrum opportunities, and better integration with other open standards.

Method and apparatus for creating a rating system for mobile subscribers based on wireless subscriber specific credentials


A video output circuit of a wide bandwidth comprises a bridged-T-type circuit, a first inductor connected in series to the bridged-T-type circuit, and a shunt circuit connected in series to the bridged-T-type circuit and including a second inductor and a first resistor connected in parallel with each other. The bridged-T-type circuit, the first inductor and the shunt circuit cooperate to constitute together with a plurality of stray capacitors a low-pass filter whose order is at least 4 and whose merit index is at least 3.

The present invention relates generally to a video output circuit of a wide bandwidth designed for a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display device or the like.
For the video output circuit developed in these years for practical applications to CRT displays of super high resolution, there is required as high an output power as 100 V.sub.pp with a frequency on the order of 100 MHz.
In such video output circuit, a video output terminal thereof is inevitably accompanied with a stray capacitor of a finite value. As a consequence, power consumption of the video output circuit increases in proportion to a frequency bandwidth and a voltage amplitude as required. As an attempt for suppressing the power consumption from increasing, there have heretofore been proposed a variety of high-frequency peaking circuits, typical ones of which are shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C of the accompanying drawings, respectively. More specifically, FIG. 2A shows a shunt circuit of a capacitor (C) and a resistor (R) including no peaking circuit. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a current source for supplying a current of magnitude I, numeral 2 denotes a resistor having a resistance value R, and numeral 3 denotes a capacitor having a value of C. The output voltage of this shunt circuit is indicated by a symbol E. Representing a 3dB bandwidth by f.sub.c, there exists among the parameters C, R and f.sub.c a relation given by an expression inserted in FIG. 2A.
FIG. 2B shows a peaking circuit whose order is equal to 3 (a peaking circuit of second order, to say in another way), in which reference numerals 4 and 5 denotes capacitors having values C.sub.1 and C.sub.2, respectively, and 6 denotes an inductor having a value L. In order to realize a so-called Butterworth maximally-flat frequency characteristic in this circuit, the parameters C.sub.1, L, C.sub.2, R and f.sub.c are so selected as to satisfy the condition given by the expression inserted in FIG. 2B.
Finally, FIG. 2C shows a bridged-T-type peaking circuit, details of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,520 entitled "WIDE BAND HIGH OUTPUT AMPLIFIER USING A POWER FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR AS AN OUTPUT STAGE". In the figure, reference numeral 7 denotes an output capacitor of a value C.sub.0, and numerals 9 and 10 denote stray capacitors of values C.sub.s1 and C.sub.s2, respectively.
When a transfer impedance of each of the circuit shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B is represented by T(.ident.E/I), frequency characteristics of these circuits can be determined in accordance with the expressions (1), (3) and (5) mentioned below. In this conjunction, it is considered to be convenient and reasonable to define a merit index (M) of a peaking circuit in terms of a product of an overall capacitor value, a load resistor value, the 3 dB bandwidth and 2.pi..
In accordance with the above definition, the merit index M of the circuit shown in FIG. 2A is "1" (one) in accordance with the expression (2) mentioned below.
On the other hand, the merit index M of the peaking circuit shown in FIG. 2B is equal to "2", as determined in accordance with the expression (4) also mentioned below.
In the case of the peaking circuit shown in FIG. 2C, the merit index M is equal to 2.sqroot.2 on the assumption that the stray capacitors C.sub.s1 and C.sub.s2 are absent, as can be seen from the undermentioned expression (6). EQU .vertline.T/R.vertline.={1+(f/f.sub.c).sup.2 }.sup.-0.5 ( 1) EQU M=2.pi.f.sub.c CR=1 (2) EQU .vertline.T/R.vertline.={1+(f/f.sub.c).sup.6 }.sup.-0.5 ( 3) EQU M=2.pi.f.sub.c (C.sub.1 +C.sub.2)R=2 (4) EQU .vertline.T/R.vertline.={1+(f/f.sub.c).sup.4 }.sup.-0.5 ( 5) EQU M.ident.2.pi.f.sub.c C.sub.0 R=2.sqroot.2 (6)
As is apparent from the above, the prior art circuits shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C suffer limitation that the merit index M can not exceed three.

Video output circuit with wide bandwidth and low power consumption for high resolution display


The present invention relates to an array substrate and a display device. The array substrate comprises a first thin film transistor arranged on a non-display area of the array substrate and a second thin film transistor arranged on a display area of the array substrate, a part of a first active layer corresponding to a region between a first source and a first drain in the first thin film transistor forms a first trench, and a part of a second active layer corresponding to a region between a second source and a second drain in the second thin film transistor forms a second trench, the first trench has at least one first bent portion, the second trench has a second bent portion, and bending angles of the first bent portion and the second bent portion are the same or explementary angles.

In a tablet display device, thin film transistors (TFTs) arranged in matrix and a driving chip for driving the thin film transistors are generally provided on an array substrate, in order to control every pixel. In general, the thin film transistors are formed in a display area by a patterning process, and the driving chip is bonded in a non-display area.
With the development of display technology, GOA (Gate on Array) technique has been developed, that is, a gate driving circuit in the array substrate is integrated on a base substrate to drive pixels in a scanning manner. The gate driving circuit is formed by thin film transistors, and can be formed by a patterning process like the thin film transistors in the display area. Compared with the traditional bonding process of the driving chip, the bonding with respect to the GOA chip (integrated gate driving chip) is omitted, which can not only save cost, but also facilitate improving capacity due to the omission of bonding process in the gate line direction, and thus the GOA technique is widely applied in thin film transistors in the non-display area of the tablet display device.
A thin film transistor generally includes a gate G, a source S, a drain D and a semiconductor layer. Currently, the structure of the GOA thin film transistor in the non-display area differs from that of the pixel thin film transistor in the display area in that: a trench between the source and the drain of the GOA thin film transistor shown in FIG. 1 generally has a U-shaped structure, whereas a trench between the source and the drain of the pixel thin film transistor shown in FIG. 2 generally has a linear shape. In comparison, the trench between the source and the drain of the GOA thin film transistor is more space-saving, and is thus suitable for the non-display areas having limited space.
However, in forming the array substrate by a patterning process, in an exposing step, the entire substrate is exposed in a same exposure direction (X direction or Y direction according to the arrangement of the thin film transistors on the substrate), since the trench between the source and the drain of the GOA thin film transistor has a different shape from that of the trench between the source and the drain of the pixel thin film transistor, exposure in the GOA area and exposure in the pixel area are likely to be different (e.g., non-uniformity, some region in a trench is well exposed while another region is poorly exposed); accordingly, photoresist residues remain in a trench region between the source and the drain due to poor exposure in a developing step subsequent to the exposing step; as a result, incomplete etching of a metal film of the source and the drain occurs in the trench region between the source and the drain in the GOA area or the pixel area due to photoresist residues. Non-uniform exposure in any one of the GOA area and the pixel area will influence the characteristics of the thin film transistors, and influence the display quality of the product.
It can be seen that, it has become an urgent technical problem to standardize structures of thin film transistors in the non-display area and the display area so as to ensure that the thin film transistors having different structures in the above two areas have a same performance for exposing the trenches between the sources and the drains thereof during an patterning process.

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A mobile terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one other terminal; a display unit configured to display information; a circuit board having one surface with a plurality of switches thereon; and a keypad disposed over the circuit board and having keys that when pressed, contact corresponding switches on the circuit board. Further, the keypad further includes a plurality of actuators corresponding to and protruding towards the plurality of switches; key-shaped parts laminated on the actuators, respectively, and each having a predetermined height; and a film part disposed to obscure the key-shaped parts and having one surface with key marks in correspondence with the key-shaped parts so as to form the keys of the keypad. In addition, the key-shaped parts and the film part are integrally formed together.

1. Field of the Invention
This specification relates to a mobile terminal having a key pad.
2. Background of the Invention
Mobile device (mobile terminal, portable device, portable terminal) can be easily carried and have one or more of functions such as supporting voice and video telephony calls, inputting and/or outputting information, storing data and the like. As it becomes multifunctional, the mobile terminal can capture still images or moving images, play music or video files, play games, receive broadcast and the like, so as to be implemented as an integrated multimedia player.
To perform those various functions and input information, the mobile terminal has an input device. The input device is implemented in various types, such as a dome switch, a touchpad, a touch screen, a jog wheel and the like.
An input device using the dome switch is operating responsive to pressing to input information. However, the structured arrangement of the related art dome switch increases the thickness of the terminal.

Mobile terminal and keypad manufacturing method thereof


A database object summarization tool is provided that selects a subset of database objects subject to filtering constraints such as a partial order or optimization of some attribute. A dominance primitive filters out tuples that are dominated according to a partial order constraint by another tuple. A representation primitive selects a representative subset of tuples such than an optimization criteria is met.

The past few years have seen the emergence of a large class of tasks that benefit from analysis of SQL workload information. Some examples of such tasks are database administration and understanding user/application behavior. The problem of collecting a SQL workload is facilitated by profiling tools provided by commercial database vendors that log SQL activity on the server over a representative period of time. However, little attention has been paid to understanding the requirements for analysis of the collected workload.
In analyzing workloads, it is helpful to identify a small representative subset that captures the essence of the large workload that has been logged using automated tools. There are multiple reasons why picking such a small representative subset is necessary. First, the resources needed to accomplish tasks such as index tuning grows with increasing sizes of workloads. There is a significant benefit to be gained by "filtering" the workload before it is fed to these tasks, while not compromising its characteristics. A second motivation for identifying a small representative subset is the necessity of having to meaningfully summarize data for viewing by DBAs or analysts. It is important to be able to offer relatively small representative synopses of the workload, before "drilling down" to identify the queries of interest.
A simple way to obtain a representative subset is to pick a uniform random sample of the workload. While sampling is conceptually simple, and, in fact, useful in many situations, a DBA may like to obtain a representative subset that has additional constraints, e.g., pick a representative workload with the 100 most expensive queries while ensuring that every table in the database occurs in at least 5 queries. Thus, the specification for picking a representative subset for a workload (henceforth called a "summary") depends on the task at hand and, more often than not, sampling in itself is not adequate.
Recently, several tools have emerged that exploit knowledge of the database workload for a variety of tasks such as physical design tuning, feedback based optimization, and approximate query processing. There has also been work on classifying database workloads, such as OLTP vs DSS, so as to enable automatic tuning and configuration of database system parameters based on workload type. Typically, workloads collected by today's database profiling tools can be very large (millions of statements), whereas most of the above tools work efficiently for relatively small workload sizes.
The concept of workload compression has been introduced to find a smaller workload whose use results in the same application quality as when the original workload is used. Workload compression requires applications to specify custom distance functions that quantify how close two statements in the workload are. Providing such distance functions may not be easy for all applications. REDWAR allows simple aggregations over the structure and complexity of SQL statements and transaction run-time behavior. A variety of techniques for producing a workload model have also been presented. However, the "representativeness" of these workload models varies.

Constructing database object workload summaries


Magnetic sensing methods and systems are disclosed. A minimum magnetic signal output and a maximum magnetic signal output can be detected utilizing a sensor comprising a peak detector circuit associated with a filter averaging circuit and one or more magnetic elements (e.g., a Hall element and/or magnetoresistive bridge). An average magnetic signal output can then be determined utilizing the filter averaging circuit when a target begins to rotate in front of the sensor.

The present invention is generally related to sensing methods and systems. The present invention is additionally related to sensors utilized in automotive and mechanical applications. The present invention is also related to Hall and magnetoresistive (MR) sensor applications. The present invention is additionally related to position sensing methods and systems thereof.
Various sensors are known in the magnetic-effect sensing arts. Examples of common magnetic-effect sensors include Hall effect and magnetoresistive technologies. Such magnetic sensors can generally respond to a change in the magnetic field as influenced by the presence or absence of a ferromagnetic target object of a designed shape passing by the sensory field of the magnetic-effect sensor. The sensor can then provide an electrical output, which can be further modified as necessary by subsequent electronics to yield sensing and control information. The subsequent electronics may be located either onboard or outboard of the sensor package.
Many automotive electronic systems make use of position sensors. When position sensors for automotive electronic systems were originally conceived and developed, such sensors were primarily utilized for the determination of clutch pedal and shift lever positions in automobile transmission applications. Reasonably accurate linear position sensing was required to identify the positions of the clutch pedal and the shift lever, using electrical signals from a non-contacting sensor approach. For example, in automated manual transmission applications, two sensors may be required to sense the shift lever position as it moves in an H-pattern from Reverse to Low to Second to Third gear. For a standard automatic transmission application, where the shift lever moves along a single axis direction, one position sensor may be required to sense whether the shift lever is in one of the gear operating positions (e.g., Reverse, Neutral, Drive, Low, etc.) as well as positions between such operating conditions.
Many of the sensors utilized in automotive applications are configured as position sensors, which provide feedback to a control unit. Many of these types of sensors and related systems are mechanical in nature and are very sensitive to the wearing of contacts, contact contamination, and so forth. To help solve many of the warranty problems associated with mechanical sensors, designers have searched for non-contacting electrical solutions provided by magnetoresistive and/or Hall-effect technologies, which have attempted to detect variance in a magnetic field. One of the primary problems with this approach is the inability of such systems to accurately detect position. The accuracy requirement of such systems makes it difficult, for example, to use a single Hall element because of the offset and shifts over temperature.
The difficulty with both Hall and magnetoresistive technologies is that high accuracy switching points at low and high RPM""s are difficult to achieve. Positions sensors must meet high repeatability requirements for both camshaft and crankshaft applications in automotive devices. The present inventor has thus concluded that a need exists for an improved sensing method and system that can provide high accuracy and highly repeatable switch points through a complete RPM range. The present invention is therefore directed toward improved magnetic sensing methods and systems.
The following summary of the invention is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the present invention and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the invention can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.
It is, therefore, one aspect of the present invention to provide an improved sensor method and system.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide for a sensing method and system that utilizes a Hall and/or magnetoresistive sensor.
It is yet another aspect of the present invention to provide for a peak detector circuit.
It is still another aspect of the present invention to provide for a filter averaging circuit.
It is also an aspect of the present invention to provide for a camshaft and/or crankshaft position sensor.
The aforementioned aspects of the invention and other objectives and advantages can now be achieved as is now summarized. Magnetic sensing methods and system are disclosed herein. A minimum magnetic signal output and a maximum magnetic signal output can be detected utilizing a sensor comprising a peak detector circuit associated with a filter averaging circuit and one or more magnetic elements (e.g., a Hall element and/or magnetoresistive bridge). An average magnetic signal output can then be determined utilizing the filter averaging circuit when a target begins to rotate in front of the sensor. A minimum magnetic signal output and a maximum magnetic signal output can be detected utilizing a sensor that includes a peak detector circuit, a filter averaging circuit and one or more magnetic elements (e.g., a Hall element and/or magnetoresistive bridge). An average magnetic signal output can then be determined utilizing the filter averaging circuit when a target begins to rotate in front of the sensor.
The filter averaging circuit stabilizes when an area of a curve above the average magnetic signal output is equal to an area under the curve. The sensor can be automatically switched from a peak detector circuit mode to a filter averaging circuit mode at a specified frequency. A sensor switching level can be established approximately halfway between the minimum magnetic signal output and the maximum magnetic signal output. The peak detector can be coupled to one or more biasing magnets. The sensor itself can function as, for example, a camshaft position sensor and/or a crankshaft position sensor.

Sensing methods and systems for hall and/or MR sensors