Devices, systems, and methods for localized drug delivery. In at least one embodiment of a method of localized drug delivery, the method comprises the steps of placing a resorbable device within a tube, introducing the tube within a mammalian body at or near a tissue and/or organ within the mammalian body, and anchoring the resorbable device to the tissue and/or organ. Devices and systems useful for performing such a method are also disclosed herein, wherein an exemplary device comprises at least one drug release portion having at least one drug to be released over time and a binder intermixed with the at least one drug, and at least one resorbable anchor portion coupled to the at least one drug release portion.

Medications traditionally have been administered in various ways, including orally, subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or intravenously. Other drug delivery systems include transdermal patches, membrane-encased cells genetically engineered to secrete a desired drug (e.g., nerve growth factor or insulin), and slow-release drug systems. Traditional routes of administration require patients to actively follow dosing instructions, for example, when medication is administered orally, such as an antibiotic, hormone, or vitamin, or when repeated visits to the doctor are necessary because the route of administration is by injection. These methods of administration are especially problematic in cases where the patient is a child, elderly, or where the medication must be administered on a chronic basis. Generally, compliance with taking medication is a problem for many adults as they simply forget to take it as recommended or required.
Transdermal patches are used currently to administer drugs such as hormones, estrogen, nicotine, and nitroglycerin (for angina or chest pain). While such a system has been shown to be effective in certain instances, a drug must penetrate the skin barrier in order to be administered via a transdermal patch. Many drugs cannot be administered in effective amounts transdermally. Other slow-release delivery systems are useful, but they require the removal of the matrix itself after the drug has been completely absorbed. Hence, surgery is required to insert the composition and to remove the exhausted matrix from the patient.
Since the sustained release of biological agents was established several decades ago, the sustained release has been advanced by controlling the diffusion of drugs through polymeric matrices and/or the degradation of these polymers. Recently, drug release in proportion to internal or external stimuli has become recognized, which can be achieved by using stimuli-responsive polymeric materials. Many of these polymers achieve their functions by changes in temperature, pH, glucose concentration, and the release of ribosomal enzymes. Biodegradable polymers have great potential for applications as implantable carriers for drug delivery systems. With an auto-feed-back drug delivery system, several physiological changes in a living body can be utilized as the signal inducing polymer degradation and subsequent drug release.
The sustained delivery of antibiotic pharmaceutical agents is often desirable for the treatment of intractable fungal and bacterial infections. Methods of slow drug release have considerable pharmacodynamic advantages over long-term intravenous drug therapy. The former may result in shorter hospitalizations and greater degrees of compliance, and may eliminate the need for indwelling catheters. Slow drug release is usually achieved either by incorporation of a therapeutic drug into an implantable reservoir or by implantation of biodegradable materials containing the desired drug. The development of biodegradable antimicrobial compounds is particularly appealing for the treatment of postsurgical infections and of focal infections in immuno-compromised patients. Efficacies of slow drug release systems are usually determined by measurement of concentrations of the implanted drug in plasma or by assessment of the underlying disease treated (e.g., improving infection or decrease in the size of cancer, etc.).
For chronic heart problems, slow drug release with therapeutic factors having angiogenic, myogenic, and antiarrhythmic potential is very important. The local drug release avoids using larger concentrations or doses to avoid systemic effects. The disclosure of the present application introduces devices, systems, and methods by which implants (biological, chemical or electrical) can be delivered to a tissue and/or organ to provide long term therapeutics.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems, devices, and methods for localized drug delivery


A magnetic resonance tomography apparatus, includes a gradient system that can generate at least one spatially varying and optionally time-varying magnetic field for at least one-dimensional local encoding of measuring signals in an area of a test sample to be imaged. The gradient system contains at least one subsystem which can generate a non-bijective spatially varying magnetic (NBSEM) field for local encoding, such that the function of the field strength of such an NBSEM within the area to be imaged has at least one local extreme value (maximum or minimum), such that the area to be imaged is divided along the hyper surface formed by the entirety of all local extreme values of the at least one NBSEM. The apparatus can produce images of the same quality with smaller magnetic field differences and permits easy realization.

The invention concerns a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus comprising a gradient system that can generate at least one spatially varying and optionally time-varying magnetic field for at least one-dimensional local encoding of measuring signals in an area of a test sample to be imaged.
A magnetic resonance tomography apparatus of this type is disclosed e.g. in "Magnetic Resonance Imaging", Ed. MT Vlaardingerbroek, Springer-Verlag.
In NMR tomography, the properties of atomic nuclei, in particular 1H nuclei, are utilized for imaging. The nuclear spins are excited in a test sample, which is located in a strong static magnetic field, by suitable RF (radio frequency) pulses, and the RF response of the atomic nuclei is read-out using suitable receiver coils
Encoding methods are used to associate a measuring signal with a location in the test sample. In particular, magnetic fields with a field strength which monotonically (and usually linearly) varies at least in one direction across the entire test sample are thereby used ("conventional gradients"). The local magnetic field strength determines the local Larmor frequency. The Larmor frequency can be uniquely associated with the location in the test sample for monotonic encoding field distributions. The local resolution and the measuring time depend on the gradient strength (steepness of the magnetic field). Since several conventional gradients have to be used successively for local encoding in more than one dimension, these magnetic fields must moreover be switched very quickly. The interaction with the main field of the magnet generates Lorentz forces.
One disadvantage of this prior art is that the rapidly changing Lorentz forces, that are generated in particular in larger areas of a test sample to be imaged when the monotonically extending conventional gradients rapidly change, produce a substantial mechanical load, and the deformation caused by these forces generates substantial noise of typically 100 dBA or more.
The gradient strength which is required to obtain typical local resolution and measuring time causes enormous differences in the magnetic field at the edge of the area to be imaged. Rapidly changing magnetic field strengths may stimulate a patient's neurons in medical applications, such that the measuring time of an NMR acquisition using conventional gradients is eventually limited by physiological factors (noise, neuronal stimulation).
Neuronal stimulations can be minimized using local gradient systems, in which a strong gradient acts only on a short path in each case, such that the local change of the field dB/dt which is relevant for the stimulation is small. However, such local gradient systems produce strong mechanical interaction with the main field causing very strong vibration and hence increased noise.
One further conventional method suggests a gradient which is periodically amplitude-modulated along at least one spatial direction (Oppelt. A. DE 198 43 463 A1). Alternation of the gradient along at least one spatial direction reduces the local field change dB/dt which is relevant for neuronal stimulation and moreover due to the opposing forces acting in alternating gradient fields, the mechanical force and thereby the noise are at least partially reduced. One practical problem with this concept is, however, that alternation of a gradient along one direction can be realized only with magnetic field coils having a very complex construction, such that practical realization of such a gradient system has been possible only for a short time (Dennis L. Parker, J. Rock Hadley, Gradient Arrays for High Performance Multiple Region MRI. Proc. 14th Meeting ISMRM, Seattle, p. 521 (2006)). The generation of a gradient field which is unidirectional within the target volume used for the image, requires a very complex current profile, when realized with a system of a final size which is dimensioned for installation in an MR magnet, due to the mathematical structure of the Biot-Savart equations.

Apparatus and method for NMR tomography acquisition with local magnetic field gradients in connection with local receiver coils


A valve system for driving intake and exhaust valves of an engine has a roller shaft 9 mounted in a recess 5 of a rocker arm body 1 (or a tappet body 21) as a valve system body, a cylindrical bushing 3 rotatably supported by the roller shaft 9, and a roller 2 rotatably supported on the outer periphery of the bushing 3 and opposite a cam 11, in which a lubricating film A is provided on each of the surfaces of sliding contact of the bushing 3 with the roller shaft 9 and with the roller 2, so that the lubricating film A enables the valve system to act smoothly for a long term, without causing loss of the lubricating properties of the slide surfaces 12, 13 of the bushing 3, even in the state of undersupply of an lubricating oil that occurs at the initial stage of operation of the engine.

A conventional valve system for an intake and exhaust valve mechanism of an engine has a roller provided at a location opposed to a cam to smooth sliding contact between the valve system and the cam.
The structure of this roller is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 22085/93 or Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 32403/89. This structure has a bushing type bearing interposed between a roller and a roller shaft, or has a needle bearing interposed between a roller and a roller shaft. In either structure, the occurrence of wear due to the friction of the roller with a rocker arm body inhibits the smooth action of the valve system, and shortens the life of the valve system.
The structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 22085/93 has an oil groove provided on the circumference of the outer periphery of the roller shaft for holding a lubricating oil, and an oil hole provided in the bushing to smooth the supply of the lubricating oil to the inner peripheral surface and outer peripheral surface of the bushing, thereby enhancing a bearing function. The structure disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 32403/89 has a solid lubricant film coated on the recessed inner surface of a rocker arm corresponding to both side surfaces of the needle roller, thereby reducing wear of a partial slide surface between the roller and the rocker arm body.
The structure disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 32403/89, however, poses considerable difficulty in doing work for coating the solid lubricant film only on the inner peripheral surface of the narrow recess of the rocker arm body. This work makes the manufacturing process tiresome and raises the cost of the product. Furthermore, lubrication between the needle bearing and each of the roller and roller shaft depends on the oil supplied from the end of the needle bearing. This results in poor lubricating performance at the initial stage of engine operation.
The structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 22085/93, on the other hand, has the oil groove provided in the roller shaft, and the oil hole in the bushing, in order to maintain satisfactory lubrication of the inner and outer peripheral surfaces of the bush. This makes the manufacturing process for the roller shaft and bushing tiresome, and raises the cost of the product. In addition, burrs occurring during formation of the oil groove and the oil hole damage the slide surfaces of the bushing, roller, and roller shaft. The provision of the oil groove in the bushing also decreases the area of sliding contact of the bushing with the roller and the roller shaft, thus increasing the load per unit area of the bushing slide surface that is generated at the push of the roller by the cam. This leads to decreased durability of the bushing.
Usually, lubrication for the entire valve system is performed by the penetration of lubricating oil splashes flying from around the valve system. Particularly at the initial stage of operation, such as at the start of the engine, the temperature is low and the viscosity of the lubricating oil is high, so that penetration of splashes is minimal. With a valve system of the rocker arm type, moreover, it takes time for the lubricating oil to ascend to the cylinderhead. Partly for this reason, lubrication of the roller and the bushing may be insufficient. Even with the structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 22085/93, formation of a lubricating film is difficult at the start of the engine, and at the initial stage of operation, in particular. This may cause a marked damage to the valve system, such as scoring of the surface of sliding contact between the bushing and each of the roller shaft and the roller.
Besides, the area of sliding contact between the bushing and each of the roller shaft and the roller is larger than in a valve system using a needle bearing. Thus, friction increases, but the area of sliding contact is nearly uniform in the direction of the roller width, so that the lubricating oil film becomes minimally discontinuous. With a valve system using a needle bearing, on the other hand, the area of sliding contact between the needle bearing and each of the roller shaft and the roller is smaller than in a valve system using a bushing. Thus, friction in the entire needle bearing is small, but the needle bearing may be inclined relative to the central axis of the roller. As a result, friction occurs unevenly in the width direction of the needle bearing. The lubricating oil film becomes nonuniform in the direction of the roller width, making the lubricating film apt to become discontinuous.
This problem may be pronounced particularly in the case of an engine, such as a diesel engine, in which a lubricating oil may become easily contaminated with impurities (e.g., soot). In this type of engine, the use of a valve system with a needle bearing inserted therein can make a lubricating film formed on the peripheral surface of the needle roller discontinuous even more easily, because of the small area of sliding contact of the needle bearing and impurities involved in the lubricating oil. Thus, the wear of the valve system may be aggravated. Even when a solid lubricant film is formed on the entire needle bearing, friction occurs nonuniformly. Thus, the solid lubricant film can be damaged easily, and wear of the valve system is difficult to reduce sufficiently.
The present invention has been accomplished in the light of the above circumstances. Its object is to provide a valve system of an engine which is adapted to act smoothly for a long term, without causing loss of the lubricating properties of the slide surfaces of the bushing, even in the state of undersupply of the lubricating oil that occurs at the initial stage of operation of the engine.

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


A method for treating a semiconductor wafer having a basic doping is disclosed. The method includes determining a doping concentration of the basic doping, and adapting the basic doping of the semiconductor wafer by postdoping. The postdoping includes at least one of the following methods: a proton implantation and a subsequent thermal process for producing hydrogen induced donors. In this case, at least one of the following parameters is dependent on the determined doping concentration of the basic doping: an implantation dose of the proton implantation, and a temperature of the thermal process.

Semiconductor components having a high dielectric strength, i.e. semiconductor components having dielectric strengths of from a few tens of volts (V) to a few kilovolts (kV), are widely used in many fields, such as, for example, industrial electronics, automotive electronics or consumer electronics. Semiconductor components having a high dielectric strength which are able to carry high currents, such as, for example, currents of a few amperes or more, in the on state are also designated as power components. Semiconductor components having a high dielectric strength include, for example, MOSFETs (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors), IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors), bipolar transistors, bipolar diodes, thyristors or Schottky diodes.
These components have a relatively lightly doped semiconductor region, usually designated as the drift region (in the case of MOSFETs) or as the base region (in the case of diodes or thyristors). This drift region/base region forms a pn junction or a Schottky junction with another component zone, such as, for example, a body region in the case of a MOSFET or an IGBT, and is able to take up a space charge zone in the case of a reverse-biased pn junction/Schottky junction. The reverse voltage strength, that is to say the voltage which can maximally be applied in the reverse direction before a critical field strength is attained and an avalanche breakdown commences, is dependent, inter alia, on a doping concentration of the drift region/base region and the dimension thereof in a direction perpendicular to the pn junction/Schottky junction.
In a semiconductor component having a high dielectric strength, the drift region/base region occupies a significant part of the volume of a semiconductor body in which the semiconductor component is implemented. This applies in particular to a vertical semiconductor component, that is to say a component in which the drift region/base region is arranged between further component zones (for example the body zone and the drain zone in the case of a MOSFET) situated in the region of opposite sides of the semiconductor body. For the production of such a semiconductor component, therefore, it is desirable to have available a semiconductor substrate having a basic doping that already corresponds to the desired doping of the drift region/base region. Further doped component regions can then be produced by conventional doping methods in the semiconductor substrate, those regions in which the basic doping is maintained forming the drift region/base region.
On account of the abovementioned dependence of the dielectric strength of the component on the doping of the base region/drift region, providing a semiconductor substrate having an exactly defined basic doping is of great importance.
In order to reduce costs when producing semiconductor components, usually a multiplicity of identical components are produced simultaneously on the basis of a semiconductor wafer. Said semiconductor wafer forms a semiconductor substrate for a multiplicity of components and is divided into individual semiconductor chips (referred to as dies) after processing.
Such semiconductor wafers for the production of semiconductor components are obtained by sawing a cylindrical (rod-shaped) single crystal. Known methods for producing such a single crystal include the Czochralski (CZ) method, the magnetic Czochralski (MCZ) method or the float-zone (FZ) method. The single crystal can be doped during the production method. In this case, by means of the FZ method, a single crystal having a very homogeneous and defined doping can be produced, which can be subdivided into semiconductor wafers suitable as substrates for the production of high-voltage components. However, heretofore, single crystals produced according to the FZ method have been available only with a diameter of 8″ (inches). In order to increase efficiency, however, it would be desirable to process semiconductor wafers having a higher diameter, such as 12″, for example, in order to be able to produce a higher number of components simultaneously.
Heretofore, however, single crystals having such higher diameters have not been able to be produced according to the FZ method. Although such single crystals can be produced by the MCZ method, the single crystal is already doped during the production method, thus resulting in a very inhomogeneous doping which decreases greatly from a first longitudinal end to a second longitudinal end of the semiconductor rod. Furthermore, the maximum doping present at the first longitudinal end can also fluctuate from single crystal to single crystal under identical production conditions.

Method for postdoping a semiconductor wafer


A novel system for supplying power to a powered device over a communication link, such as an Ethernet link, has a current control mechanism that combines low-side current control circuitry with high-side current control circuitry. The low-side current control circuitry is coupled to a low-side power supply line for controlling low-side current flowing in the low-side power supply line. The high-side current control circuitry is coupled to a high-side power supply line for controlling high-side current in the high-side power supply line.

Over the years, Ethernet has become the most commonly used method for local area networking. The IEEE 802.3 group, the originator of the Ethernet standard, has developed an extension to the standard, known as IEEE 802.3af, that defines supplying power over Ethernet cabling. The IEEE 802.3af standard defines a Power over Ethernet (PoE) system that involves delivering power over unshielded twisted-pair wiring from a Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) to a Powered Device (PD) located at opposite sides of a link. Traditionally, network devices such as IP phones, wireless LAN access points, personal computers and Web cameras have required two connections: one to a LAN and another to a power supply system. The PoE system eliminates the need for additional outlets and wiring to supply power to network devices. Instead, power is supplied over Ethernet cabling used for data transmission.
As defined in the IEEE 802.3af standard, PSE and PD are non-data entities allowing network devices to supply and draw power using the same generic cabling as is used for data transmission. A PSE is the equipment electrically specified at the point of the physical connection to the cabling, that provides the power to a link. A PSE is typically associated with an Ethernet switch, router, hub or other network switching equipment or midspan device. A PD is a device that is either drawing power or requesting power. PDs may be associated with such devices as digital IP telephones, wireless network access points, PDA or notebook computer docking stations, cell phone chargers and HVAC thermostats.
The main functions of the PSE are to search the link for a PD requesting power, optionally classify the PD, supply power to the link if a PD is detected, monitor the power on the link, and disconnect power when it is no longer requested or required. A PD participates in the PD detection procedure by presenting a PoE detection signature defined by the IEEE 802.3af standard.
If the detection signature is valid, the PD has an option of presenting a classification signature to the PSE to indicate how much power it will draw when powered up. Based on the determined class of the PD, the PSE applies the required power to the PD.
In typical 802.3af PoE application, a PSE has active current control in a low-side power supply line between the PSE port and a more negative power supply lead of a pair of power supply leads. This current control provides functions of current limiting and circuit breaking. To meet safety requirements, a fuse or positive temperature coefficient (PTC) device is conventionally used in a high-side power supply line between the PSE port and a more positive power supply lead of the pair of power supply leads, to protect against excessive current in the event of failure of the low-side current limiting.
The problem with this configuration is that over a large temperature range, the fusing current of the fuse or PTC device varies greatly. The fuse or PTC device must guarantee fusing at the current mandated by safety standards when the ambient temperature is very cold. The current that this device can reliably carry without fusing at a high ambient temperature is significantly less.
To support high-power PoE systems, current levels in a PoE should be increased. When current levels are increased, the margin between the fuse current and the safe operating current is reduced to a point at which it is difficult to guarantee maintaining proper fuse operation over a large temperature range.
Therefore, it would be desirable to create an advanced current control mechanism that would reliably support high-power PoE operations over a large temperature range.

Combination of high-side and low-side current control in system for providing power over communication link


In an air intake system for an internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder with an intake pipe extending between the cylinder and an air collecting box for supplying intake air from the collecting box to the cylinder a diaphragm structure is arranged at the end of the intake pipe and includes an oscillation generator for providing acoustic pressure oscillations to the air in the intake pipe adapted to increase the cylinder air charge as a function of engine operating parameters and the intake air pipe is in communication with the air box via a connecting passage which includes a device for suppressing the acoustic pressure oscillations to prevent their transmission to the air in the air box.

The invention relates to an air intake system for an internal combustion engine which improves the air charge of the individual cylinders of an engine.
In known intake systems, the length and cross-section of the individual intake pipes are configured in such a way that the respective cylinders are filled to an optimum degree at a particular engine speed by a resonance effect. Since this resonance effect disappears at different engine speeds, the only remaining possibility for achieving a supplementary charging effect is to impose the desired oscillation frequency on the air column in the intake pipes by means of an externally excited oscillation generator.
German DOS 3,729,998 discloses a cylinder charge control system in which an electromagnetically operated diaphragm is arranged in the transfer duct between the air filter box and the intake pipe. This diaphragm is controlled as a function of operating parameters in order to produce defined pressure oscillations in the intake pipe. The disadvantage in this arrangement is that the diaphragm is arranged in the transfer duct and, as a result, poses a considerable resistance to flow.
Also known, for example, from JP-A2 61-76 719, are intake systems in which a diaphragm is arranged in the outer wall of the air collecting box. But in multi-cylinder internal combustion engines such an arrangement can cause oscillations in the individual intake pipes which have negative effects on each other as it may happen in the arrangement described earlier.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide an intake system wherein predetermined acoustic pressure oscillations can be generated in the air columns in the individual intake pipes without interference between the air flows in the individual intake pipes.

Internal combustion engine air intake system


The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure includes a substrate, a transistor region, a metal interconnect, and a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ). The transistor region includes a gate over the substrate, and a doped region is at least partially in the substrate. The metal interconnect is over the doped region. The metal interconnect includes a metal via. The MTJ is entirely underneath the metal interconnect and between the doped region and the metal via, and a diameter of a bottom surface of the MTJ is greater than a diameter of an upper surface of the MTJ.

With increasing use of portable computing devices and wireless communication devices, memory devices may require higher density, lower power, and/or nonvolatile properties. Magnetic memory devices may be able to satisfy the aforementioned technical requirements.
An example data storing mechanism for a magnetic memory device is a tunnel magneto resistance (TMR) effect of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). For example, a magnetic memory device with a MTJ have been developed such that an MTJ may have a TMR ratio of several hundred to several thousand percent.
A magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) cell is formed by a magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ), which is a structure in which two ferromagnetic layers are separated by a thin insulating barrier. When a potential difference is applied across the two ferromagnetic layers, current flows through the insulating barrier by quantum mechanical tunneling. The resistance of the MTJ depends on the relative orientation of magnetic elements in the two ferromagnetic layers. The resistance is lowest when the magnetizations are aligned in parallel and highest when they are anti-parallel. One of the relative orientations can be used to represent a "1" and the other to represent a "0". In general, the magnetic orientation of one of the layers (the pinned layer) is kept fixed while the magnetic orientation of the other layer (the free layer) is set in a write operation. The state of the MRAM cell can be queried by measuring the junction's resistance. For an array of MRAM cells to provide reliable data storage, a sufficiently great difference in resistance between the two possible states must be realized for each cell in the array.

Semiconductor structure integrated with magnetic tunneling junction

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.


An optional short SACCH is used when the network detects high error rate in the normal SACCH channel. The communication returns to normal mode when the network detects that the link quality has improved. In the short SACCH message only the most relevant information fields are sent. The extra bits are used for channel coding so that in the channel conditions where the most robust AMR codings still work, the BLER of short SACCH is still tolerable.

Currently, in networks adapted to operate under adaptive multi-rate (AMR) speech coding having at least one codec having a robust coding, the spectrum efficiency and capacity requirements are high. In particular, the above requirements are highlighted when there are many terminals using the network. For speech, the introduction of the robust coding makes it possible to tighten the network reuse. Furthermore, the robust codec allows the network to operate at very low Carrier-to-Interference Ration (CIR) values. The communication comprises the Traffic Channel (TCH) and the associated control channel (ACCH). Nevertheless, the ACCH are kept the same although robust coding in TCH is applied. In a high capacity robust coding based network, the CIR values can be occasionally low (e.g. few dBs). However, at this level the associated control channel error rates are really disturbing resulting in rectification actions in the network.
Such a known technique is disclosed the current GSM/EDGE Radio Access Networks (GERAN networks). I.e. in GERAN networks the spectrum efficiency and capacity requirements are very high. For speech, the introduction of AMR (Adaptive Multi-rate) makes it possible to tighten the network reuse to unprecedented level. AMR has very robust codecs (e.g. AMR4.75, AMR5.9) that allow the network to operate at very low CIR values. However, when AMR was standardized, the associated control channels were kept the same. Examples of the associated control channels are Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH) and Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH)) in GERAN. In a high-capacity AMR network, the CIR values can be occasionally very low (only few dBs). For example, AMR4.75 can reach 1% Frame Error Rate with only CIR of 2.6 dB. However, at this level the SACCH and FACCH error rates are around 50%.
Failed SACCH decoding(s) will cause the call to be dropped, based on RADIO_LINK_TIMEOUT parameter. Failed SACCH and FACCH decoding(s) cause also problems with L3-layer signaling, measurement reports and RRM algorithms (handover, power control).
Hence, the bottleneck and a clear drawback for network capacity will often be the associated control channels.

Adaptive associated control channel messaging


An optical lens, including: an optical portion located at a central position; and a peripheral portion surrounding the optical portion. The peripheral portion includes: a first surrounding portion connected to the optical portion and surrounding the optical portion; and a second surrounding portion surrounding the first surrounding portion and having a lens cutting surface. A thickness of the first surrounding portion in a direction of an optical axis of the optical lens is greater than a thickness of the second surrounding portion in the direction of the optical axis of the optical lens, and the lens cutting surface extends from an object side of the second surrounding portion to an image side of the second surrounding portion along the direction of the optical axis. The optical lens disclosed in the present disclosure has an advantage of preventing internal cracking of the optical lens when the optical lens is cut.

Most of the current lenses are made of glass or plastic materials. Production of glass lenses must include processes such as grinding etc., and have a high cost. On the contrast, plastic lenses have a low cost, thus, electronic products commonly seen in the current market such as digital cameras and spectacles, are all adopting plastic lenses. In the prior art, plastic lenses are usually manufactured by injection molding, that is, a light-transmitting material is melted in an injection molding die and then injection-molded. In order to improve an efficiency thereof, the existing molding die generally has a plurality of interconnected mold cavities, and a plurality of lenses can be molded at the same time in the plurality of mold cavities. Here, the plurality of cavities is connected by a sprue head and a runner head. After the lenses are molded, they are conveyed to a cutting area together with the sprue head and the runner head, so as to be separated from the sprue head and the runner head by cutting.
However, the inventors of the present disclosure have found that when the lens in the prior art is cut, the lens is
prone to cracking during the cutting process due to a large thickness of the lens, resulting in damage of the lens and thus causing loss.


Systems and methods for controlling an insertion force when inserting a medical instrument through a cannula component are provided. Such a system may include a manipulator and a control system in communication with the manipulator. The manipulator is configured to be operatively coupled to a medical instrument. The manipulator is adapted to move the medical instrument through the cannula component. The control system is operative to determine an insertion profile associated with at least one of the medical instrument and the cannula component. And the control system is configured to control an insertion force to affect motion of the medical instrument during manual insertion of the medical instrument through the cannula component.

Minimally invasive medical techniques are intended to reduce the amount of extraneous tissue that is damaged during diagnostic or surgical procedures, thereby reducing patient recovery time, discomfort, and harmful side effects. Minimally invasive telesurgical systems have been developed to increase a surgeon's dexterity and to avoid some of the limitations on traditional minimally invasive techniques. In telesurgery, the surgeon uses some form of remote control, e.g., a servomechanism or the like, to manipulate surgical instrument movements, rather than directly holding and moving the instruments by hand. In robotically-assisted telesurgery, the surgeon typically operates a master controller to control the motion of surgical instruments at the surgical site from a location that may be remote from the patient (e.g., across the operating room, in a different room, or a completely different building from the patient). Before the start of the telesurgery, the surgical instruments (including an endoscope) are installed on a surgical manipulator and then introduced under the manual control of physicians into an open surgical site or more typically through cannulas into a body cavity. During this process, the surgical manipulator enters into a control mode that is designed to facilitate and assist smooth and safe manual instrument introduction by physicians. This mode may be selected via the master controller or may be automatically selected as part of a predetermined workflow.
For minimally invasive surgical procedures, the surgical instruments, controlled h the surgical manipulator, may be introduced into the body cavity through various types of cannula components, including cannulas, depending on the instruments to be inserted and the type of procedure to be performed. The force required to insert a particular surgical instrument through a particular cannula component may depend upon qualities such as materials and geometry of the cannula component. For example, inserting a straight-but-bendable surgical instrument through a curved cannula may require a significantly greater amount of force as compared to inserting the same surgical instrument through a straight cannula. Further, a single cannula can often contain various geometric properties along its length, which can include straight and curved portions or a various combination of linear and nonlinear portions.
Inserting an instrument (such as a flexible instrument) through such a curved cannula can require a non-uniform amount of force, making it difficult for the user (such as a surgeon or other operating room staff) to manage the instrument insertion process smoothly. Also, inserting different instruments with different diameters through a cannula component comprising a cannula seal can require different amounts of insertion force, making it potentially disconcerting difficult for the operator to manage the instrument insertion process across different instruments. Failure to manage the process smoothly can cause an abrupt change in velocity, which can lead to cannula component damage (e.g., internal scraping), instrument buckling, instrument overshooting the desired instrument tip location, user dissatisfaction, and the like. Improved systems and methods are needed for mounting and controlling these surgical instruments during insertion through various cannulas to provide a more uniform feel to the user.

Systems and methods for instrument insertion control


A device for finish-machining a workpiece in the form of a crankshaft or a camshaft includes a workpiece holder and a rotational drive configured to rotate the workpiece about a workpiece axis. A first finishing tool is configured to machine a main bearing which is concentric with the workpiece axis. A second finishing tool is configured to machine an additional bearing which is radially offset from the workpiece axis. A first tool drive is configured to generate an oscillating movement of the first finishing tool in a direction parallel to the workpiece axis. A second tool drive is configured to generate an oscillating movement of the second finishing tool which is independent of the movement of the first finishing tool in a direction parallel to the workpiece axis.

DE 44 23 422 A1 discloses a method for externally superfinishing a rotationally symmetrical body, in which method the body is moved in a rotating manner, a finishing tool is moved in an oscillating manner in a direction parallel to the rotational axis and in which a further movement in a direction parallel to the rotational axis is superimposed on the oscillating movement of the finishing tool.
This method is also known under the heading of "finish-machining with superposition stroke" and has the advantage that a profile of a finish-machined workpiece surface is adjustable in a varying manner by a cylindrical shell surface. A slightly convex crankshaft bearing surface, for example, can be produced in this way.
However, the method known from DE 44 23 422 A1 suffers from the disadvantage that in order to set up the finishing device for a crankshaft or camshaft of a particular shape, it requires a relatively high degree of setup complexity. The dimensions, which are relevant to the finish-machining, of workpieces of this type are in particular the diameter and seat width of the main bearings and additional bearings to be machined, the axially parallel distance of the bearings relative to one another and the offset of the additional bearing relative to the workpiece axis.
In motor construction, there is a trend to standardise the dimensions relevant to different motors having different numbers of cylinders and, for example, to select the inside micrometer of the motors (the distance between the cylinder axes) to be identical irrespective of the number of cylinders and also as far as possible to use identical main bearing diameters and seat widths.

Device and system for finish-machining a workpiece in the form of a crankshaft or a camshaft


Provided is a buttonhole switch mechanism of a buttonhole sewing machine including a buttonhole presser mounted on a lower end of a presser bar of the sewing machine and having a presser frame, a buttonhole switch mechanism disposed on an arm section of the sewing machine, a feed dog disposed below the buttonhole presser to move cloth, a sewing needle forming stitches in the cloth with vertical movement, a controller performing control on the movement of the feed dog and the sewing needle, a fixing member fixed to a non-movable part of a sewing machine main body, a mount supported so as to be movable in the front-and-rear direction with respect to the fixing member, an adjustment mechanism adjusting and fixing the relative positions of the fixing member and the mount in the front-and-rear direction, a lever member supported by a rotary shaft provided at the mount, and the detection switch fixed to the mount.

In sewing machines that can perform buttonhole sewing, it is necessary to change the sewing length of a buttonhole according to the diameter of a button. For example, computer sewing machines disclosed in JP 2010-227391A (Reference 1), JP 8-141235A (Reference 2), and JP 2008-12052A (Reference 3) have a detection mechanism that detects the diameter of a button, and are adapted to be able to automatically move cloth that becomes an object to be sewn according to the detected diameter of the button in a front-and-rear direction, and to automatically sew a buttonhole with a predetermined length according to the diameter of the button.
The computer sewing machine disclosed in Reference 1 includes a buttonhole switch mechanism constituted by a buttonhole presser mounted on a lower end of a presser bar of the sewing machine, a buttonhole switching arm attached so as to be rotatable in a feed direction with a rotary shaft anchored to an upper left end of a machine frame of the sewing machine as a supporting point, a buttonhole switching lever attached so as to be movable vertically with respect to the buttonhole switching arm, and a detection switch fixed to an upper left end of the machine frame and having contacts electrically connected by the rotation of the buttonhole switching arm. When the buttonhole sewing is performed, first, a button is mounted on the buttonhole presser, and the interval of two projection portions formed on the buttonhole presser is adjusted to an interval according to the diameter of the button. Next, the buttonhole switching lever is pulled down to between the two projection portions. Then, if the buttonhole sewing is started, as the buttonhole switching lever abuts against each projection portion, the buttonhole switching arm is rotated, and the detection switch is electrically connected. Thereby, the cloth that becomes an object to be sewn moves automatically in the front-and-rear direction.
In addition, the invention disclosed in Reference 1 relates to a sewing machine that suppresses occurrence of stitch skipping in a stepped portion during double fabric sewing, and a structure in which a movable portion of a double fabric sewing presser mounted on a lower end of a presser bar is combined with the above buttonhole switching lever is described in Reference 1. According to this structure, the buttonhole switching lever is rotated and the detection switch is electrically connected in conjunction with the vertical movement of the movable portion of the double fabric sewing presser during double fabric sewing (step ascent, step descent). Then, by operating a needle and shuttle timing adjustment mechanism in conjunction with the electrical connection of the detection switch, it is possible to adjust the encounter timing between the sewing needle and the shuttle to prevent occurrence of stitch skipping of a seam.
In the computer sewing machine disclosed in Reference 2, a housing of a sewing machine main body is equipped with a BH sensor that detects the diameter of a button. The BH sensor is constituted by a detection lever, a button case, and a sliding volume (variable resistor). If the detection lever is moved and a button is inserted between the inner wall of the button case and the detection lever after the button is set in the button case, the resistance value of the sliding volume can change according to the travel distance of the detection lever, and the diameter of the button corresponding to the resistance value can be detected. Then, in CPU of the sewing machine, sewing data of the buttonhole is created on the basis of the detected diameter of the button and a cloth feed amount set by a user, and the buttonhole sewing is automatically performed on the basis of this sewing data.
The computer sewing machine disclosed in Reference 3 has a sliding volume built into a buttonhole presser mounted on a lower end of a presser bar of the sewing machine. The buttonhole presser is equipped with a presser body fixed to the presser bar, and a presser frame that slides in a front-and-rear direction with respect to the presser body, and the amount of relative displacement between the presser body and the presser frame can be detected by the sliding volume. In this sewing machine, the buttonhole sewing is automatically performed while performing detection of the diameter of a button mounted on the buttonhole presser depending on a change in the resistance value of the sliding volume and performing regular detection of the position of the buttonhole presser.
In the sewing machine disclosed in Reference 1, in order to ensure the quality (appearance) of the buttonhole sewing, it is necessary to electrically connect contacts of the detection switch precisely according to a predetermined amount of rotation of the buttonhole switching arm. For this reason, in a sewing machine manufacturing process, an adjustment mechanism and an adjustment process with which a manufacturer (worker) is able to adjust the electrical connection position of the detection switch are required. Although the adjustment of the electrical connection position of the detection switch is not described in Reference 1, the adjustment of the electrical connection position is performed as will be described below. Side views schematically illustrating the buttonhole switch mechanism of the sewing machine described in Reference 1 are shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C. In FIG. 11A, 7 represents a buttonhole presser, 120 represents a lever member in which a buttonhole switching arm and a buttonhole switching lever are integrally expressed, 23 represents a detection switch, and 124 represents a mount of the detection switch 23. A rotary shaft 120c of the lever member 120 and a rotary shaft 124a of the mount 124 are fixed to a non-movable part of a sewing machine main body, respectively. As shown in FIG. 11B, the detection switch 23 is a two-contact-type switch that has a central contact 23a, a rear contact 23b, and a front contact 23c.
Before the adjustment of the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23, as shown in FIG. 11B, the contact spacing between the central contact 23a and the rear contact 23b and the contact spacing between the central contact 23a and the front contact 23c are an equal spacing F3. In a case where a push-in amount F2 of a lower end portion 120b to the front is large when the lower end portion 120b of the lever member 120 is brought into contact with a projection portion 72a of the buttonhole presser 7 as shown in FIG. 11A in order to start the buttonhole sewing, the travel distance of the central contact 23a to the rear, which is moved by a switching operation portion 120a of an upper end of the lever member 120 also becomes large. At this time, in a case where the central contact 23a is brought into a state where the central contact is excessively pushed into the rear contact 23b side, the quality of the buttonhole sewing is impaired due to the shift of the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23. Thus, a manufacturer rotates the mount 124 around the rotary shaft 124a to adjust the contact spacing between the central contact 23a and the rear contact 23b of the detection switch 23 to F5 larger than F3 (shown in FIG. 11C). Thereby, it is possible to avoid the central contact 23a being excessively pushed into the rear contact 23b side at the time of the start of the buttonhole sewing.
There are problems to be described below in the adjustment mechanism for the electrical connection position of the above-described detection switch 23. First, in the above-described adjustment mechanism, adjustment is performed by manufacturer's trial and error. Therefore, in a case where the number of times of repetition of trial and error increases, there is a problem in that work man-hours may increase and manufacturing costs may rise. Secondly, in the above-described adjustment mechanism, adjustment is performed by a skilled manufacturer, and it is difficult for a user to perform adjustment. For this reason, in a case where a defect occurs again in the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23 after use of the sewing machine, there is an inconvenience that a user needs to make a request to a maker or the like to repair the sewing machine.
Thirdly, the contact spacing between the central contact 23a and the front contact 23c is reduced from F3 to F4 by increasing the contact spacing between the central contact 23a and the rear contact 23b from F3 to F5 (shown in FIG. 11C). At this time, in a case where the amount of adjustment of the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23 is large and the contact spacing F4 becomes excessively small, the shift gap of the timing at which the direction in which cloth is fed is reversed becomes marked. That is, in a case where the contact spacing F4 is small when the lower end portion 120b of the lever member 120 contacts a projection portion 71a of the buttonhole presser 7 and the direction in which the cloth is fed is reversed, the direction in which the cloth is fed is reversed at an early timing. Thereby, there is a problem in that the sewing length of a buttonhole becomes shorter than a setting value. Fourthly, in the above-described adjustment mechanism, the rotary shaft 120c of the lever member 120 is fixed to the non-movable part of the sewing machine main body. Therefore, in order to keep the push-in amount F2 of the lever member 120 within an adjustable range of the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23, there are problems in that excessively high dimensional precision of sewing machine component parts and excessively high assembling precision of a sewing machine manufacturing process are required and manufacturing costs rise.
Side views schematically illustrating a buttonhole switch mechanism different from the buttonhole switch mechanism of the sewing machine described in Reference 1 are shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C. Although the buttonhole switch mechanism shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C has the structure in which the detection switch 23 and the lever member for operating the detection switch 23 are combined similarly to Reference 1, the buttonhole switch mechanism includes an adjustment mechanism for the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23 that is different from Reference 1. As shown in FIG. 12A, a lever member 220 of the buttonhole switch mechanism is split into a lever body 221 and an adjusting portion 222, and is adapted to be able to change an angle H1 formed between the lever body 221 and the adjusting portion 222. The lever member 220 in which the lever body 221 and the adjusting portion 222 are integrated is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft 220c fixed to the non-movable part of the sewing machine main body.
As shown in FIG. 12B, before the adjustment of the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23, the angle H1 formed between the lever body 221 and the adjusting portion 222 is 180°. In the sewing machine manufacturing process, when a manufacturer brings a lower end portion 220b of the adjusting portion 222 into contact with the projection portion 72a of the buttonhole presser 7, a state, where a push-in amount H2 of the lower end portion 220b to the front is large and the contact of the detection switch 23 is excessively pushed in by a switching operation portion 220a of the upper end of the lever body 221, is brought about. At this time, as shown in FIG. 12C, the excessive push-in amount of the contact of the detection switch 23 can be reduced as a manufacturer changes the angle H1 formed between the lever body 221 and the adjusting portion 222 to an angle smaller than 180°.
There are problems to be described below in the adjustment mechanism for the electrical connection position of this detection switch 23. First, the inclination of the adjusting portion 222 becomes large as the amount of adjustment of the angle H1 increases. Thereby, the effective width (horizontal distance between a contact of the lower end portion 220b with the projection portion 71a and a contact of the lower end portion 220b with the projection portion 72a) of the lower end portion 220b of the adjusting portion 222 increases from an effective width H3 shown in FIG. 12B to an effective width H4 shown in FIG. 12C. Also, as the effective width of the lower end portion 220b increases, the direction in which the cloth is fed is reversed at an early timing. Thereby, there is a problem in that the sewing length of a buttonhole becomes shorter than a setting value. Secondly, the rotary shaft 220c of the lever member is fixed to the non-movable part of the sewing machine main body. Therefore, in order to keep the push-in amount H2 of the lower end portion 220b of the adjusting portion 222 within an adjustable range of the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23, there are problems in that excessively high dimensional precision of the sewing machine component parts and excessively high assembling precision of the sewing machine manufacturing process are required and manufacturing costs rise.
In the sewing machine disclosed in Reference 2, the sliding volume is used for the detection mechanism that detects the diameter of a button, and in the sewing machine disclosed in Reference 3, the sliding volume is used for the detection mechanism for the diameter of a button and the position of buttonhole presser. In the sewing machines disclosed in References 2 and 3, the adjustment mechanism for the electrical connection position of the detection switch 23 in the above-described Reference 1 becomes unnecessary due to using the sliding volume. Accordingly, in the sewing machines disclosed in References 2 and 3, the above-described problems, that is, the problem that the sewing length of the buttonhole becomes shorter than a setting value, the problem that excessively high dimensional precision of the sewing machine component parts is required, and the problem that excessively high assembling precision of the sewing machine manufacturing process is required are solved.
Incidentally, since the sliding volume is used in the sewing machines disclosed in References 2 and 3, there are problems to be described below. First, since the sliding volume is expensive as compared to the buttonhole switch mechanism described in Reference 1 in which the detection switch and the lever member for operating the detection switch are combined, there is a problem in that product costs rise. Secondly, in the sliding volume, variation or hysteresis of resistance value occurs even within the same manufacturing lot. Therefore, the sewing machine manufacturing process requires an adjustment mechanism and an adjustment process such that a manufacturer electrically changes the resistance value of the sliding volume or changes the setting value of a calibration factor by which the resistance value of the sliding volume is multiplied using software. In this adjustment process, adjustment is performed by the manufacturer's trial and error. Therefore, in a case where the number of times of repetition of the trial and error increases, there is a problem in that work man-hours may increases and manufacturing costs may rise.
Moreover, in the sewing machine disclosed in Reference 3, the sliding volume is built into the buttonhole presser. Therefore, it is necessary to connect a harness extending from the buttonhole presser to a connecting portion of the sewing machine main body. Accordingly, there is inconvenience that a user should pay attention so that the cloth is not entangled in the harness when the cloth that becomes as an object to be sewn is set in the sewing machine or during sewing.
This disclosure has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and a need thus exists for a buttonhole switch mechanism of a buttonhole sewing machine in which product costs are inexpensive by using a buttonhole switch mechanism in which a detection switch and a lever member for operating the detection switch are combined and in which excessively high dimensional precision of sewing machine component parts and excessively high assembling precision of a sewing machine manufacturing process are not required by including an adjustment mechanism that can easily adjust the electrical connection position of the detection switch.


A device is described for determining the torque which is applied to a turbine shaft (10), the determination device having at least one system for contactless measurement of the integral torsion of the turbine shaft (10) and a unit for contactless measurement of the restoring constant of the turbine shaft (10). Furthermore, a method is described for determining the torque which is applied to the low-pressure turbine shaft (10) of a turbine engine, which is distinguished in that, to determine the torque, the integral torsion of the turbine shaft is measured by a contactless method and the restoring constant of the turbine shaft is measured.

Turbines are used, for example, in aircraft engines and as industrial gas turbines. When using turbines, their efficiency is an important characteristic and is therefore determined at a high cost under operating conditions during the development of devices in which the turbines are to be used. For this purpose, the temperatures and pressures at the turbine intake and turbine outlet, which are averaged radially and over the circumference, are primarily measured. The efficiency is inferred from these measurements and from further measured variables via an overall model of the propulsion unit or the gas turbine. Inhomogeneities in the temperature and pressure fields and further effects, some of which are difficult to estimate, typically result in uncertainties of ±2% or more. The power output by the turbine to the compressor via the shaft, which may be measured via the torque applied to the shaft, represents an additional independent variable which may be used to improve the efficiency determination.
In order to significantly improve the efficiency determination, the torque must be determined with a precision of ±0.5% or better. As much as possible, the measurement is to require no modifications or only slight modifications to the shaft and to the engine and/or the gas turbine and is to be performable rapidly and cost-effectively overall.
To determine torques on shafts, typically either the torsion angle is measured over a finite part of the shaft or the torsional strain is measured locally on the shaft surface. In both cases, the torque relates to the measured variable via the shear modulus and the geometry of the shaft.
Different methods have been described in the related art for measuring the torsion angle. In the simplest case, ring gears are attached to both ends of the shaft, which then produce alternating signals, whose relative phase position changes if the shaft is subjected to torsion in non-rotating optical or electrical (e.g., inductive) sensors.
Torsional strains are usually measured using strain gauges or using magnetostrictive metal films, the latter changing their magnetic properties under strain, which may be measured externally by contactless methods using inductive sensors.
However, these types of measurements are extremely complex and usually not sufficiently precise.
In particular, if these methods are used under operating conditions, there is an array of aspects and problems to be considered. First, the shear modulus of the shaft varies from shaft to shaft in a range of up to a few percent. Furthermore, the shear modulus is a function of temperature: typically it changes 0.025%/° C. This is particularly disadvantageous for the measuring methods, since the shaft changes its temperature by several hundred degrees in the operating range of an engine, for example. However, taking this temperature change into consideration is only possible with difficulty, since the temperature distribution along the shaft is complex. Furthermore, the shaft expands at high speeds due to centrifugal force and thus becomes more rigid. In addition, the torsion of the shaft at full load is relatively small and is typically only a few degrees of angle. The shaft may execute complex radial movements and change its axial position in relation to the engine housing in operation. In addition, the blades of the compressor and the turbine bend axially and around the circumference under load. The engine housing and the housing of a gas turbine are also subject to changes during operation. Thus, the housing may bend and twist due to thermal and mechanical loads. Finally, the use of foil strain gauges has the disadvantage that they barely allow precise static measurements at temperatures above 200° C., since both the strain gauges and also the adhesive begin to creep.
Therefore, because of these boundary conditions of engines and gas turbines, precise torque measurements in the engine or on gas turbines is extremely difficult and very complex using the standard methods.
For measurements of local torsion, multiple strain gauges must be attached in order to be able to separate torsional strains from bending strains which occur. Furthermore, thermocouples are required on the shaft for precise temperature measurement. A telemetry system is required for powering the sensors and for signal transmission. The sensor system and the shaft must be calibrated before the measurements, i.e., defined torques and temperatures must be applied during calibration.
For measurements of the torsion angle, the main difficulties are the deformations of the engine housing or the housing of a gas turbine to which the sensors are ultimately attached, and the temperature distributions in the shaft, which may be applied at sufficient precision during calibration only with difficulty.

Device and method for determining torques on a turbine shaft


A vehicle with protection against the effects of an exploding land mine is provided, in which a military wheeled vehicle is provided with wheel axels and drives built into front and/or rear building blocks. The vehicle is divided into multiple building blocks, although a three block construction is desirable (i.e., a front building block, a rear building block, and a main building block). A residual mobility of a remaining portion of the vehicle is preserved, even though one of the front building block or the rear building block is separated from the main building block due to the explosive shock wave generated by driving over and detonating a land mine, because each of the front building block and the rear building block has a drive for rotating the wheel axel connected to the block.

Vehicles known in this respect are two and multi-axeled vehicles such as, for example, armored personnel vehicles and the like.
These vehicles have in their chassis, as a rule, a flat underbody with ground clearance between the underbody and the ground that is as high as possible, and that is secured by correspondingly designed gear or chain drive works. In this way, the vehicle can move forward in a relatively unhindered manner as possible, even in cross country terrain. Unfortunately, the explosive pressure effect of a mine exploding under these vehicles acts on the relatively large surface area of the vehicle or floor pan, thereby deforming and damaging the same. Thus, the explosive pressure effect of the mine can cause significant damage to the vehicle and its occupants.
It is known from the disclosure of German Document DE 31 19 786 A1 to protect against mines by positioning flat armor elements on the underside of the vehicle.
In German Document DE 196 31 715 C2, a vehicle protection system against landmines is described that provides a vehicle floor with a wedge or V-shaped design reflector, wherein in the free volume between the deflector and the underside of the vehicle a fillable gas sack can be positioned for support from the inside of the reflector. The fillable gas sack provides a counter action against an explosion, thereby providing the vehicle with additional protection against landmines.
In German Document DE 196 53 283 C1, an armoured fighting vehicle crew compartment is described wherein a space cell is separately, elastically hung as a crew space in the vehicle housing in order to overcome the shock effects from explosions that act on the vehicle from outside. In this way, the elastically hung crew space provides protection for the personnel in the vehicle.
Unpublished German Document DE 102 59 918.1, which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/739,947 to Grosch, describes providing a mine protection device, particularly for wheeled vehicles, in which a detection signal from an ignition and calculation unit is sent out in response to a detected shock wave/percussion wave or blast wave. The ignition and calculation unit is connected to a pyrotechnical separation element, and the sending of the detection signal to the pyrotechnical separation element leads to the separation of a wheel construction group, or just the wheel, from the vehicle structure. The pyrotechnic separation of the support structure can take place using a cutting charge, or a suitable design of a separation point with pyrotechnic separation screws can be used.
A vehicle for traveling through hostile environments is described in WO 02/47958 A2 in which a hydraulically driven motor is provided on each of the wheels. Thus, when a shock wave leads into a wheel, following detonation of an overrun mine, in the worst case the explosion results in the separation of the wheel from the vehicle. However, residual mobility is achieved because the other wheels each have an individual drive and continue to operate to move the vehicle.
An armored vehicle built from individual single segments is described in German Document DE 102 33274 A1. The armored vehicle is comprised of two segments, (i) a driving segment and (ii) a mission segment, and electrical drive motors are present in the wheel hubs of both segments. In the rear mission segment, batteries for supplying the drive motors are disposed.
It is an object of the present invention to construct a mine protection system that preserves residual mobility for the vehicle when the vehicle experiences a defect (i.e., structural damage) caused by the detonation of a run-over mine, or the like. It is another object of the present invention to provide both protection for the effects of landmine explosion and residual mobility to a residual portion of a damaged vehicle while overcoming the limitations of the prior art military vehicles.

Vehicle protection against the effect of a land mine


A semiconductor structure has a first layer that includes a first semiconductor material and a second layer that includes a second semiconductor material. The first semiconductor material is selectively etchable over the second semiconductor material using a first etching process. The first layer is disposed over the second layer. A recess is disposed at least in the first layer. Also described is a method of forming a semiconductor structure that includes a recess. The method includes etching a region in a first layer using a first etching process. The first layer includes a first semiconductor material. The first etching process stops at a second layer beneath the first layer. The second layer includes a second semiconductor material.

1. Field of Invention
Described herein are semiconductor structures and processes for forming semiconductor structures. Etching techniques are described for forming a recess in a semiconductor structure, such as a gate recess of a transistor. Such techniques can be used to produce high performance transistors for use in power electronics, power amplification and digital electronics, by way of example.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Improved power transistors are desired for advanced transportation systems, more robust energy delivery networks and new approaches to high-efficiency electricity generation and conversion. Applications of power transistors include power supplies, automotive electronics, automated factory equipment, motor controls, traction motor drives, high voltage direct current (HVDC) electronics, lamp ballasts, telecommunications circuits and display drives, for example. Such systems rely on efficient converters to step-up or step-down electric voltages, and use power transistors capable of blocking large voltages and/or carrying large currents. In hybrid vehicles, for example, power transistors with blocking voltages of more than 500 V are used to convert DC power from the batteries to AC power to operate the electric motor.
Conventional power devices (e.g., transistors or diodes) used in such applications are made of silicon. However, the limited critical electric field of silicon and its relatively high resistance causes available commercial devices, circuits and systems to be very large and heavy, and operate at low frequencies. Therefore, such commercial devices are unsuitable for future generations of hybrid vehicles and other applications.
Nitride semiconductor devices have been proposed as offering the potential for producing high-efficiency power electronics demanding high blocking voltages and low on-resistances.

Semiconductor structure and recess formation etch technique


In one embodiment, scanning data is received for wireless access points whose wireless signals were observed by the one or more scanning devices in a target area. For each group of scanning data that shares a common identifier of a Wi-Fi access point, a centroid of the scanning data is determined, a set of scanning data of the group that exceeds a threshold distance from the centroid is designated as having potential error, and a location of the Wi-Fi access point is calculated. The calculated location of the Wi-Fi access point for each group of scanning data is stored in a reference database. Upon receiving a request for a location of a mobile device, an identity of one or more Wi-Fi access points in range of the mobile device is determined, and the location of the mobile device is computed using calculated locations from the reference database.

Field of the Invention
The invention generally related to location-based services and, more specifically, to methods and systems of determining locations of Wi-Fi access points and using such information to locate a Wi-Fi-enabled device.
Discussion of Related Art
In recent years the number of mobile computing devices has increased dramatically creating the need for more advanced mobile and wireless services. Mobile email, walkie-talkie services, multi-player gaming and call following are examples of how new applications are emerging on mobile devices. In addition, users are beginning to demand/seek applications that not only utilize their current location but also share that location information with others. Parents wish to keep track of their children, supervisors need to track the location of the company's delivery vehicles, and a business traveler looks to find the nearest pharmacy to pick up a prescription. All of these examples require the individual to know their own current location or that of someone else. To date, we all rely on asking for directions, calling someone to ask their whereabouts or having workers check-in from time to time with their position.
Location-based services are an emerging area of mobile applications that leverages the ability of new devices to calculate their current geographic position and report that to a user or to a service. Some examples of these services include local weather, traffic updates, driving directions, child trackers, buddy finders and urban concierge services. These new location sensitive devices rely on a variety of technologies that all use the same general concept. Using radio signals coming from known reference points, these devices can mathematically calculate the user's position relative to these reference points. Each of these approaches has its strengths and weaknesses based on the radio technology and the positioning algorithms they employ.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) operated by the US Government leverages dozens of orbiting satellites as reference points. These satellites broadcast radio signals that are picked up by GPS receivers. The receivers measure the time it took for that signal to reach to the receiver. After receiving signals from three or more GPS satellites the receiver can triangulate its position on the globe. For the system to work effectively, the radio signals must reach the received with little or no interference. Weather, buildings or structures and foliage can cause interference because the receivers require a clear line-of-sight to three or more satellites. Interference can also be caused by a phenomenon known as multi-path. The radio signals from the satellites bounce off physical structures causing multiple signals from the same satellite to reach a receiver at different times. Since the receiver's calculation is based on the time the signal took to reach the receiver, multi-path signals confuse the receiver and cause substantial errors.
Cell tower triangulation is another method used by wireless and cellular carriers to determine a user or device's location. The wireless network and the handheld device communicate with each other to share signal information that the network can use to calculate the location of the device. This approach was originally seen as a superior model to GPS since these signals do not require direct line of site and can penetrate buildings better. Unfortunately these approaches have proven to be suboptimal due to the heterogeneous nature of the cellular tower hardware along with the issues of multi-path signals and the lack of uniformity in the positioning of cellular towers.
Assisted GPS is a newer model that combines both GPS and cellular tower techniques to produce a more accurate and reliable location calculation for mobile users. In this model, the wireless network attempts to help GPS improve its signal reception by transmitting information about the clock offsets of the GPS satellites and the general location of the user based on the location of the connected cell tower. These techniques can help GPS receivers deal with weaker signals that one experiences indoors and helps the receiver obtain a 'fix' on the closest satellites quicker providing a faster "first reading". These systems have been plagued by slow response times and poor accuracy—greater than 100 meters in downtown areas.
There have been some more recent alternative models developed to try and address the known issues with GPS, A-GPS and cell tower positioning. One of them, known as TV-GPS, utilizes signals from television broadcast towers. (See, e.g., Muthukrishnan, Maria Lijding, Paul Havinga, Towards Smart Surroundings: Enabling Techniques and Technologies for Localization, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 3479, January 2 Hazas, M., Scott, J., Krumm, J.: Location-Aware Computing Comes of Age. IEEE Computer, 37(2):95-97, February 2004 005, Pa005, Pages 350-362.) The concept relies on the fact that most metropolitan areas have 3 or more TV broadcast towers. A proprietary hardware chip receives TV signals from these various towers and uses the known positions of these towers as reference points. The challenges facing this model are the cost of the new hardware receiver and the limitations of using such a small set of reference points. For example, if a user is outside the perimeter of towers, the system has a difficult time providing reasonable accuracy. The classic example is a user along the shoreline. Since there are no TV towers out in the ocean, there is no way to provide reference symmetry among the reference points resulting in a calculated positioning well inland of the user.
Microsoft Corporation and Intel Corporation (via a research group known as PlaceLab) have deployed a Wi-Fi Location system using the access point locations acquired from amateur scanners (known as "wardrivers") who submit their Wi-Fi scan data to public community web sites. (See, e.g., LaMarca, A., et. al., Place Lab: Device Positioning Using Radio Beacons in the Wild.) Examples include WiGLE, Wi-FiMaps.com, Netstumbler.com and NodeDB. Both Microsoft and Intel have developed their own client software that utilizes this public wardriving data as reference locations. Because individuals voluntarily supply the data the systems suffer a number of performance and reliability problems. First, the data across the databases are not contemporaneous; some of the data is new while other portions are 3-4 years old. The age of the access point location is important since over time access points can be moved or taken offline. Second, the data is acquired using a variety of hardware and software configurations. Every 802.11 radio and antenna has different signal reception characteristics affecting the representation of the strength of the signal. Each scanning software implementation scans for Wi-Fi signals in different ways during different time intervals. Third, the user-supplied data suffers from arterial bias. Because the data is self-reported by individuals who are not following designed scanning routes, the data tends to aggregate around heavily traffic areas. Arterial bias causes a resulting location pull towards main arteries regardless of where the user is currently located causing substantial accuracy errors. Fourth, these databases include the calculated position of scanned access points rather than the raw scanning data obtained by the 802.11 hardware. Each of these databases calculates the access point location differently and each with a rudimentary weighted average formula. The result is that many access points are indicated as being located far from their actual locations including some access points being incorrectly indicated as if they were located in bodies of water.
There have been a number of commercial offerings of Wi-Fi location systems targeted at indoor positioning. (See, e.g., Kavitha Muthukrishnan, Maria Lijding, Paul Havinga, Towards Smart Surroundings: Enabling Techniques and Technologies for Localization, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 3479, January 2 Hazas, M., Scott, J., Krumm, J.: Location-Aware Computing Comes of Age. IEEE Computer, 37(2):95-97, February 2004 005, Pa005, Pages 350-362.) These systems are designed to address asset and people tracking within a controlled environment like a corporate campus, a hospital facility or a shipping yard. The classic example is having a system that can monitor the exact location of the crash cart within the hospital so that when there is a cardiac arrest the hospital staff doesn't waste time locating the device. The accuracy requirements for these use cases are very demanding typically calling for 1-3 meter accuracy. These systems use a variety of techniques to fine tune their accuracy including conducting detailed site surveys of every square foot of the campus to measure radio signal propagation. They also require a constant network connection so that the access point and the client radio can exchange synchronization information similar to how A-GPS works. While these systems are becoming more reliable for these indoor use cases, they are ineffective in any wide-area deployment. It is impossible to conduct the kind of detailed site survey required across an entire city and there is no way to rely on a constant communication channel with 802.11 access points across an entire metropolitan area to the extent required by these systems. Most importantly outdoor radio propagation is fundamentally different than indoor radio propagation rendering these indoor positioning algorithms almost useless in a wide-area scenario.
There are numerous 802.11 location scanning clients available that record the presence of 802.11 signals along with a GPS location reading. These software applications are operated manually and produce a log file of the readings.
Examples of these applications are Netstumber, Kismet and Wi-FiFoFum. Some hobbyists use these applications to mark the locations of 802.11 access point signals they detect and share them with each other. The management of this data and the sharing of the information is all done manually. These application do not perform any calculation as to the physical location of the access point, they merely mark the location from which the access point was detected.
Performance and reliabilityPerformanceReliabilityLocal Search/Advertising<100meters85% of the timeE911<150meters95% of the timeTum-by-tum driving directions10-20meters95% of the timeGaming<50meters90% of the timeFriend finders<500meters80% of the timeFleet management<10meters95% of the timeIndoor asset tracking<3meters95% of the time

Techniques for computing location of a mobile device based on observed Wi-Fi access points


A washable pillow comprising of a molded foam core with antimicrobial resistance encased in a washable netting and a sleeve. The pillow may be washed and dried using conventional household methods without significant damage or loss of mechanical properties.

The neck of a person lying in a supine or side-lying position is often out of alignment with the person's spine. This is commonly the case when the person's neck is supported by a pillow or multiple pillows, such that the neck lies at an angle defined by the deflected height of the pillow(s), wherein the angle is typically not co-planar with the spine. The deflected height of the pillow is closely related to the stiffness imparted by its constituent materials. Pillows containing viscoelastic foam may be used to encourage proper neck alignment.
Although pillows constructed at least in part with viscoelastic foam have many desirable properties, many viscoelastic foams have properties that can generate design challenges. For example, some viscoelastic foams have less durability and/or are weaker (e.g., tear strength, tensile strength, and the like) than other types of foam. As another example, some viscoelastic foams retain large quantities of water, and thus may be difficult to wash and dry. In light of these properties, improvements regarding the use of viscoelastic foam, particularly with respect to their washability, utilized in pillows and cushions continue to be welcome additions to the art.


A calibration system is disclosed for a stereoradiographic device having an X-ray source and a vertical X-ray receiver, the calibration system includes a horizontal table which rotates between two reference positions that are separated by 90 degrees in a horizontal plane of the table. A vertical frame is fastened to the horizontal table and is symmetrical with an axis of rotation of the table, the frame accommodates a patient that remains stationary relative to the frame as the table is rotated between its two reference positions wherein corresponding X-ray photographs are taken. At least three markers made of radio-opaque material are firmly attached to the frame, one of the markers represents the origin of orthogonal X,Y and Z axes, a second of the markers is located at a predetermined point along the X-Y axes, the third marker located at a known distance along the Z axis, the markers defining respective distances Lx, Ly or H relative to the origin.

There are many publications and patents which disclose the possibility for reconstructing an object in three dimensions on the basis of photographs obtained in two dimensions. This is in particular the case of stereovision. Stereo-radiography, or multi-planar radiography, is based on the same principles, the third dimension is given by the mapping of at least two views taken at different angles of incidence and this mapping is not possible without a calibration stage which, in stereovision, is most often carried out once and for all before the images are taken. In the field of radiography, these different angles of incidence impose either the use of several X-ray sources or a spatial displacement of a single source or a displacement of the subject to be radiographed in front of this single source.
Now, in the field of clinical radiography, the simultaneous use of two X-ray sources is extremely rare. Furthermore, the position of the X-ray source must be adjusted for each subject to be radiographed.
One example is the three-dimensional representation of the human vertebral column. The structural, positional and morphometric information that such representations offer is particularly interesting. It can for example help a surgeon in his pre-operative and post-operative diagnosis or it can be of the type favouring computer-aided surgical operations.
The only information of this type that a surgeon can easily gather comes from stereoradiographic systems that are available only in a very small number of hospitals. The equipment generally consist of a source and a radiographic film and a turntable upon which the patient is disposed in such away as to obtain several views at different angles of incidence. A calibration object is also added to the equipment.
It is in fact necessary to calibrate these views in such a way as to identify the geometrical parameters of the radiographic environment, that is to say to specify the relative positions of the X-ray source with respect to the film.
There are numerous methods of calibration but these generally depend on the description of the relative positions of the images and of the X-ray sources (or of the cameras). In order to determine the radiographic environment, these methods necessitate the management of 18 variables when carrying out calculations. In this case, the calibration object must surround the totality of the measurement volume which makes it particularly voluminous and bulky.
Furthermore, the patient must also be placed inside this measurement volume and can be made uncomfortable and put under stress due to the structure of the calibration object which surrounds him and/or to the length of the measuring and acquisition process.
It has also been proposed to place the patient lying down on a table, as if to scan him. However, unlike in the upright position, this measurement is not carried out under load and the curvatures of the vertical column (physiological or pathological) are thereby modified.
Furthermore, in order to obtain two views at different angles of incidence with only one image generating system, it is possible resort to a translation of the source (vertical or horizontal). But the two angles of incidence obtained are often close, which generates more errors in the 3D reconstruction. Moreover, the photographs thus obtained do not correspond to the radiographs currently used in clinical routine.

Stereoradiography device and method for the use thereof

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Arts et Metiers


A computing system having at least one cluster. Each cluster has only one master server. The master server has at least one general processing unit, a relatively high speed data input adapted to send and receive data, a relatively low speed data input adapted to send and receive data, and a buffer memory adapted to buffer data between the relatively high speed data input and the relatively low speed data input. Each cluster also has at least one slave server, which has at least one general processing unit, and a relatively low speed data input adapted to send and receive data, the relatively low speed data input having data communication with the relatively low speed data input of the master server. In this manner, the relatively high speed data input, which tends to be very expensive, is present only in the master server, and is used for the high speed transfer of large amounts of data. However, the master server sends the data out to the slave servers on lower speed connections. Thus, there is a blend of both high speed and low speed data communication within the system, and the data is economically processed in clusters within the system.

Integrated circuit manufacturers use inspection systems to detect anomalies, such as defects, in substrates. Generally, an inspection system rasters the surface of the substrate with one or more optical sensors, and generates image data based on the images detected by the sensors. This image data is analyzed according to one or more of a variety of different algorithms to determine where defects might exist on the substrate. Integrated circuit manufacturers demand that such inspection systems meet several criteria. Among these criteria is that the inspection system must be extremely accurate, fast, and reliable. Further, such inspection systems should preferably be reasonably priced and relatively flexible.
Prior art inspection systems have implemented one or both of pipelined systems or computers that are networked in a switched fabric topology, which use highly customized hardware. Customized hardware has several disadvantages as compared to commercially available hardware, including higher nonrecurring engineering costs for the developer, lower reliability, longer development times, and more inflexibility in changing algorithms. Switched fabric systems have additional disadvantages, including high cost, lack of standards between manufacturers, and development lag in the components, such as the level of microprocessor that is built into such systems.
Previous approaches to these problems have provided just one of either relatively high bandwidth or relatively low bandwidth interconnects between all of the processors of a system. The relatively high bandwidth approaches can work, but may be more expensive than necessary. The relatively high speed data interconnect in a supercomputer can be a significant portion of the overall system cost. For some applications, exclusive use of a relatively high speed interconnect is excessive. Examples of relatively high bandwidth networks include the SKY and Mercury computer system computers with SKY channel, Infiniband, Race++, or RAPIDIO interconnections.
Relatively low bandwidth approaches may be insufficient to handle the bandwidth requirements of the desired applications. An example of a relatively low bandwidth interconnect is a Linux cluster based around the BEOWULF strategy, with a simple 100 base-T Ethernet interconnect fabric. The old techniques either provide insufficient interconnect bandwidth to successfully complete the problem, or supply an excessive amount of interconnect bandwidth at too great a cost
What is needed, therefore, is a system that overcomes problems such as those described above, at least in part.


A jet impingement cooling assembly for semiconductor devices includes a heat exchange base having an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber. An inlet connection may be in fluid connection with the inlet chamber, while an outlet connection may be in fluid connection with the outlet chamber. A jet plate may be coupled to the inlet chamber, and a jet pedestal may be formed on the jet plate and having a raised surface with a jet nozzle formed therein.

High power semiconductor devices, during operation, generate heat that may be harmful to the devices themselves, or to nearby components. For example, excess heat may cause an abrupt device breakdown, or may contribute to shortening of a device lifetime.
To mitigate such potential difficulties, liquid cooling systems may be used to cool high power semiconductor devices. For example, a pump may be used to direct a flow of water or other suitable cooling liquid to high-heat areas, to thereby facilitate heat transfer from the high-heat areas to the cooling liquid.

Jet impingement cooling for high power semiconductor devices

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC


A zoom lens system includes, from the object to image side, a first lens unit of a positive refractive power having a first lens element with a power to both diffract and refract light. A second lens unit has a negative refractive power and may include a second lens element having both the power to diffract and refract light, and it least a third lens unit is included. A zooming operation is performed by varying the distances between the respective first, second, and third lens units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a zoom lens system, and more particularly, to a compact zoom lens system that is suitable for use as a photo-taking lens in a video camera or single lens reflex camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, zoom lens systems comprising a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power and at least one other lens unit have been known.
Among these zoom lens systems, those in which the first lens unit comprises at least three lenses and the second lens unit comprises at least two lenses have been proposed (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,042).
Generally, in zoom lens systems, chromatic aberration must be adequately corrected in each lens unit. To do this, in a conventional zoom lens system, each lens unit must comprise at least two lenses having different dispersion values, which makes it extremely difficult to reduce the number of lenses in each lens unit and make the zoom lens system more compact.