The present invention provides a diamond coated sintered body characterized by having a diamond film formed by a gas phase synthesis method on the surface of a sintered body obtained from a mixture of tungsten carbide and at least one compound selected from the group consisting of carbide and nitride of silicon or boron and, if necessary, additionally at least one compound selected from the group consisting of carbide, oxide, nitride, carbonitride, carbonate, boride and organic compound of at least one element selected from the group consisting of metals and rare earth elements belonging to Groups Ia, IIa, IIIa, IVa, Va, IIIb and IVb of the Mendelejeff's periodic table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diamond coated sintered body and in more detail it relates to a diamond coated sintered body which comprises a sintered body which is a ceramic based super hard sintered body comprising specific components and a diamond film superior in adhesion provided on the surface of the sintered body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Super hard alloy, sintered diamond, single crystal diamond and the like have been used for tools required to have high hardness and wear resistance such as cutting tools, abrading tools, die, and the like.
Among them, diamond tools are especially preferred because of their excellent hardness and wear resistance.
Hitherto, as the diamond tools, there have been used those which comprise a body made of a super hard alloy or high hardness metal on which a sintered diamond or single crystal diamond is mounted by brazing and other methods.
On the other hand, recently, production of diamond coated body has been studied which comprises forming a diamond film by deposition on the surface of a body of super hard alloy or high hardness metal using gas phase diamond synthesis techniques such as CVD method and PVD method and attempt has been made to apply the resulting diamond coated body to the above-mentioned uses.
Since diamond is the hardest substance, it is considered that diamond film formed on the surface of body of super hard alloy and the like can be effectively utilized as a coating material for imparting high hardness or wear resistance to the body or as a protective film for the body. For example, when a diamond film is formed on the surface of body made of super hard alloy used for super hard tools such as cutting tool and abrading tool, further excellent super hard tools should be obtained.
However, adhesion between the surface of super hard alloy and diamond is normally poor and practically usable tools have not yet been obtained.
Therefore, in order to improve adhesion between the surface of super hard alloy and diamond, it has been proposed to form an intermediate layer between the super hard alloy and diamond.
For example, Japanese Patent Kokai No. 58-126972 discloses a super hard alloy with a diamond film which is obtained by firstly forming an intermediate layer comprising at least one selected from carbide, nitride, boride and oxide of a metal of Group IVa, Va or VIa on the surface of a super hard alloy and then forming a diamond film on the intermediate layer.
However, such method as disclosed in the above patent publication employs stepwise film forming method which comprises formation of the intermediate layer and then formation of the diamond film and so this method is troublesome in production steps and besides, although improvement of adhesion is aimed at, the adhesion between super hard alloy and diamond film has not been sufficiently improved to practical level.
There has also been proposed a technique to improve adhesion between the surface of body comprising super hard alloy and diamond without providing an intermediate layer therebetween.
For example, Japanese Patent Kokai No. 63-100182 discloses a super hard alloy with diamond film prepared by forming a diamond film on a tungsten carbide super hard alloy containing a specific amount of Co and comprising tungsten carbide of a specific particle diameter.
However, this product also cannot be said to have sufficiently practical adhesion between super hard alloy and diamond film.
Especially, with increase in the amount of Co added, the thermal expansion coefficient increases and besides diffusion of carbon into Co occurs. As a result, formation of good diamond film becomes difficult and adhesion is also deteriorated and sufficient endurance cannot be attained.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Kokoku No. 60-59086 discloses a cutting tool made by coating a diamond film 0.5-50.mu. thick on the surface of a ceramic body comprising Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 and/or SiC, However, cutting performance is not sufficient.
As the other example, Japanese Patent Kokai No. 1-201476 discloses a method of producing a sintered hard alloy having a diamond film, characterized by bringing a gas obtained by activating a raw material gas containing 2-30 mol % of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas into contact with the sintered hard alloy and Japanese Patent Kokai No. 1-275759 discloses a sintered hard alloy with a diamond thin film, characterized by comprising a sintered hard alloy, an intermediate layer formed by bringing a gas obtained by exciting a raw material gas containing a carbon source gas in a concentration of at least 2 mol % therein into contact with a layer made on said sintered hard alloy, of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Groups IVa, Va and VIa metals and Si and having a thickness in the range of 0.05-1 .mu.m, and a diamond thin film formed on said intermediate layer and having a thickness of 0.2-100 .mu.m.


Devices, systems and methods for transient endpoint location identification are disclosed. The exemplary method may include transmitting a registration request from an endpoint to a server. The server requests a location identification number from the endpoint. The server associates the address of the endpoint with the location identification number provided by the endpoint. When the endpoint contacts emergency personnel, the server provides the location identification number associated with the endpoint, allowing emergency personnel to locate the endpoint.

When a user dials 911 on a traditional telephone network, emergency personnel receive not only the phone number of the telephone that placed the call but also the physical location of the phone and the billing address and name of the owner of the telephone. This information is obtained using the phone number as a Location Identification Number (LIN) which is used to search an Automatic Location Information (ALI) database. The database may be stored at the local telephone company and updated by the local telephone company. The ANI can also be used to route the call to the local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The LIN routes the emergency call to the appropriate local emergency response team so that they identify and send the closest emergency personnel. The LIN allows emergency personnel to locate not only the emergency caller's location but also allows emergency personnel to return a call to the telephone that made the original emergency call. For example, if an individual in jeopardy drops the phone or loses the telephone connection, the LIN allows the emergency personnel to call the phone back to determine the current status of the situation or attempt to communicate emergency information to the individual.
While the current LIN system works well for traditional telephone systems, it does not work for transient endpoints on a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network. Endpoints on a VoIP network may send voice information in discrete digital packets using an internet protocol to a server that connects the VoIP to a traditional telephone. Many companies now use their local area networks (LANs) or wide area network (WAN) to transmit telephone signals between users on the network. One benefit of using a VoIP system to transmit telephone signals is the savings associated with not having to install and maintain a separate telephone system.
When a user dials 911 from an endpoint on a VoIP network, the server may associate an IP address or other identification of the endpoint with location information and identification information in a database of the server. When the server transmits the information to the local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), the server relays the location information and identification information to emergency personnel. However, if the endpoint is transient, the location information and identification information may not be correct if the endpoint is moved to different location.
Accordingly, an efficient and effective system and method is needed for providing location and identification information for transient endpoints. In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a system and method that updates and stores location and identification information for endpoints.

Systems and methods for location identification of endpoints


Described is a method for improving both the bandwidth efficiency and bit rate of data streams flowing through binary tree networks. In an embodiment, the invention provides a method for efficiently utilizing end-consumer computers possessing a variety of upstream bandwidth capabilities to deliver online streaming video in a distributed manner.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 describes a system and method that has proved useful for online distributed broadcasting of audio and video material. The disclosed system and method can reduce the amount of bandwidth consumed by video streaming servers by limiting the server's number of direct connections over the Internet to only a small number of end-consumer computers, and then utilizing a portion of the end-consumer computers that are tuned to the broadcast over the Internet as "repeater nodes" to help propagate the online broadcast to other viewers' computers. This approach to online broadcasting is in contrast to industry standard content delivery networks wherein each end-consumer's computer that is to receive an audio/video stream must establish a direct connection to a server. These servers are typically owned or operated on behalf of the broadcaster and thus the broadcaster is responsible for the bandwidth costs associated with each of these direct connections.
Various embodiments of the system and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 display the following highly desirable traits:                The network architecture is based on a balanced binary tree and as such is tailored to deliver live broadcasts, not simply pre-recorded material as is the case with peer-to-peer networks, such as BitTorrent and the like.        The network architecture supports the addition of nodes (computers) as end-consumers tune in to the broadcast and the removal of nodes (computers) as end-consumers exit the broadcast. As a result, the invention does not need to run as a "background task" nor continuously tap into end-consumer's bandwidth as with peer-to-peer file sharing technologies. Instead the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 need only use an end-consumer's bandwidth while that end-consumer is tuned to a program.        The system and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 does not store audio video content files on end-consumers' computers. This is in contrast to peer-to-peer file sharing systems which to work effectively must cache content throughout the network.        Because the system and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 is based on a balanced binary tree, only one half of the nodes (end-consumer computers) in the network need act as repeater nodes in order for the system to achieve maximum bandwidth savings efficiency. This enables software applications incorporating this invention to be "polite" in the sense that whenever an end-consumer's computer is acting as a repeater node and that end-consumer needs to use his or her upstream bandwidth for other purposes (such as email, gaming, or Voice Over IP [VOIP] applications) that end-consumer's computer is moved to the edge of the network where it will no longer be expected to retransmit the broadcast. This reorganization of the network can take place without interrupting the end-consumer's viewing experience. The end result is a polite system that immediately relinquishes use of the end-consumer's upstream bandwidth the moment the end-consumer has need of that bandwidth for other purposes. In other words, the invention does not interfere with the end-consumers use of his or her Internet connection since the moment the end-consumer tries to send off a file (or otherwise use the upstream Internet connection) applications incorporating the invention relinquish control of the upstream Internet connection immediately. The bottom line is that end-consumer see no degradation in their Internet service when using applications based on the invention.        The system and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 spreads the bandwidth needs of the system thinly throughout the network—never requiring an end-consumer computer to supply more than two copies of the video stream to other viewers. As a result the system avoids "super-noding" in which nodes (computers) with access to large amounts of bandwidth are expected to provide copies of the broadcast stream to large numbers of viewers. Not only is expecting certain computers to act as super nodes impolite, there are two very important reasons for avoiding it. First, if an application attempts to appropriate a large amount of bandwidth when running on corporate or university LANs the system administrators of those networks will take steps to block the application—which will result in potential viewers on corporate and university LANs from being able to run the application to watch video. The second reason to avoid designating certain computers as super nodes is that systems which depend on a small number of nodes to support a large percentage of the system's viewers are fragile in the sense that when a super node departs the system a large "hole" is created in the network that must somehow be "filled in" almost immediately or large numbers of viewers will experience signal degradation and loss of video stream.        The system and method of U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 delivers an exceptional Quality of Service. In addition to the characteristics described above, the reconfiguration algorithms covered by the patent use the turnover inherent in distributed networks (as viewers tune in and tune out) to promote the most reliable nodes to the most critical regions of the network, driving the network towards highly stable configurations which improve the quality of service delivered by the system.
The system and method of U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 also suffers from certain limitations, including the fact that the reconfiguration algorithms are described in detail only for binary trees in which all internal nodes must be capable of supporting two children nodes. This means that for a node (an end-consumer computer) to be used to repeat the broadcast stream to even a single additional computer, the node must have the upstream bandwidth capacity to support two additional computers. As a result, nodes (end-consumer computers) that only have access to Internet connections with upstream bandwidth capacity to send out a single copy of the broadcast stream are underutilized—they are never allowed to repeat the broadcast to anyone.
The practical consequences of these limitations are that for a given video streaming bit rate and a collection of nodes (end-consumer computers) possessing a variety of different upstream bandwidth capabilities, some nodes that could have been employed to rebroadcast the video stream will not be asked to do so, reducing the overall bandwidth efficiency that could have been otherwise achieved. Likewise for a given bandwidth efficiency target, a higher bit rate video stream could be supported, resulting in better picture quality and/or audio for the end-consumer.
Incorporating such a change into the system and method of U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,933 requires addressing the difficult problem of how to build and maintain a binary broadcast tree with repeat capable nodes of differing abilities. In order to create a useful and practical online broadcasting system, algorithms must be designed to build and maintain binary broadcast trees consistent with promoting the most reliable nodes to the most critical regions of the network (to promote stability) while maintaining overall tree balance (to limit propagation delays) and employing nodes that lack the ability to repeat to two children but possess the ability to repeat to a single child (to increase overall network efficiency).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System of distributing content data over a computer network and method of arranging nodes for distribution of data over a computer network


An integrated circuit device can include a plurality of test elements, each comprising at least one first switch coupled between a node within a tested section and an intermediate node, a test switch coupled between the intermediate node and a forced voltage node, and a second switch coupled between the intermediate node and an output node; wherein the forced voltage node is coupled to receive a forced voltage substantially the same as a test voltage applied to the output node in a test mode.

Integrated circuit devices can include circuit sections, such as memory circuits, that can be designed for high performance operations. Memory circuits, such as static random access memory (SRAMs) typically have a number of memory cells arranged into one or more arrays composed of multiple transistors. The performance characteristics and yield of the circuit sections in the integrated circuit can be affected by variations in the electrical characteristics of the transistors, such as threshold voltages, current drive, etc., and circuit characteristics, such as offset voltages.
While it is desirable to test transistor characteristics and circuit characteristics within memory cells and other circuit sections of the integrated circuit, data input/output (I/O) paths can introduce leakage currents that can make it very difficult to achieve high fidelity measurements.

Circuits and methods for measuring circuit elements in an integrated circuit device


When a request to start driving a drive valve has been made, the ECU performs a program including a step in which time-measurement using a timer is started; a step in which an electric current I (0) is supplied to an open/close coil; a step in which a supply of an electric current is stopped when a period of T/4 has elapsed; a step in which the electric current I (0) is supplied to the open/close coil when another period of T/4 has elapsed; and a step in which a holding current I (h) is supplied to the open/close coil when the drive valve comes close to the valve opening position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control unit for an electromagnetically driven valve. More specifically, the invention relates to a control unit which controls an electromagnetically driven valve of an internal combustion engine such that a drive valve is moved to a desired position.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional type of electromagnetically driven valve is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,441. U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,441 discloses a rotary driven type electromagnetic actuator in which a valve of an internal combustion engine operates by using both electromagnetic force and elastic force of a spring. The electromagnetic actuator includes a valve having a stem, and an oscillating arm having a first end portion that is movably supported by a support frame and a second end portion that contacts an end of the stem.
An electromagnet formed of an iron core and a coil wound around the iron core is provided on each of both sides of the oscillating arm. The electromagnetic actuator further includes a torsion bar that is provided at the first end portion of the oscillating arm and that applies force for moving the valve to the valve opening position, and a spiral spring that is provided at the outer periphery of the stem and that applies force for moving the valve to the valve closing position. The oscillating arm oscillates using the first end portion as a supporting point due to the elastic force of the torsion bar and the elastic force of the spiral spring. The movement of the oscillating arm is transferred to the stem via the second end portion, causing the valve to reciprocate between the valve opening position and the valve closing position.
An operation method of an electromagnetically driven valve is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-195736 A. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-195736 A discloses the operation method of an electromagnetically driven valve, for improving a response to the operation, reducing electric power consumption, and realizing an operation suitable for a supply voltage. According to the operation method of an electromagnetically driven valve, a plunger is moved, due to electromagnetic force, from the neutral position, at which a balance is kept between the forces of springs provided on both sides of the plunger connected to a valve, in a first direction or a second direction that is opposite to the first direction. The operation method includes a starting step, a holding step, and an operating step. In the starting step, a self-excited oscillation of the plunger is caused due to electromagnetic force formed based on a first current value. In the holding step, the plunger whose amplitude has been increased due to the self-excited oscillation is attracted in the first direction and then kept attracted in the first direction due to electromagnetic force formed based on a second current value that is smaller than the first current value. The operating step includes a process in which the plunger that has been attracted in the first direction is moved in the second direction, or the plunger that has been attracted in the second direction is moved in the first direction due to electromagnetic force formed based on a third current value; a process in which the plunger is attracted in the second direction or in the first direction while the current value decreases from the third current value to a fourth current value that is smaller than the third current value; and a process in which the plunger is kept attracted in the second direction, or the plunger is kept attracted in the first direction due to electromagnetic force formed based on the fourth current value.
According to an operation method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,441, when the step is shifted from the starting step to the operating step, the plunger is moved with high response. In the operating step, the plunger is gently attracted in the first or second direction, and, therefore, electric power consumption can be suppressed.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-195736 A discloses a parallel driven type electromagnetically driven valve in which two electromagnets are arranged in the axial direction of a valve stem. Accordingly, the height of the electromagnetically driven valve becomes high, making it difficult to satisfy a requirement concerning a height of the electromagnetically driven valve to be mounted in an engine when the electromagnetically driven valve is used as an intake/exhaust valve of the engine for a vehicle or the like. Concerning the rotary driven type electromagnetic actuator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,441, the height of the actuator is reduced to some extent by providing the torsion bar at the second end portion of the oscillating arm. However, as in the case of the electromagnetically driven valve disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-195736 A, since the spiral spring is provided at the outer periphery of the stem, the height of the actuator cannot be made sufficiently low.
In the electromagnetic actuator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,441, two electromagnets are arranged in the axial direction of the stem. Similarly, in the electromagnetically driven valve disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-195736 A, two electromagnets are arranged in the axial direction of the valve stem. The electromagnets one of which is provided for opening the valve and the other of which is provided for closing the valve contribute an increase in the height of the electromagnetic actuator or the electromagnetically driven valve.
Accordingly, it is considered that, for example, one of the two electromagnets is omitted in order to reduce the height of the electromagnetically driven valve. In this case, however, even if the operation method of the electromagnetically driven valve disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-195736 A is applied to the case where only one electromagnet is provided, the drive valve cannot be controlled to a desired position.
The European patent application EP 1 209 328 A2 further discloses a control method for an electromagnetic actuator for the control of an engine valve in which at least one electromagnet displaces an actuator body under the action of the force of magnetic attraction generated by the electromagnet, the electrical supply of the electromagnet being controlled as a function of an objective value of the magnetic flux circulating in the magnetic circuit formed by the electromagnet and the actuator body.
Further, the European patent application EP 1 098 072 A1 discloses a method for the control of electromagnetic actuators for the actuation of intake and exhaust valves in internal combustion engines, wherein an actual position and an actual velocity of the valve as well as a reference position and a reference velocity are determined and the differences between the reference position and the actual position as well as between the reference velocity and the actual velocity of the valve are minimized by means of a feedback control action.

Control unit for electromagnetically driven valve


An apparatus and a system, as well as a method and article, may operate to receive solicited or unsolicited computing platform service information associated with services offered by a plurality of service points in a range area, store some portion of the received information, and periodically transmit, with or without confirmation, some portion of the stored information to one or more potential subscribers.

In a number of geographic locations, one or more services may be made available to wireless computing platform users. For example, wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) users passing a bookstore entrance may be offered access to an internet connection providing an on-sale list, as well as to an in-store printer that can be used to print coupons, search results, and inventory listings. As the quantity and variety of such service offerings increase, greater effort and resources may be required to determine precisely which services are available for use at any single location.
One solution is to create a central facility to manage access to available services. Routing all service communication traffic through such a facility, while possible, can quickly become logistically difficult. In addition, facility failures may result in the loss of service availability. On the other hand, taking the time to make inquiries into the availability of each service offered at a particular location may result in missing available services. Such an inquiry process may also operate more slowly than most consumers are willing to tolerate.

System transmitting unsolicited and unconfirmed computing platform service information to wireless devices


A multi-lumen drainage tube or catheter body includes a primary drainage lumen and separate auxiliary lumens with obstructed proximal ends wherein the tube may be used a simple, single lumen drainage tube, a two lumen drainage tube or a three lumen drainage tube by removal of one or both of the obstructions from the proximal ends of the auxiliary lumens and connection of the lumen openings at the proximal end of the drainage tube to the corresponding single or multi-lumen adaptor. In the second aspect of the invention, a drainage tube system is provided which may employ the adaptable multi-lumen drainage tube of the first aspect of the invention and wherein the adaptors employed therewith are provided with a mechanism for selectively inserting a flexible, elongated clean-out catheter into and down the length within the main drainage lumen to pass the distal end of the catheter through accumulated matter and to introduce a high suction pressure through the clean-out catheter lumen to evacuate the loosened obstructing matter from the main drainage lumen. The adaptor through which the clean-out catheter is introduced preferably includes a main lumen connector adapted to be connected to the drainage lumen and having two branches extending therefrom. The main branch preferably includes a valve for closing the first branch and a further connector for connection of the main drain lumen to the fluid collection vessel and low pressure pump when the valve is opened. The second branch preferably includes a connector having a fluid seal therein that bears against the exterior surface of the clean-out catheter and through which the clean-out catheter may be advanced and retracted. The clean-out catheter is preferably encased within a flexible, compressible sheath wherein both the sheath and the proximal end of the clean-out catheter are joined at a normally-closed valve and connector body adapted to be connected to a high suction pressure source and collection vessel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical devices, and more particularly to a drainage tube system and components thereof for draining body fluids from body cavities.
2. General Background and Prior Art
During surgical procedures and following completion of surgery, drainage tubes are employed to suction body fluids from the surgical field or from within the closed wound. Following a thoracotomy, for example, drainage tubes having one or more lumens extending between the proximal and distal ends thereof are positioned with the distal end located within the chest and the body of the tube passing through the closed incision or a separate, small incision so that fluids accumulating normally postoperatively in the chest, for example, drain and flow by gravity and internal pressure to a suitable collection vessel. Suction may be applied to the drainage lumen at the proximal end of the tube to encourage the flow of body fluid. The removal of such fluids, including blood, pus, cells, blood clots, other fluids and tissue fragments ("body fluids") following surgery is beneficial to relieve pressure and avoid and/or control infections. Generally such drainage systems are referred to as "wound" drainage systems, whether or not surgery was precipitated by trauma.
To this end, a number of wound drainage systems of the type which include catheter or tube members which can be so installed such that they extend to the collection vessel have been heretofore made available. Systems of this general type have included simple, single lumen, tubes employing gravity, internal pressure or suction as described above, double lumen tubes and triple lumen tubes. The second lumen of double lumen tubes may be employed to introduce irrigating fluids into the body cavity being drained to dilute and encourage the flow of body fluids or may be used with an appropriate anti-bacterial filter at the proximal end of the second lumen to ventilate the body cavity to also encourage the flow of body fluids through the first lumen.
Triple lumen drainage tubes or catheters of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,533 to Abramson and described in the article by D. J. Abramson, "Improved Triple Lumen All Purpose Drains and their Care and Management", in THE AMERICAN SURGEON, vol. 49, no. 10, pp. 539-541, (October, 1983), both incorporated herein by reference, provide separate irrigation and ventilation lumens with an appropriate, removable, three lumen adaptor having appropriate valves, caps and anti-bacterial filter. During periods when the irrigation lumen is not used for irrigating the cavity, it is blocked off or otherwise closed to prevent unfiltered air, which may contain bacteria, from entering the body cavity through it.
The surgical insertion of such drainage tubes or catheters is usually made before the incision is closed through a stab wound made at a distance from the surgical incision so that the healing of the usually larger incision may proceed without complications arising from mechanical movement of the tube and possible contamination of the incision. A subcutaneous tunnel is created to the cavity to be drained, and the tube is introduced through the incision so that its proximal end is advanced through the tunnel and emerges from the stab wound. The distal end is placed in the cavity to be drained, following the precautions on placement described in the above-incorporated Abramson article. Drainage tubes or catheters with integrally formed, multi-branch connectors for drainage, irrigation, and/or ventilation are inconvenient or impossible to pull through a subcutaneous tunnel and reasonably sized stab wound. Introducing the tube or catheter distal end first requires tunneling a forceps to the stab wound and is not favored.
Depending on the nature of the procedure, surgeons find that in certain situations the simple single lumen drainage tube is sufficient. In other procedures, it may be desirable to employ the double or triple lumen tube coupled to appropriate irrigation or ventilation systems. A need exists for an adaptable multi-lumen drainage tube that may be employed in applications calling for a single lumen or two or more lumens and that may be easily introduced surgically in the manner described above and coupled securely with suitable adaptors at its proximal end.
While devices of the above-described type have frequently been used for draining, ventilating and irrigating wounds, they have not always been entirely effective for several reasons. The body fluid leaving the body cavity through the drainage lumen contains a large percentage of blood which can form clots in the lumen or at the distal end thereof resulting in stoppage. Consequently, medical personnel attending the patient must frequently check the patency of the lumen so that the drainage system remains operating effectively.
The application of suction to the drainage lumen to encourage drainage is not always effective even when irrigation and/or ventilation of the body cavity is provided. Relatively low suction pressure is necessary to avoid creating or exacerbating a negative pressure within the body cavity which, in the case of the thoracic cavity could effect lung pressure. Conversely, a positive flow of air or irrigation fluid into the lung cavity to encourage drainage could introduce a positive pressure that could lead to deflation or collapse of the lungs. In other applications, high positive and negative pressure may adversely influence body organs or cause discomfort to the patient.
Current techniques for cleaning out areas within the drainage tube containing occluding body tissue and blood clots include periodically increasing the applied suction pressure or the applied irrigation pressure. In addition, it has been proposed in a system employing a medical underwater seal collection vessel to provide a venting valve coupled to the venting lumen and periodically closing the valve to increase negative pressure inside the cavity and to suddenly open the valve so that the incoming air effectively increases the pressure and hopefully dislodges the occluding matter as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,606 to Davison. In the U.S. Pat. No. '606 patent, it is also proposed to manually strip the drain tube by hand squeezing the tube lumen in order to obtain momentary high negative pressures in the distal portion of the lumen in the cavity.
In coaxial, double lumen sump catheters, a further manual cleaning technique for cleaning obstructions from the inner suction lumen has been proposed in the article by J. P. A. M. Vroemen, "A Simple Procedure for Relieving Obstruction of Sump Catheters", cite needed. This technique involves slitting the outer lumen proximal to the percutaneous entry and manually snagging the inner lumen and retracting it proximally to pull it through the slit. The exposed distal length of the inner lumen is manually cleaned and reintroduced through the slit and advanced distally. The slit is then taped closed. This technique poses the risk of contamination and weakens the catheter. It cannot be used in side-by-side lumen catheters, e.g. the Abramson triple lumen catheter described above.
In spite of these improvements, a need remains for an effective and easily manipulative apparatus for removing clots and body tissue from drainage lumens in such drainage catheter systems.


Systems and methods for expanding the functionality of a browser URL input box are provided. A first input is received from a navigation field at a browser. An input type of the first input is determined. A plurality of repositories are searched for one or more browser extensions based on the input type. A set of browser extension results are displayed within the navigation field based on a confidence score associated with each repository of the plurality of repositories. The confidence score indicates a probability of a user's intent to use a browser extension included in the browser extension results.

1. Field
Embodiments are generally related to an application or service that expands the functionality of the navigation field of a browser.
2. Related
The navigation field of a browser is generally used to generate a URL request or a search query. Typically, within the navigation field, a user enters the name of a website that they would like to display. In response, a request message is generated and sent to a server storing the contents of the website. The server sends back a response message which includes the contents of the website. Upon receipt of the response message, the browser reads the contents of the response message and formats the content of the website for display. Alternatively, a user may enter a string of text for which they would like a set of search results returned. In response, a list of suggested URLs may be displayed. The user may select one of the suggested URLs which will result in the display of a website.

Expanding the functionality of the browser URL box


A connecting system for connecting a mesh sheet to a concrete member. The connecting system comprises an anchor structure and a first pin member. The anchor structure defines a loop passageway and a pin opening. The anchor structure is adapted to be partly embedded within the concrete member. A mesh loop portion is formed on the mesh sheet. The mesh loop portion extends into the loop passageway. To connect the mesh sheet to the concrete member, the first pin member extends along the pin opening and through the mesh loop portion of the mesh sheet. Force applied to the concrete member away from the mesh sheet causes the first pin member to engage the anchor structure and the mesh loop portion to inhibit movement between the mesh sheet and the concrete member.

Reinforcement mesh is an array of metal bars welded together in a grid. A common use of reinforcement mesh is to bury the mesh within an earthen wall; an edge of the mesh is connected to a wall panel arranged to reinforce the earthen wall. The reinforcing mesh reinforces the wall panel(s) against loads applied by the earthen wall on the wall panel. Reinforcing mesh may also be used in other environments.
Reinforcement mesh is normally provided in sheets; these sheets often need to be connected to what will be referred to herein as the "remote object". The remote object may be another sheet of reinforcing mesh or other objects such as the wall panels. In many situations, each metal bar extending in one direction within the sheet must be connected to the remote object to take full advantage of the reinforcing mesh. Connecting each metal bar to the remote object by welding or the like can be expensive and time consuming and require relatively skilled labor. In addition, conventional methods increase the likelihood that one of the many separate connections is faulty and thus may require extensive quality control provisions.
The need thus exists for systems and methods for connecting sheets of reinforcing mesh that are simple, fast, inexpensive, and reliable.

Connection systems for reinforcement mesh


A computer system firmware stores an operating system boot loader along with accompanying firmware boot driver and a service option ROM. A firmware boot enables the computer system to initiate an operating system boot without necessarily utilizing a hard drive or other peripheral. The service option ROM is installed, indicating to the firmware that a firmware boot is available. When selected the firmware boot copies the operating system boot loader from firmware to main memory and then initiates the operating system boot loader.

Computer systems are known that utilize a firmware program stored in non-volatile memory to assist with the startup of the computer system and to enable communication with low-level hardware, preparing the way for other programs to execute. For instance, some computer systems utilize a basic input/output system (BIOS) and/or an extensible firmware interface (EFI) firmware that includes program code containing fundamental routines that help transfer information between elements within the computer system. Among other tasks, the program code stored in firmware discovers and initializes components within and connected to the computer system. These components may include a multitude of devices capable of loading a computer's initial program such as an operating system. These initial program load (IPL) devices may include floppy disk drives, hard drives, optical drives, network controllers, and universal serial bus (USB) drives. In many cases, IPL devices store and serve up the program code comprising an operating system such as Linux.
Many computer systems include multiple IPL devices, allowing for multiple sources from which an operating system or other initial program can be loaded. For example, if the firmware in the computer system cannot successfully load an operating system from a floppy disk, it may next attempt to load the operating system from a hard disk, and so on. However, if one or more IPL devices are not discovered, are corrupted, or are otherwise malfunctioning, then an operating system boot cannot be initiated. Moreover, a user may desire to initiate an operating system boot independent of any attached IPL devices in certain situations, but this is not presently possible.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that embodiments presented herein have been made.

Initiating an operating system boot from firmware


A method of canning and processing a particulate edible product, the method comprising: providing a metal can body with one open end; filling the metal can body through said open end with the particulate edible product and a volume of liquid, the volume of liquid comprising no more than 30% of the internal volume of the metal can; fixing a lid to the metal can body to close the open end; and using an induction heating process to heat the liquid in the can and thereby process the product.

Canning is the process of preserving an edible product by processing and sealing it in an airtight metal can. Cans suitable for storing edible products are typically either two-piece or three-piece cans. In the case of a two-piece can, a can body is formed by punching a metal plate to form a cylinder closed at one end. The can is then filled and the open end closed by seaming a lid to the can body during the canning process. In the case of a three-piece can, a can body, open at both ends, is formed by rolling and seaming a metal plate. A first end is closed by seaming a lid to the can body. The can is then filled and the second end closed by seaming a lid to the can body during the canning process.
A particulate product is a product that, as part of the final product, would not typically contain any liquid other than the liquid contained within the particles themselves. For example, particulate products may be peas, vegetables and beans, but would not typically be soup, spaghetti in tomato sauce or beans in tomato sauce. The particulate edible product is combined with a liquid in the can. The liquid can be water, or any other suitable liquid in which the edible product can be stored, for example brine or fruit juice. The volume of liquid added to the can with the edible product will typically be enough to substantially cover the mass of the edible product such that it is submerged. The level of the liquid and edible product together takes up substantially the entire internal volume of the can, except for a small volume known as the "headspace".
Once a metal can has been filled and sealed, it is typically heated in order to process and/or sterilise the edible product and interior of the can. Processing generally takes place within a cooker referred to as a "retort". The retort pressure is set in an attempt to balance the internal and external pressures to which the can is subjected, i.e. to minimise the pressure differential and the stresses to which the can is subjected. Heating cans using a conventional retort can be relatively slow, as the heat transfer occurs by conduction through the can wall. It is also inefficient as the retort needs to be heated as well as the can. Likewise, the cooling of the can after heating may also be slow if the retort has to be cooled down too.
Alternative methods of processing canned products have been considered. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,662, a method and apparatus using induction heating is disclosed in an attempt to reduce the total time during which the contents of the can are heated. The cans are induction heated at super-atmospheric pressure in order that the cans are able to withhold the increase in internal pressure.
US 2007/0170175 describes a vending machine that can vend hot beverages by heating the canned beverage by induction heating prior to vending. Heating and cooking are very different, and many more aspects (for example increases in internal pressure, cooking quality etc) must be taken into consideration when cooking within a closed metal can than when merely heating up a product.
The present solutions for heating and processing food products in closed metal cans are inadequate for a number of reasons, including inefficiency of heat transfer to the product, wasted energy cost of heating things other than the edible product, technical difficulties with overcoming internal pressure within the can during heating, high water consumption, the need to heat retort up to temperature, and also slow cooling times.


A class of intermetallic compound contact materials for III-V semiconductors is obtained by depositing successively and concurrently a thin film of a transition metal and a Group III metal upon the semiconductor and annealing the resultant structure, so resulting in the formation of a monocrystalline intermetallic contact. The contacts are stable at temperatures ranging from 600.degree.-900.degree. C. and may be fabricated by conventional vacuum deposition.

This invention relates to metallic contacts for compound semiconductors. More particularly, the present invention relates to stable, single-phase, epitaxial metallic contacts for III-V compound semiconductors.
During the past two decades, considerable effort has been spent upon the development of metallic contacts for compound semiconductors. In general, workers in the art have focused upon three goals, namely, contact reproducibility and stability. Ideally, a contact that satifies these criteria should consist of only a single phase that is epitaxial on the III-V compound semiconductor substrate, thereby eliminating the interphase boundaries and grain boundaries that are commonly associated with contact degradation and the lack of reproducibility. Furthermore, the contact material should not react with the compound semiconductor at elevated temperatures since reaction would lead to the formation of a new phase and, thus, interphase boundaries. Any reaction is also undesirable since the reaction will result in the consumption of compound semiconductor material, leading to an uncertainty in the final position of the contact/semiconductor interface and thus, contact non-reproducibility. An additional requirement is that of monophological stability; that is, the contact material should have a sufficiently high bond strength and melting point so that the contact film does not ball up agglomerate during required thermal processing steps subsequent to contact deposition. For example, the contact must not agglomerate during the implant activation step (typically 800.degree. C. for several minutes or 950.degree. C. for several seconds) required when the contact is used as an implant mask. Likewise the contact must remain laterally uniform for hours at 500.degree.-700.degree. C. during the growth of a III-V semiconductor overlayer.
Unfortunately, none of the prior art efforts has succeeded in fabricating a contact that is single-phase, epitaxial, and stable against both film agglomeration and reactions with the III-V semiconductor substrate. Thus, for example, nominally monocrystalline films of aluminum have been grown on gallium arsenide by molecular beam epitaxy under ultra-high-vacuum conditions. However, the melting point of aluminum (660.degree. C.) is made too low to withstand thermal processing at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, exposure of aluminum to arsenic results in the formation of aluminum arsenide, thus preventing the overgrowth of III-V semiconductors such as gallium arsenide on films of aluminum without the transformation of the metallic aluminum to semiconducting or insulating aluminum arsenide.
Still further efforts to effect the desired end involved the deposition of transition metals such as nickel, cobalt and iron upon gallium arsenide under ultra-high vacuum conditions. Although such techniques resulted in the formation of films evidencing a high degree of crystallographic texture, none of these metals proved stable on gallium arsenide since moderate annealing at temperatures above 400.degree. C. is sufficient to produce ternary and binary product phases. In related work it has been demonstrated that reacting thin films of nickel or cobalt with gallium arsenide does produce stable binary phases that are epitaxial. However, undesirable, nonepitaxial nickel-arsenide and cobalt-arsenide phases are formed as well. The fact that these reactions consume the III-V substrate is undesirable from a contact reproducibility perspective. Furthermore, these two-phase films agglomerate at elevated temperatures, leading to laterally nonuniform contacts with poor electrical properties. In addition, the partially non-epitaxial nature of the two-phase films makes these contacts unsuitable as templates for compound semiconductor overgrowth.

Epitaxial intermetallic contact for compound semiconductors


A balancing transporter is provided to mitigate occurrence of undesired sudden turning and falling of a user by virtue of various mechanisms that control the source/cause of mistakes and implement post-mistake remedies. Two adjusting members are operated by the user for turning control in a manner that interference between operations on the adjusting members and on handles is prevented. Maximum allowance of difference between wheel speeds is introduced to prevent sudden turns due to inappropriate operation. A rotational interlock unit mechanically enables the adjusting members to rotate in opposite directions to prevent sudden turns. Shock absorption and balance compensation mechanisms are introduced to keep the balancing transporter from tilting.

A conventional two-wheeled balancing transporter, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,302,230 B1, 9,188,984 B2 and 7,275,607B2, usually includes two wheels, a support platform, and a frame rod mounted on the support platform and bifurcating at a distal end of the frame rod into two handles. The handles are provided for a user of the balancing transporter to hold onto and steer. While riding such a conventional balancing transporter, the user has to stand on a rotating support platform, change exerting forces on the support platform with his/her feet frequently and hold the swiveling handles with caution to thereby prevent over-control of or tumbling down from the balancing transporter.
The frame rod formed with the handles is freely movable to the left or right for steering the conventional balancing transporter. Thus, the frame rod cannot be used to assist the user in regaining balance on the support platform. For example, while riding on a bumpy road or making a sharp turn, the user must keep himself balanced, otherwise the user may not properly exert forces on the handles for correct steering; however, quite possibly, when the forces are not properly exerted and cause an unintended turn, the rider may be thrown off the transporter or crash of the transporter may occur. As a result, the conventional balancing transporter may cause severe injuries to the user and damage to itself.
There are five general kinds of drawbacks causing accidents or crash of the conventional balancing transporter, as outlined in the following: A) due to inadequate design or lack of consideration with regards to operation or external interferences, the conventional balancing transporter is easily out of control; B) one of the wheels being stuck or arrested results in an abrupt turn of the balancing transporter; C) the user exerts force on the handles inappropriately causing unintended sudden turn; D) severe shaking to the left and right makes the user lose balance; and E) serious bumping up and down makes the user's feet leave the support platform.


An apparatus provides patterns for visually aiding an operator in determig the nature and noise environment of the incoming signal. A conventional signal receiver and an oscilloscope are coupled to a pair of phase detectors, a clock circuit, a reference circuit, and a timing circuit. The clock circuit synchronizes the operation of the receiver, reference circuit, and timing circuit. The phase detectors have pair of inputs and an output with the inputs of one detector being connected to the receiver and the reference circuit, and its output is connected to the Y deflection axis of the oscilloscope screen. The inputs of the other detector are connected to the receiver and the output of the reference circuit via a preselected analog time delay, and its output is connected to the X deflection axis of the oscilloscope screen. The output of the timing circuit is connected to the Z intensity axis of the oscilloscope screen for a preselected time duration to provide the capability to vary the intensity of a part of the screen such that patterns are generated on the oscilloscope screen representing the presence of some constituents and the inherent nature of the incoming signal which might include, the type of noise, the presence of doppler shift or CW interference, or drift of a component.

The detection of a signal of interest and the discernment of noise and its constituency have always been of high interest to those who must assure reliable communications. These considerations are foremost in the minds of operators of very low frequency (VLF) systems since systems of this type have been selected to convey information that is most important. Any delays in recognizing information and various interferences could have severe consequences. So the need continues for an apparatus for visually aiding a rapid analysis of incoming signals, such as VLF, and, more particularly, the detection, interference recognition and classification of minimum shift keying (MSK) signals in incoming VLF signals.
A VLF receiving terminal operator sitting at a console must determine the nature and electromagnetic noise environment of the incoming signal usually without any previous knowledge about the signal. One prior art approach relies upon the use of trained operators who listen to audio outputs and develop an "ear" for judging the incoming signal traffic. A main drawback of this approach is that its success is contingent solely upon the level of operator skill which inherently varies from one individual to the next. Furthermore, the audio monitoring of signals for a period of time can be tedious and fatigue may set in to compromise performance.
Another prior art approach to improve performance is to give an operator a visual indication by employing a spectrum analyzer to "see" the frequency characteristic of the environment. Drawbacks of this approach are that it has relatively slow response and requires considerable expensive equipment.
In view of the aforementioned drawbacks of these prior art approaches, a continuing need exists in the state of the art for a cost effective visual monitoring of a signal of interest to aid a receiving terminal operator in the task of identifying signals of interest and of determining the nature and noise environment of incoming signals.

Apparatus for visually aiding MSK detection and interference recognition and classification

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


An electric lamp (100) including a sealed light-transmissive lamp envelope (105) having an interior space, a base fixed to the outer envelope (105), a non-insulated main conductor wire (160) within the outer envelope and connected to the base (110) at one end, a light source (140) capable of generating light within the outer envelope (105), a shroud (145) surrounding the light source (140) and mounted adjacent the non-insulated main conductor wire (160), and a first center support. The light source (140) has first and second ends. The first end is electrically coupled to the non-insulated main conductor wire (160), and the second end is coupled to a stem lead (180). The first center support (150) supports the shroud (145) and the light source (140) and mechanically couples the shroud (145) and the light source (140) to the non-insulated main conductor wire (160).

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to electric lamps and in particular, to electric lamps having shrouds.
2. Discussion of the Art
Metal halide arc discharge lamps are frequently employed in commercial usage because of their high luminous efficacy and long life. A typical metal halide arc discharge lamp includes a quartz or ceramic arc tube that is hermetically sealed within a glass jacket or outer envelope. The arc tube, itself hermetically sealed, has tungsten electrodes frit or press sealed in opposite ends and has a bulb portion containing fill material including mercury, metal halide additives, and a rare or noble gas to facilitate starting. The outer envelope is either evacuated or filled with nitrogen or another inert gas at less than atmospheric pressure.
The metal halide arc tube is often surrounded with a shroud which comprises a generally cylindrical tube of light-transmissive material, such as quartz, that is able to withstand high operating temperatures. The arc tube and the cylindrical shroud are coaxially mounted within the lamp outer envelope with the arc tube located within the shroud. The shroud improves the safety of the lamp by acting as a containment device in the event that the arc tube shatters. The shroud allows the lamp outer envelope to remain intact by dissipating the energy of a shattering arc tube. The presence of a shroud expands the market for metal halide lamps into open-type (absence of an expensive cover plate) lighting fixtures.
Sodium is an important constituent in metal halide arc discharge lamps, usually in the form of sodium iodide. Sodium is used to improve the efficacy and color rendering properties. It has long been recognized that quartz arc tubes containing sodium lose sodium during operation by movement or migration through the arc tube wall. The iodine originally present in a metal halide arc discharge lamp as sodium iodide is freed by sodium loss, and the iodine combines with mercury in the arc tube to form mercury iodide. Mercury iodide leads to increased reignition voltages, thereby causing starting and lamp maintenance problems and shortening lamp life.
There is evidence that most of the sodium loss is due to a negative charge on the arc tube walls caused by photoelectric emission from electrified side rods used to support the arc tube and shroud within the outer envelope. Solutions to this problem are known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,167, where a ceramic sleeve and insulator support stops are used to prevent sodium loss. While such lamp constructions provide an improvement, the structures are complex and still require a relatively high number of parts and/or welds, making them difficult to assemble.
Accordingly, a need exists for a more efficient lamp construction.
In accordance with the present invention, the improved electric lamp includes a sealed light-transmissive outer envelope having an interior space, a base fixed to the outer envelope, a non-insulated main conductor wire within the outer envelope and connected to the base at one end, a light source capable of generating light within the outer envelope, a shroud surrounding the light source and mounted adjacent the non-insulated main conductor wire, and a first center support. The light source has first and second ends. The first end is electrically coupled to the non-insulated main conductor wire, and the second end is coupled to a stem lead. The first center support supports the shroud and the light source and mechanically couples the shroud and the light source to the non-insulated main conductor wire.

Shrouded electric lamp having functionally distinguishable center supports


A plug connector (100) comprises an insulative housing (1), a plurality of terminals (2) retained to the insulative housing (1), a pair of latches (3) fit to the insulative housing (1) and a housing cover (4) attached to the insulative housing (1). The insulative housing (1) has a base portion (11) and a tongue portion (12) extending forwardly from a middle of the base portion (11). The terminals (2) are arranged on the tongue portion (12) in parallel. The housing cover (4) has a cylindrical portion (41) with a pair of slits (411) extending therethrough for the latch (3) partly extending through. Each latch (3) has a locking piece (31) provided with a front straight edge (311) to abut against with a front edge of a receptacle connector (900) when the plug connector (100) is inserted upside down to the receptacle (900).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a plug connector, more particularly to a plug connector with anti-misinsertion features for preventing the plug connector from being inserted into a receptacle connector upside-down.
2. Description of Related Art
The USB connector as an interface, is popularly used in the industry. FIG. 1 shows the Micro B receptacle 10 defines chamfered structures 12 thereof to conform with the Micro B plug 20 which is also equipped with the chamfered structures 22 so as to prevent an upside down mis-mating as shown in FIG. 2. Anyhow, as shown in FIG. 3 the Micro AB receptacle 30 defines a rectangular interface without chamfered structure thereof for being matable with not only Micro B plug 20 but also Micro A plug (not shown) which defines a rectangular interface. Under such situation, the Micro B plug 20 may be mistakenly upside down inserted into the Micro AB receptacle 30 as shown in FIG. 4 wherein the inner mating tongue of the Micro AB receptacle may be damaged by the upside-down mis-mating Micro B plug 20.
U.S. patent issue No. US777,236 B2 issued on Aug. 10, 2010 discloses a plug connector including a housing with a tongue protruding forwardly, a plurality of contacts arranged in a row at a front side of the tongue, a hollow cover covering the housing. The cover has a top wall with a pair of slots extending therethrough and forms a mating port jointly with the tongue. A pair of latches mounted in the tongue have a pair of locking portions extending upwardly through the top wall of the cover to lock with a receptacle connector when the plug connector is inserted into the receptacle connector normally. The plug is a B-type Micro USB 2.0 plug connector. Each of the locking portion is arc-shaped and protrudes upwardly beyond the top wall, once the B-type Micro USB 2.0 plug connector is inserted upside down into an AB-type Micro USB 2.0 receptacle, which may cause damage of the plastic tongues of both the plug connector and the receptacle connector.
It is thus desired to provide an improved plug connector with improved latch features.

Plug connector with mis-insert features and corresponding receptacle connector therewith


A varifocal lens including a first liquid crystal layer; a second liquid crystal layer disposed below the first liquid crystal layer; a common electrode disposed between the first liquid crystal layer and the second liquid crystal layer; a first electrode disposed above the first liquid crystal layer and having a curved shape; and a second electrode disposed below the second liquid crystal layer and having a curved shape.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to varifocal lenses.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lens is an instrument for concentrating or distributing light according to properties whereby light is refracted at a boundary surface between different media with different refractive indexes and is a basic component of various imaging devices such as cameras.
A focal length of a lens is determined according to a curvature of a lens surface and a material of a lens. Recently, demand for a lens system having a varifocal function for obtaining better images has increased. A varifocal function is used for an autofocusing operation or a zooming operation and is performed by mechanically moving some lenses constituting a lens system by using a motor or the like or by changing a curvature of a lens surface by using a liquid lens.
Recently, there has been increased interest in techniques for using a liquid crystal as an optical lens by electrically controlling the operation thereof. Liquid crystal molecules are aligned along the direction of an electric field. Since the refractive index in a major axis direction is generally different from the refractive index in a minor axis direction in the case of liquid crystal molecules, the liquid crystal molecules have various refractive indexes according to their alignment states. In particular, if a boundary surface, where the refractive index changes due to the alignment of liquid crystal molecules, is curved, the liquid crystal molecules refract light transmitted thereto, thereby acting as an optical lens.


An implantable device has an outer shell that includes an aperture through the housing of the device and, spanning the aperture, a membrane structure permeable to gas but not to liquid. In this way, excess gas may be vented from the device. The membrane and aperture are designed to discourage or even prevent tissue ingrowth.

Implantable drug-delivery devices typically utilize an actuation mechanism to drive medicament from a reservoir through a cannula into target areas. The actuation mechanism may be pressure-driven or cause pressure changes within the drug-delivery device or at the interface between the device and its surroundings. The pressure magnitudes and gradients in these regions can make it difficult to precisely control delivery of small amounts of drug, especially when the device is refillable or used for repeated dosing over a relatively long period. For example, without proper regulation of the pressure in the drug reservoir, pressure or vacuum buildup can interfere with smooth, continuous administration of a liquid medicament. This problem is particularly acute in devices whose driving mechanism involves generation of pressurized gas. In such devices, excess gas can leak to various device regions. More generally, when the device is implanted in a patient, the difficulties of limited physical space and access to the device, as well as the overall complexity of in vivo implantation and operation, can make pressure regulation in the device essential and exacerbate the problems arising from inadequate regulation.
Gas-driven drug-delivery devices may produce excess gas, and ensuring gas-tightness along the pressurization route can require significant efforts in design, manufacture and quality control. For example, in electrolytic drug-delivery devices, hydrogen and oxygen are generated as an actuating mechanism during dosing. Hydrogen is known to penetrate thin walls easily and leak into reservoir chambers and their perimeters, resulting in inaccurate pressure-dosing characteristics or even unintended delivery of gas. For some drug-delivery regimes, instantaneous bursts of drug may be required (alone or to supplement steady-state delivery). The excess gas and its effects on delivery accuracy can be pose major challenges, especially in the sub-milliliter scale.
Excess gas can also adversely affect the refilling of drug-delivery devices. As excess gas accumulates in the drug reservoir chambers, refill routes, and/or other adjacent interior spaces, it can complicate the refilling process and create considerable dead volume. More importantly, some drug-delivery devices have compliant reservoir walls to minimize dead volumes and provide ease in handling during refilling. With these devices, the excess gas accumulating in the perimeter creates a differential pressure that can eventually prevent the refilling operation from proceeding to completion.
Venting may seem like an obvious solution to unwanted gas buildup, but can be difficult to achieve in devices intended for implantation. While valved passages connecting the pump to a region outside of the device body have been proposed for managing excess gas in drug-delivery devices, such an approach is often unsuitable for biomedical implants, as the transport of gases through the human body via a catheter or artificial vehicle for venting may be painful and increase risk of infection. In addition, as most biomedical implants are highly integrated and miniaturized, the limited physical space and access to the device further complicates venting: the venting component in an implantable drug-delivery device must generally be compact, easy to integrate and, notably, compatible with the anatomic environment in which various body fluids and tissues may interact with the vent.
One possible approach to venting an implantable drug-delivery device is to connect additional gas-filled space to the region of excess gas accumulation in order to buffer abrupt pressure changes inside the device. This may be additional space within the device itself or a chamber that is tethered by a fluidic connection but external to the main drug-delivery device. This approach, however, requires a relatively large space that may be impractical for biomedical applications that demand space efficiency. Additionally, without a passage through which excess gas may be expelled from the device, pressure will continue to build up within, and potentially overwhelm, the buffer volume. Another possible approach would employ a gas-permeable outer shell to expel excess gas. This approach, however, would pose challenges of material choice, fabrication complexity, fabrication cost, and compromised mechanical strength of the surface. Furthermore, pores that confer gas permeability can also allow for tissue ingrowth that may block a sufficient number of the pores to compromise their effectiveness.

Vented implantable drug-delivery device and related methods


Provided are methods of the production of patterned 3-dimensional biopolymer scaffolds containing living cells. The methods include selective photopolymerization of biopolymers to create patterned structures and the patterning of cells within relatively homogenous slabs of biopolymer using dielectrophoresis. Also provided are patterned 3-dimensional biopolymer scaffolds generated by the methods and their use.

Tissue engineering seeks to repair, replace or restore tissue function, typically by combining biomaterials and living cells. Control of polymer scaffold architecture is of fundamental importance in tissue engineering A wide variety of techniques for controlling the architecture of biomaterials are already available for relatively large feature sizes on the order of millimeters to centimeters. These include polymer extrusion, solution casting and particulate leaching, deposition of a polymer solution stream on a spinning mandrel and manipulation of sheets of polymer meshes. To achieve arbitrary three dimensional geometries, preformed sheets of biomaterial have been cut and laminated with a resolution of 0.8 mm. Such supports are useful for forming the macroscopic shape of the replacement tissue (i.e. an ear for cartilage tissue engineering) or for customizing tissues replacements for individualized patients (i.e. an eye socket for bone tissue engineering).
The properties of the tissue engineered construct emerge from the local response of the cells to their 3-dimensional microenvironment. Therefore it is of great importance to recreate biochemical and structural components of the in vivo cellular microenvironments when designing implantable tissue constructs. This microenvironment can be simulated by patterning of the matrix in which the cells are grown in or on, or by patterning the cells within the matrix. Traditional methods for controlling biomaterial scaffold architecture involve a number of methods, each with its own intrinsic limits related to the materials employed, its resolution or its costs. Injection molding against a microfabricated silicon template was utilized by Kapur et al (1996) with a resolution of 10 microns. A three dimensional printing technique developed by Griffith et al (1998) utilizes a polymer powder spread on a plate. The resolution of this method is dependent upon the polymer particle size where the typical features are on the order of 300 microns. These techniques are useful for forming complex tissues such as bone/cartilage composites for the knee and for optimizing microscale architecture to improve the function of the resultant tissue. For example, scaffold texture can alter cell migration, ingrowth, vascularization, and host integration. Microscale scaffold architecture can also modify the cellular responses such as growth and differentiation as has been shown on three-dimensional polymer meshes (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,950).
Methods to prepare scaffolds with microscale structure that are more amenable to use with biodegradable polymers such as poly-DL-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) have also been developed. Material microstructure was first controlled by process parameters such as the choice of solvent in phase separation, doping with particulate leachants, gas foaming, woven fibers, and controlled ice crystal formation and subsequent freeze-drying to create pores; however, these scaffolds lack a well-defined organization that is found in most tissues in vivo (i.e. pores are randomly distributed rather than oriented and organized in functional units). Similarly, microtubular scaffolds (Ma and Zhang, 2001); 3-dimensional micropatterned scaffolds using UV polymerization (Ward et al., 2001) produce scaffolds with arbitrary architectures. The use of soft lithography methods using biopolymers such as poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) allows for the production of high resolution 2-dimensional scaffolds that may be assembled into higher order structures (Vozzi et al., 2003). However, the method is cumbersome for the production of 3-dimensional structures as the maximum thickness possible for each scaffold layer is about 30 microns.
None of the methods discussed above allow for the generation of more, complex cellular tissue constructs in which cells can be placed in specified 3-dimensional configurations throughout a thick construct. For example, biomaterial scaffolds must be seeded with cells with the help of gravity, centrifugal forces or convective flow (Yang, et al., 2001). Alternatively, cells can be recruited to the graft by the use of growth factors and chemokines (Badylak et al., 2001). Many of the techniques described above require processing conditions such as heating and polymer grinding that may be limiting for the inclusion of bioactive moieties and preclude the formation of scaffolds in which the cells are cast in the scaffold. In the methods discussed above, the cells are patterned based on the physical structure of the surfaces of the scaffold. None of these methods enable formation of a thick tissue construct that is populated with living cells.
A number of methods have been developed for the generation of essentially two dimensional cell arrays. Cells may be positioned in or on a substrate using mechanical methods such as pipette/syringe placement (e.g. Landers et al., 2002), stenciling (Folch et al., 2002) and microfluidic delivery (Folch et al., 1999) and by optical methods such as optical tweezers (reviewed by Ashkin, 1991) and laser-guided writing (Odde et al., 2000). Electromagnetic forces such as elelctrophoretic, dielectrophoretic (DEP) (Matsue et al., 1997) and magnetic attraction/repulsion, may also be used for bulk patterning of cells in a two dimensional space. However, in the absence of an appropriately adhesive substrate, the cells return to a random state after the electromagnetic forces are removed. Moreover, patterning of cells in 2 dimensions is of limited utility for long term maintenance of differentiated cells. Cells sitting on a 2-dimensional surface often spread and lose function depending on both the cell types to be cultured and the size of the regions of each cell type. Chondrocytes, for example, have a rounded morphology in vivo and cease normal biosynthetic activity upon spreading into a flattened shape on a 2-dimensional surface. Methods of co-culturing have been used with some success to maintain hepatocytes in a differentiated state. However, these methods are cumbersome and are typically not useful for long term maintenance of cells in culture. Bhatia et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,130,479 and 6,133,030) teach methods of patterning various cell specific adhesion molecules (e.g. collagen) on glass slides using photoresist, a UV-sensitive polymer, and photolithographic techniques. Maintenance of a differentiated, state in hepatocytes was dependent on the ratio of surface to perimeter of the islands of hepatocytes within the non-parenchymal cells. High resolution patterns (10 microns) can be generated for the co-culture of cells with, different adhesion properties, however, the method is still limited to only two dimensional patterns and great care must be taken to maintain the cells in the desired state.
Methods have been developed for patterning of cells within a matrix by patterning molecules within the cell seeded microenvironment, by magnetic orientation of fibrin in gels (Dubey, 2001) or by stretching an underlying support (Vandenburgh et al, 1982). However, these methods orient all cells in a volume in a constant orientation, either linear or radial. Specific microscale patterning and positioning is not possible. Cells may be encapsulated in a 3 dimensional support, such as a hydrogel, but it is not possible to achieve specific cell patterns or orientations. These methods do not allow for the precisely placement of cells in a matrix; rather a population of cells is generally oriented or confined to a specific volume much larger than the cell.
Hydrogels are becoming an increasingly popular material for tissue engineering because their high water content and mechanical properties resemble those of tissues of the body. In addition, many of the hydrogels can be formed in the presence of cells by photopolymerization, which allows homogeneous suspensions of cells throughout the gel. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogels are of particular interest because of their biocompatibility, hydrophilicity and the ability to be customized by changing the chain length or chemically adding biological molecules (Peppas et al., 2000, incorporated herein by reference). These types of hydrogels have been used to homogenously immobilize various cell types including chondrocytes (Elisseeff et al., 2000) vascular smooth muscle cells (Mann et al., 2001) and fibroblasts (Gobin and West, 2002; Hem and Hubbell, 1998) that can attach, grow and produce matrix.
One property of these hydrogel systems that has not yet been exploited is the use of the photopolymerization step to form structural 3-dimensional hydrogel features containing cells. Elsewhere in non-biological systems, the fundamentals of photolithography have indeed been applied to PEG-based hydrogel systems to create hydrogel valves within flow systems by controlling regions of photopolymerization using a mask (Beebe et al., 2000). This process would not be amenable to the incorporation of living cells due to the harsh chemical conditions and the high density polymers with short polymer chains used to obtain high resolution structures.
One goal of tissue engineering is the production of artificial tissues or organs for transplant (e.g. cartilage). Cartilage, for example, is an avascular tissue with, little or no capacity for effective repair following traumatic injury, due to a limited cell population near the injury that is encased in a dense matrix. Surgical transplantation of cartilage tissue improves patient function in the short-term but suffers from limited donor supply and donor site morbidity. Therefore, tissue engineering approaches are in development to address the tissue sourcing problem by forming cartilaginous constructs from minor biopsies. However, producing such constructs with appropriate biological and mechanical properties requires an understanding of the complex cellular architecture and, potentially, a method for controlling the cellular architecture.
Another goal of tissue engineering is to develop organ support systems such as an artificial liver apparatus, similar to a kidney dialysis apparatus, for hepatic support in individuals waiting for liver transplant. A number of artificial liver devices have been developed (e.g. Naughton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,729, incorporated herein by reference), most of which require viable, differentiated hepatic cells in order to function. The liver is a more complex organ than the kidney which is predominantly responsible for salt balance and filtering of molecules based on size. The liver is responsible for detoxification of xenobiotics and hormones, energy metabolism, production of plasma proteins, and production of bile, rather than the simple filtering, of the blood. Furthermore, the factors that lead to hepatic coma in patients suffering from liver failure have not been identified. Therefore, sustenance of a patient in liver failure with a device that lacks hepatic cells is unlikely.
The development of a method to allow for the growth and maintenance of primary hepatocytes would be useful in developing a better understanding of drug metabolism and interactions. A simulated liver could be used desirable for the testing of drugs, both alone in the process of drug development, and to better understand drug interactions (Hodgson, 2001). Initial drug testing is typically performed on cells in culture to facilitate high throughput screening. However, compounds ingested by a patient must have desirable ADMET (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Elimination and Toxicity) properties in order to be successful as a drug. Such tests can be performed in animals, however there are a number of drawbacks including expense, variation between species, and growing disfavor of the use of animals in research by the general public. However, the maintenance of a culture of differentiated hepatocytes is non-trivial. Systems to study the effects of liver metabolism include the use of liver slices, immortalized cell lines and isolated liver enzymes have been developed. Each system is limited by various factors including variability between species, phylogenetic drift of cell lines and possible inaccuracies of using liver enzymes in isolation. The development of a method to allow for the growth and maintenance of primary hepatocytes would be useful in developing a better understanding of drug metabolism and interactions.

Three dimensional cell patterned biopolymer scaffolds and methods of making the same

The Regents of the University of California


In one embodiment of a transmitting output stage, a first controllable amplification device with a first amplification factor and a second amplification device with a second amplification factor are provided. The two amplification devices are connected on the input side to a signal input. The transmitting output stage comprises a first matching network, which is connected on the input side to an output of first amplification device. A second matching network is also provided, which is installed switchably between an output of the second amplifier stage and the input of the first matching network and which, in one operating mode of the transmitting output stage in which only the second amplifier stage is being used, is connected between the second amplifier stage and the first matching network. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

The invention pertains to a transmitting output stage with adjustable output power and to a process for amplifying a signal in a transmitting output stage.
In modern mobile communications systems, an especially long so-called "stand-by" time is desirable. This term is used for the time during which a mobile communications unit can remain in an active or ready-to-receive state without the need to recharge the battery required for operation. This can be contrasted with the "talk" time, which is the length of time during which continuous transmission or reception is can proceed in the mobile communications device. Customer demand for increasing stand-by and talk times requires not only new types of batteries with higher capacity but also the most efficient possible reduction of the power consumption of the mobile communications device in its various operating modes.
One possibility includes reducing the transmitting power of the mobile communications device, because this has the effect of reducing the power consumption of the amplifier, which makes a major contribution to overall power consumption. Reducing the transmitting power is also a logical option especially when the mobile communications device is located near a base station, because in such cases a low output power is sufficient for satisfactory signal reception. As a result, the current uptake and thus the power consumption can be lowered. As provided in the mobile radio standard UMTS, for example, the base station can instruct the mobile communications device to increase or to decrease its transmitting power.
In modern mobile radio standards such as WCDMA/UMTS, WLAN, or IS95, the data to be transmitted are modulated with respect to both the amplitude and the phase of the signal. As a result, the input amplitude in a power amplifier of the mobile communications device changes over time. The average output power of the mobile communications device is adjusted in turn by regulation of the power amplifier.
FIG. 1 shows a probability density function for a mobile radio standard of this type. It is easy to see that the probability for the output power of a typical high-frequency signal is in the area of 10 dBm. Nevertheless, there is also a relatively high probability for very high output powers of +20 dBm to +30 dBm. As a result, the amplifiers in the transmission path typically fulfill the requirement of having a sufficiently linear transmission behavior over the entire output power range and especially at these high power levels. Otherwise, there will be distortions in the amplitude and in the phase of the signal during the transmission of signals at high output power levels. As a result, transmission errors can be caused, and the data error rate will increase sharply.
To guarantee that the mobile communications device will also provide sufficient transmitting power even when the base station is a long distance away, the output stage of the transmission path and the high-frequency power amplifiers in the output stage are designed for the maximum case which can occur. The power amplifiers in the output stage, however, cannot be equally efficient for every possible input power. FIG. 2 shows a typical curve of the output power as a function of the input power in comparison with the curve of the overall efficiency of the power amplifier versus the input power (PAE, Power Added Efficiency). The efficiency is obtained by dividing the difference between the output power and the input power by the overall power consumption of the amplifier.
It can be seen from the two curves that, at low input power, the efficiency of the power amplifier is not linear; instead, it decreases much more quickly than linear behavior would demand and almost disappears around an input power of −20 dBm. The reason for this is that, at low input levels, the efficiency is determined primarily by the idling current which flows through the power amplifiers in the transmitting output stage. These currents can be decreased only in a certain range, because otherwise the amplifiers will not have a linear characteristic and thus will no longer provide proportional amplification.
There are various approaches which can be taken to solve this problem. They include the one described by J. Staudinger in "Applying Switched Gain Stage Concepts to Improve Efficiency and Linearity for Mobile CDMA Power Amplification" (Microwave Journal, September 2000), in which the output stage is bypassed by a bypass line so that a multi-stage amplifier coming right after a driver stage can be connected to the output of the transmitting output stage.

Transmitting output stage with adjustable output power and process for amplifying a signal in a transmitting output stage


A two-stroke engine includes: an intake passage that opens out to a crank chamber; a first one-way valve provided in the intake passage and permits a flow of fluid toward the crank chamber; a scavenging port having an upstream end communicating with the crank chamber and a downstream end that opens out in a wall defining a side portion of a cylinder, wherein the downstream end communicates with a combustion chamber defined above the piston at least when the piston is at a bottom dead center, and communicates with a part of the cylinder below the piston at least when the piston is at a top dead center; and an air supply passage that communicates a part of the intake passage which is located downstream of the first one-way valve with an upstream portion of the scavenging port so as to supply air to the scavenging port during air intake.

Conventionally, a two-stroke engine is provided with a scavenging port that communicates a side portion of the interior of the cylinder with the crank chamber, so that an air-fuel mixture containing fuel is supplied from the crank chamber into the cylinder via the scavenging port, and this flow of air-fuel mixture displaces or scavenges the combustion gas remaining in the cylinder out of the combustion chamber at the same time. The scavenging orifice at the downstream end of the scavenging port is opened and closed depending on the position of the piston that reciprocates in the cylinder such that the scavenging orifice communicates with the combustion chamber defined in an upper part of the cylinder when the piston is near the bottom dead center, and is shut off by the piston skirt when the piston is near the top dead center.
In such a two-stroke engine, it is known to perform stratified scavenging by providing a scavenging passage in addition to the air-fuel mixture passage (see JP3143375B, for example). In JP3143375B, as shown in FIG. 9A for example, the two-stroke engine is provided with an air-fuel mixture passage 160 that supplies air-fuel mixture to a crank chamber 102A, an air supply passage 157 that supplies air to a scavenging passage 156 extending from a crank chamber 102A to a cylinder 122, an air flow passage 161 located on an upstream side of the air-fuel mixture passage 160 and the air supply passage 157 and connected to both of the air-fuel mixture passage 160 and the air supply passage 157, and a check valve 154 provided in the air flow passage 161, whereby stratified scavenging is performed.
Namely, in this structure, as shown in FIG. 9B, when a piston 123 moves upward, the pressure in the crank chamber 102A decreases and the air-fuel mixture enters the crank chamber 102A via the air-fuel mixture passage 160 while the air enters the crank chamber 102A via the air supply passage 157 and the scavenging passage 156. As shown in FIG. 9C, when the piston moves downward, the pressure in the crank chamber 102A increases, and the air held in the scavenging passage 156 enters the cylinder 122 first, and then, the air-fuel mixture held in the crank chamber 102A is supplied to the cylinder 122, to scavenge out the combustion gas remaining in the cylinder 122. In this way, stratified scavenging is performed, and this prevents an uncombusted air-fuel mixture from flowing out to an exhaust port 131 during the scavenging and thereby suppresses an increase in total hydrocarbons (THC).
However, in such stratified scavenging, it is assumed that the scavenging orifice 155 is closed by the piston side surface when the piston 123 is positioned near the top dead center. Therefore, in a case where a structure with a long piston stroke is adopted to improve the thermal efficiency and as a result the scavenging orifice 155 communicates with the crank chamber 102A via a part of the cylinder 122 below the lower end of the piston skirt when the piston 123 is positioned near the top dead center as shown in FIG. 10A, the stratified scavenging cannot be performed.
In other words, in such a structure, as shown in FIG. 10B, when the pressure in the crank chamber 102A decreases during an upward movement of the piston 123, the air-fuel mixture enters the crank chamber 102A via the air-fuel mixture passage 160 while the air enters the crank chamber 102A directly from the air supply passage 157 through the scavenging orifice 155 without flowing to the scavenging passage 156. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 10C, when the pressure in the crank chamber 102A increases during a download movement of the piston 123, first the air-fuel mixture held in the scavenging passage 156 and then the air-fuel mixture in the crank chamber 102A enter the cylinder 122. Therefore, the uncombusted air-fuel mixture may be discharged through the exhaust port 131 during the scavenging of the combustion gas in the cylinder 122.
It may be conceived to extend the length of the piston skirt to close the scavenging orifice 155 with the piston skirt when the piston 123 is positioned near the top dead center. However, if such a structure were adopted, the piston skirt would come to contact with other component parts (such as a counterweight of the crankshaft) easily when the piston 123 is positioned near the bottom dead center, and in addition, the weight of the piston 123 would increase.
In view of the aforementioned background, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to perform stratified scavenging in a two-stroke engine even when a long piston stroke is adopted.


In a method for checking vehicle tires, wheel sensor signals of at least one wheel of the vehicle are recorded over a time period, and a comparative value is determined to indicate a travel distance of the wheel. A reference travel distance covered by the vehicle in the time period is determined independently of the wheel sensor signals, and an individual ratio value of the wheel is formed from the wheel travel distance and the reference travel distance. The behavior of the ratio value over time is determined, and a determination is made concerning changes to the tire of the wheel.

Various methods are known for monitoring vehicle tires, especially for checking tire inflation pressure (tire air pressure), as well as tire temperature and tire wear (using wear sensors). It is generally difficult to perform checks for vehicles without such sensors.
Tire characteristics can also be monitored in long-term checks. For this purpose, a tire change is noted or monitoring is reset to an initial value. However, when tire changes are not noted, incorrect assessments can occur.
Furthermore, improper tire changes are possible. For example, tires of rented vehicles are sometimes exchanged for and returned with worn tires. It is difficult to detect such abuses.

Method and control unit for checking vehicle tires


A universal silicon interposer system and method to enabling the selective use of multiple proprietary microelectronic devices without the need to substantially alter the end-use application(s). The system may be used in the implementation of three-dimensional (stacked) microelectronics having proprietary contact pin patterns.

This invention relates to providing an improved silicon interposer system. More particularly, this invention relates to methods and apparatus arrangements providing a means for implementing a universal silicon interposer enabling the selective use of multiple proprietary microelectronic devices without requiring a redesign of the end-use substrate format.
Implementation of three dimensional (3D) chip stacking using, among other techniques, Through Silicon Vias (TSVs) has allowed microelectronics manufacturers to increase device bandwidth, reduce power consumption, and shrink the physical form factor of the resultant microelectronic devices. Briefly stated, a TSV connection is a galvanic connection between the two sides of a silicon wafer, which is electrically isolated from the substrate and from other TSV connections.
One problem encountered within emerging microelectronic technologies is the initial lack of device format standards. For example, two independent manufacturers may produce equivalent 3D-IC devices having differing (non-compatible) TSV contact pin patterns, thus requiring the end-use application to adopt a manufacturer-specific connection format. A means for enabling the selective use of multiple proprietary microelectronic devices, without the need to substantially alter the end-use application, would benefit the industry and ultimately consumers through lower product development costs, lower production costs, and reduced production risks associated with dependence on single-source suppliers.