A fastener assembly to be used in the construction of semi-trailers consisting of a first fastener having a head and a shank, a mating second fastener, and a plurality of radially spaced projecting barbs formed on the shank. The barbs, which may also be spaced axially on the shank, engage in a hole for receiving the first fastener to prevent rotation and removal of the first fastener. The first fastener may also be provided with an encapsulating cover with two sealing points on its underside to seal the fastener to a surface through which the fastener is inserted.

The present invention relates to a fastener assembly, and in particular to a fastener assembly having a barbed shank and an encapsulating plastic seal protecting the exterior portion of the fastener assembly.
It is well known in the art to encapsulate fasteners with some type of a plastic covering. Such covered heads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 73,088; 563,969; 1,941,175; 1,867,354; 3,470,787; 3,693,495 and 4,293,243. Other types of covered heads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,134,290; 4,316,690; 4,373,842; and 4,482,278.
In addition to the need for a covered head to prevent corrosion of the fastener, there is a shortcoming in presently used fasteners in some situations and environments in that a first part of a fastener, such as a T-nut on a screw, is applied from one side of a wall or other structure and the second part of the fastener, such as a screw or a locking nut, respectively, is applied from the other side of the wall or structure not accessible to the person applying the first portion of the fastener. Therefore at least two persons are required for the assembly operation, or else one person must insert all of the first portions of the fasteners from one side of the wall and then must hope that those fasteners will not fall out, be pushed out, or turn when the second parts of the fasteners are being applied from the other side of the wall. Oftentimes, for example in the applying threaded fasteners through the wall of a semitrailer truck body, the first fastener parts become dislodged or turn while the nuts are being applied thus requiring two persons to complete the operation of applying the fasteners to the truck body.
It would be an improvement in the art if a fastener were provided which obviated the necessity of requiring two persons to complete the assembly of the fasteners to the truck body.


A combustion apparatus is disclosed that improves oxidation efficiency without increasing either combustion apparatus size or residence time, where the apparatus includes a combustion zone having a static mixing zone along a length of the combustion zone.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved combustion apparatus and methods for making and using same.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved combustion apparatus including a combustible material inlet, an oxidizing agent inlet, a combustion gas outlet and a combustion zone having at least one in-line or static mixing zone and methods for making and using same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Combustion of combustible materials has always been a challenging and difficult undertaking, especially when the goal is complete oxidation or combustion. Such complete combustion is particularly critical in analytical detectors for determining concentrations of nitrogen and/or sulfur in a sample.
Although many combustion chambers have been designed over the years, most still lack the ability to foster complete combustion in a timely and cost effective manner. Certain combustion chambers have use static mixers to add combustion, but the mixers are either used upstream or down stream of the combustion zone to ensure that the material entering the flame, combustion tube or furnace are homogeneous or to ensure that the effluent gases are homogeneous. Such combustion systems including static mixers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,575,617; 6,497,098; 6,418,724; 6,302,683; 5,890,886; 5,829,967; 5,558,515; 5,513,982; 5,425,632; 5,000,757; 4,755,136; and 4,213,403.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved combustion chamber, which improves combustion efficiency by providing enhanced in-line mixing within the combustion zone or zones.

Combustion apparatus and methods for making and using same


Systems, apparatuses and methods may provide for technology that detects an unidentified individual at a first location along a trajectory in a scene based on a video feed of the scene, wherein the video feed is to be associated with a stationary camera, and selects a non-stationary camera from a plurality of non-stationary cameras based on the trajectory and one or more settings of the selected non-stationary camera. The technology may also automatically instruct the selected non-stationary camera to adjust at least one of the one or more settings, capture a face of the individual at a second location along the trajectory, and identify the unidentified individual based on the captured face of the unidentified individual.

The identification of individuals in open spaces (e.g., train stations, airports, stadiums) is often useful for security and/or public safety purposes. Conventional solutions may involve the deployment of a relatively high number of cameras facing in many different directions to increase the likelihood that the faces of individuals will be captured. In such a case, artificial intelligence (AI) modules and/or super resolution techniques may be used to automatically recognize the captured faces. The costs, however, of the equipment and the processing overhead in such configurations may be relatively high. For example, analyzing every frame of the video feeds (e.g., even when the frames contain no useful data) may be very costly from a processing perspective. While other solutions may use pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) cameras, those solutions typically involve manually intensive operation and/or recognition (e.g., potentially leading to errors) and may suffer from blind spots in the space being monitored.

Camera orchestration technology to improve the automated identification of individuals


A feeder for feeding media items from a tray includes a first nudger roller and a second nudger roller. The first and the second nudger roller are moveably mounted to the feeder. The first and the second nudger rollers are in a first position when a tray of a first type is connected to said feeder the first and said second nudger rollers are in a second position when a tray of a second type is connected to said feeder. The tray of a first type may be a shingle feed tray and the tray of a second type may be a stacks feed tray. With the shingle feed tray the first position for the first and the second nudger rollers are where each nudger roller engages each media item in a shingles tray when each such media item is positioned in the shingles tray to exit the shingles tray and to be moved from the shingles tray into said feeder. With the stacks feed tray the second position for the first and the second nudger rollers are where the first nudger roller is positioned out of engagement with media items in a stacks tray and the second nudger rollers is positioned to each engage each media item in the stacks tray when each such media item is positioned in said stacks tray to exit the stacks tray and to be moved from the stacks tray into said feeder.

Various paper handling systems are designed to process a wide variety of media items. These media items may be of various sizes and shapes and of various types of materials and documents. For example, if the media items are envelopes, to accommodate and process a volume of items, the envelope may be shingled in a shingle feed tray. However, if the items are sheets, such as 8½×11 paper, to accommodate and process a volume of sheets, the items may be stacked in a stacks feed tray. When these media items are moved from the shingle or stacks feed tray into the feeder mechanism, as the case may be, the items are separated from the other media in the tray for processing in the system.
To obtain reliable media item separation in the separation operation, the input mechanism of existing media handling systems are limited to specific media geometry due to a number of compromises that must be made in the presentation of the media items to the feeder. The optimal presentation of the media to the separator is a complex problem that is constrained by the geometry of the media being fed, the form of separator, the desired form of human interaction with the system, the control of the stack force during feeding, and other factors.
In certain inserter products, for example, all media items are fed from a shingled stack of items. This is a logical set up and orientation for short media items such as ⅓ to ½ document length (such as 8½×11 inches) media items, including trifold media items, envelopes, and small booklets. The format is cumbersome for sheets, such as 8½×11 inch sheets of paper. The conflicting angles at which the various media (stacked sheets vs. shingled envelopes) advance down the tray can cause wide variations in stack normal force and compromise the feeder's ability to separate the media. Accordingly, separate input points with feeder mechanisms or the need for operator intervention to change the feeder mechanism for the type of feed tray, shingle or stacks, and the type of media, are frequently employed.

Multimode stack and shingle document feeder


Disclosed herein is a method for treating an androgen-stimulated disease in a subject in need thereof by administering to the subject a composition containing an effective amount of an inhibitor of IκB kinase subunit α activity. The composition can also be administered to a subject at high risk for prostate cancer as a method for reducing the subject's risk thereof. A further method relates to identifying a modulator of transcriptional activity regulated by IκB kinase subunit α. Still another method relates to determining the IκB kinase subunit α-regulated transcriptional activity regulated by in a non-human mammalian test subject.

Androgens define a broad class of steroid hormones that control primarily the development and maintenance of male characteristics. They exert their physiological effects through the androgen receptor (AR), a member of the steroid hormone nuclear receptor superfamily. The AR is activated by binding an androgen (e.g., testosterone) or a related ligand. Activated AR triggers a signal transduction pathway that drives increased transcription of a number of "androgen-responsive" target genes, e.g., prostate specific antigen (PSA). Of note, the signal transduction steps in this pathway have not been fully elucidated.
AR activation by androgens, followed by increased androgen-responsive target gene transcription, stimulates a number of diseases, e.g., prostate cancer. Thus, treating prostate cancer usually includes administering an AR antagonist. Unfortunately, its effectiveness is frequently short-lived, as the AR expressed by cancer cells often becomes androgen-independent, i.e., constitutively active (e.g., due to a mutation). Consequently, the ligand-independent AR drives a high level of target gene transcription that supports persistent cancer growth even in the presence of an AR antagonist.
Thus, there is a need for compositions that modulate androgen-responsive target gene transcription at a signal transduction step downstream of AR activation, as well as methods for their identification and therapeutic use.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A memory device and a method for burn-in test. The memory device has a plurality of sub-array word line leak-current limited units and a plurality of single word line leak-current limited units. They are used to limit the current in each word line to a predetermined word line current value. In burn-in test mode, the output of a word line driver is kept in a high impedance state. The bit line stress voltage is applied to the row of memory cells through a normal read-write path. A voltage generator for generating a substantially stable voltage is also provided. In burn-in test mode, the even word lines and the odd word lines are grouped separately and the word line stress voltage is applied to the even word lines and to the odd word lines alternately.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a memory device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a memory device for a burn-in test and a method for screening out defective dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cells in the wafer state.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a burn-in test is performed on a semiconductor memory device to prevent reliability problems, and more specifically, after the device has been assembled or packaged. The screened devices, if defective, cannot be repaired with a laser and re-assembled. Volume production is therefore more expensive. The burn-in test is usually performed at a high voltage and high temperature; the semiconductor memory device is operated in read or write mode to screen out possible existent defects in, for example, the gate oxide film of the cell transistor, the storage node and the p/n junctions, the cell capacitor insulator film, the adjacent word lines, the adjacent bit lines, the word lines and the bit lines. But the word line to be active is responsive to the row address in sequence, especially for a DRAM device, and is dependent on the number of refresh cycles. For example, one particular word line can be selected once every 1024 cycles for 4M DRAM, 2048 or 4096 for 16M DRAM, and 4096 or 8192 for 64M DRAM. Besides, the duty cycle of work line and the complement burn-in data "1" and "0" are considerable when evaluating the efficiency of a stressed memory cell. The stress efficiency is low if the burn-in test time cannot be increased, especially for the high-density new generation memory device. Similar problems arise for a column address to access stored data or to write in new data. If all of the word lines are active at the same time and all of the cells are refreshed simultaneously, the burn-in test time and cost is dramatically reduced, especially in the wafer stage.
In consideration of the above, some conventional art exists that includes circuits or methods to increase the burn-in efficiency of a wafer or the package stage. They are briefly described as follows:
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,057, all of the word lines can be selected simultaneously or in groups to stress the adjacent word line. The operation power is not applied to the device so that the stress voltage can be input, or a pass gate that connects the boost circuit to the word line driver is turned off, after which the stress voltage can come from an external test pad. The burn-in data is input through the bit line precharge device and is applied to the bit line pair. Then, the burn-in data are written into the cell.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,340, the stress voltage is applied to a predetermined external test pad. Two additional NMOS are then coupled to the bit line pair, respectively, through a PMOS to drive all of the word lines simultaneously, in order to input the burn-in data.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,373, as device operates in a burn-in process, the boost circuit is inactive and shorts the word line power supply to the device operation power supply. The burn-in data also come from the bit line precharge device, besides separating the bit line precharge generator and cell plate voltage generator.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,590,079 and 5,790,465, two NMOS devices connect to pull the NMOS of a word line driver low and only one of the two NMOS can be turned on in normal mode or burn-in mode. In normal operation, one grounded NMOS is turned on for word line noise immunity while the other NMOS is turned on in burn-in test mode for applying the word line stress voltage.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,331, a test circuit is provided to place the NMOS-type word line driver in a high-impedance state. The burn-in background data is written into the memory cell before the burn-in test mode is set, and then the operation voltage is applied to the word lien through a PMOS to stress the gate oxide film.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,423, the cell plate voltage is separated from bit line precharge voltage by a CMOS pass gate at the output of voltage generator. The bit line stress voltage is transferred from the external voltage or the complementary internal input through stress transferring PMOS, then via the bit line precharge NMOS to the bit line.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,199, a bit line precharge circuit is connected to an external test pad for supplying a bit line stress voltage and bit line precharge device and memory cells. Word lines are partitioned into odd and even addresses, and the bit line stress voltage is supplied via the bit line precharge device to memory cells. Then, a cell checker pattern is realized.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,694, a fully on-chip wafer level burn-in test circuit is described. It includes three main circuits. A high voltage generating unit generates the word line stress voltage for screening out gate oxide defects. The bit line precharge voltage and the cell plate voltage are supplied by the bit line precharge voltage generating unit and the cell plate voltage generating unit, respectively. The burn-in data is entered through bit line precharge device and the cell plate voltage is used to stress a memory cell.
In the prior art described above, the gate oxide stress voltage can be supplied by an external power supply via a predetermined external test pad or an internal high voltage generator. No matter what kind of voltage source the chip designer selects, a maximum current that voltage source can supply always exists. For example, a word line defect is burned out successfully during the burn-in test, or there are inherent word line related defects. Both result in a leakage path on the word line. In an extreme case, this defect causes the word line to short directly to the ground, so the leakage current is too large to be supplied by the voltage source. The word line stress voltage then largely decreases because the voltage source cannot support the leakage current. When the stress voltage is reduced, the electric field across gate oxide film becomes insufficient. Therefore, no more gate oxide related defects are screened.
Further, in the conventional wafer level burn-in test method, the burn-in background data is written either through a bit line precharge device or via additional device coupled to the bit line. In such a method, the cell plate voltage needs to be separated from the bit line precharge voltage. The former is used to stress the cell capacitor insulator film and the later is used to write in burn-in data. The bit line and bit line bar usually have the same voltage level and no electric field exists between them. This method cannot screen out the defects relative to an adjacent bit line. Another disadvantage is that the separate voltage levels have different responses to ground noise, which is always something against bit line signal sensing in normal operation.

Memory device and method for burn-in test

Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology, Inc.


An ironing table and container support ensemble comprises an ironing board movably mounted to leg stands to support the board in a first working position for ironing items on the board and fold with the board to a second folded position. A support movably mounts relative to the leg stands and to the board so that the support moves between a first position beneath the board and a second position to be closer to the board. A container secured to the support has a wall structure that forms a chamber for containing items in a first extended position. In a second position, the container structure occupies less space than in the first container position. The container having a shape and size to rest upon the support when the support and board are in their first positions to place items within the container.

This invention relates to ironing boards for use with an iron to iron clothes, and to containers for holding ironing board accessories or clothes. Ironing board assemblies have been used over the years for ironing clothes. Such ironing board assemblies have comprised an ironing board having leg stands, which position the board in a generally horizontal operating position relative to the floor board or floor. The leg stands are movably connected to themselves and movably mounted to the ironing board, so that the ironing board assembly can be repositioned to a collapsed position for movement to another location or for storage. The leg stands used with such ironing board assemblies have taken a variety of constructions, but typically have been comprised of tubular members. Such stands have included those comprising a pair of leg tubes, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,894, issued Sep. 13, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,432, issued Aug. 9, 1994, both with named inventor Danny Simpson. Prior art ironing board assemblies have also comprised leg stands having single tube leg stands, such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,974,431, issued Mar. 14, 1961, with named inventor Tony Ribaudo; U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,839, issued Nov. 24, 1959, with named inventor Ernest V. A. Ashby; U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,561, issued Oct. 13, 1964, with named inventor D. J. Munson, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,748,512, issued Jun. 5, 1956, with named inventor Frederick W. Kulicke, Jr.
Various types of assemblies have been used in the prior art to lock the position of the ironing board relative to the leg stands, to hold the ironing board in a horizontal position, such as the locking assemblies in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,769,894 and 5,335,432.
Prior art ironing board assemblies have also included shelves movably mounted relative to leg stands, which can be located beneath the ironing board. These have included shelves pivotally mounted relative to one of the leg stands. In the prior art containers have also been used to hold laundry accessories such as starch or sprinkle bottles, as well as to hold sprinkled clothes for ironing. Such prior art containers have included collapsible containers.
However, there has been a need for an ironing table assembly wherein a collapsible container can rest on a support beneath the board to be used in normal operation to hold accessories or clothes, which container can be detachably mounted to the support to be used at a location spaced away from the ironing table, but can also remain mounted to the support as the support board and legs are folded for storage or relocation.

Ironing board and container support ensemble


A method and system is disclosed for operating an in-band relay to receive and amplify an incoming radio frequency signal and forward the amplified radio frequency signal. Methods to improve isolation between receive and transmit front-ends are disclosed, enabling an increase in the amplification gain without causing oscillation. Methods for learning the impulse response of the self-interference channel, and methods to perform adaptive echo cancellation in the analog domain. In addition, methods for transmit and receive beamforming are presented that achieve two objectives: (1) Improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the relayed signal, thereby compensating for noise amplification. (2) Improve the isolation, thereby enabling to increase the relay gain without causing oscillation.

A communication link with capability to support connections in both transmit and receive directions at the same time and over the entire frequency band is called full-duplex, or two-way. In contrast, a link that can support connection in only one direction at a time (over a given frequency band) is called one-way or half-duplex. Current wireless systems are one-way and rely on either separate time slots (time division duplex) or separate frequency bands (frequency division duplex) to transmit and to receive. These alternatives have their pros and cons, but both suffer from lack of ability to transmit and to receive concurrently over entire frequency band. Relays are used to extend the range in wireless communications. Currently, wireless relays mainly rely on either time division duplex or frequency division duplex to separate the incoming and outgoing links. It is desirable to have amplify-and-forward relays that can amplify an incoming signal and simultaneously transmit it over the same band as an outgoing signal. Current amplify-and-forward relays suffer from two major shortcomings, namely noise amplification, and self-echo (self-interference) which results in oscillation, limiting the relay gain. To avoid oscillation, current amplify-and-forward relays rely on physical separation between their incoming and outgoing antennas to reduce self-echo, and thereby enabling to increase the amplification gain. Such a remedy based on physical distance limits the applicability of amplify-and-forward relays, and increases the cost. Therefore there is a need for innovation in the field of amplify-and-forward relays and related full-duplex transceivers.


A air root pruning container for plants includes a side wall made of a plurality of segments extending in layers above a base wall with each segment having a larger radius as measured from a central axis than the subjacent segment and with the segments being separated from adjacent segments to provide air root pruning openings between the segments; each segment includes outwardly curved wall portions so that the interior wall surfaces will guide root development to an opening.

Plants and shrubs cultivated for commercial sale have been grown in containers in nurseries for many years. Some of the chief benefits of the container use has been the conservation of water, efficient use of land and substantially enhanced control over the development of the plant by providing an optimal growth environment, ready access to the medial in which the plant is to grow. Moreover, these containers provide ease of transportability from a nursery to a point of sale while minimizing damage to the plant. As is well-known, the use of containers in nurseries and farms to develop plants for commercial sale has enjoyed widespread use in the nursery industry as a result of the economic cost benefit resulting from conservation of the soil and water necessary to plant development during growth from seedling to a plant ready for marketing.
One such container that has enjoyed widespread success in this industry is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,784 granted Sep. 7, 1993. In this patent, a circular container is provided with a corrugated sidewall to encourage a lateral directional root growth for the plant with roots being directed toward a plurality of apertures provided in the sidewall. Once a root reaches an aperture, it ceases to grow since it is exposed to air and prevented from growing due to the absence of soil thereby creating enhanced lateral root development. The container, however, was relatively expensive to manufacture and store due to its initial configuration.
A number of attempts have been made in the prior art, to solve the air root pruning requirement for commercial plant growing, but none to my knowledge have achieved as efficient pruning of roots, prevention of defective root development and enhancements of root form as the structure disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent.


The present invention provides a structure and a method for prevention leakage of a substrate strip. The substrate strip includes an edge portion and a plurality of units. A patterned metal layer on a surface of the substrate strip includes at least one plating bus extended to the edge portion, a plurality of plating lines at the units, a plurality of contact pads at the units and a plurality of fiducial marks at the edge portion. The plating bus has an extended trail having one end exposed out of the sidewall of the substrate strip. The fiducial marks and the contact pads are exposed out of a plurality of first openings of a solder mask. The solder mask also has a second opening at the edge portion exposing a portion of the plating bus to define a breaking hole. After forming a surface layer on the fiducial marks and the contact pads, the exposed portion of the plating bus is void of the surface layer. By removing the exposed portion of the plating bus, the breaking hole is formed to electrically isolate the extended trail from the contact pads in order to prevent a chip on the substrate strip from being damaged by ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) during packaging processes.

A conventional substrate strip for semiconductor packages is formed with plating buses and plating lines for plating a metal surface layer on contact pads. Normally the plating buses are extended to the sidewalls of the substrate strip. In the packaging processes, the substrate strip is conveyed by a track. The ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) will occur by the contact between the exposed plating buses at the sidewalls of the package substrate strip and the conveying track, which will damage the electrical functions of chips on the substrate strip. In order to prevent chips on the substrate strip from being damaged by ESD, R.O.C. Taiwan Pat. No. 508,769 discloses a conventional substrate strip with a layer of copper-mesh layer being electrically connected to the molding gate. While ESD is occurred during the molding process, electric charges are conducted to the copper-mesh layer and discharged. This will prevent a chip from being damaged by ESD during molding processes, but ESD still can happen while conveying the substrate strip.
Conventionally, to prevent ESD in a substrate strip is to route a through slot between units to remove plating buses on the scribe lines, and to cut off the plating buses extending to the edge of substrate strip and to create electrically "OPEN" between the substrate strip and the units. Nevertheless, the width of the through hole is larger than that of the scribe lines between the units, therefore, the effective area of the substrate strip for the units will be greatly reduced and the packaging cost will be increased, moreover, the package substrate strip is easily deformed.
Another conventional way to prevent ESD during conveying a substrate is revealed in R.O.C. Taiwan Pat. No. 479,344. At least a plating bus out of units and a plurality of branched plating lines inside the units are formed on a substrate. A plurality of bridging lines interconnect the solder-ball pads inside the units for plating. After electroplating, a plurality of holes are drilled in the bridging lines. The drilled holes are formed at the units and corresponding to each bridging lines in order to electrically isolate the solder-ball pads. Thereafter, an insulation material is filled in each drilled hole and even to the surface of the substrate. Nevertheless, the drilling holes are formed at the units, they may affect the package structure and reliability of the package substrates. To avoid this, they have to be filled with an insulation material, and this would increase packaging procedure and cost. Furthermore, the plating buses have to be redesigned to match up with the drilled holes.

Method and structure for prevention leakage of substrate strip

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


Systems and methods for breaking program execution on events are described. One of the systems includes an event subsystem for receiving the signaling events generated by one or more associated peripheral devices. The system also includes a command module which is coupled between the event subsystem and a debug module, the command module receives the signaling events from the event subsystem and in response generates break commands. The debug module of the system receives the break commands from the command module and, in response, interrupts the execution of a program of a controller.

Microcontrollers can be used for controlling other devices. Examples of devices controlled by microcontrollers are analog to digital converters, digital to analog converters, input and output ports, DMA controllers, and memories. A microcontroller may provide an interface for breaking the program execution and debugging a program running thereon.
The devices that are controlled by microcontrollers send and receive information in the form of a number of signaling events. The signaling events inform the microcontroller and/or the other devices of such events like changing the state of a specific device. A device can respond to a signaling event received from other devices or the microcontroller and perform a corresponding action.
Increasing the number of devices in a system can increase the number of signaling events that occur. In some architectures, an event system can be provided that includes multiplexers that rout the signaling events among the devices as well as the microcontroller.


A bulk loader conveys articles in bulk and has a hopper configured for receiving the articles, such as railroad articles. A reciprocating member is configured for reciprocating between a retracted position and an extended position in a track associated with the hopper. Articles that are loaded into the hopper fall into the track when the reciprocating member is in the retracted position and are conveyed from the hopper when the reciprocating member actuates to the extended position, resulting in the removed articles being positioned in a convenient location for further handling by an operator.

The present invention relates generally to a bulk loader for storing and conveying stick-like articles, which includes a hopper associated with a conveyor for moving articles from the hopper to a delivery point. More particularly, the present invention relates to a railroad right of way maintenance device providing a bulk spike loader system for providing railroad articles, such as spikes, from a hopper to a desired location for loading the articles into a spiker.
Among various types of railway maintenance equipment, automatic spikers are known and used for driving railroad spikes into railroad ties for securing the rail to the tie plates and tie plates to the ties. The spiker is typically mounted on a spiking machine capable of traveling over railroad tracks and may be self propelled or towable. Suitable examples of such spikers are disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,191,840 and 6,095,053 which are incorporated by reference. During operation of typical spikers, workers fill kegs with spikes held in a separate car or wagon, and load the filled kegs onto the spiking machine. A first worker then removes spikes from the keg, as needed, and places them in the spiker magazine. A second worker then operates the aiming and driving mechanism of the spiker to drive the spike where desired.
This conventional system requires a large amount of manual labor to load the kegs with spikes and then load the kegs onto the spiking machine. In addition, manually reaching into the kegs to get the spikes wastes further time. Furthermore, space is limited on the spiking machine, so that only a few kegs can be carried on the spiking machine at one time. This limits the production capacity of the spiking machine.
Some known solutions to the above problems such as those disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,053, which is incorporated by reference, have proposed using an inclined trough and auger assembly to move spikes or other rail fasteners from the hopper to a desired location for facilitating rapid loading of the fasteners by an operator into the spiker. While such solutions have improved the feeding of railroad spikes being supplied to an operator, problems such as jamming of the auger and/or an insufficient supply of the spikes reaching an operator are known to occur and consequently cause lower operator productivity. That is, productivity is limited by the number of spikes fed to the operator. When the auger becomes jammed, the spikes must be removed from the hopper to have access to those spikes which are jamming the hopper. Once the jammed spikes are disengaged from the auger, a reloading of the spikes into the spiker must occur before the spikes are again provided to the operator.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved bulk loader that efficiently stores and conveys relatively large quantities of articles to a desired location for further operations and that prevents jamming of the conveyed articles while they are conveyed to the desired location.


Techniques for manufacturing structures that include composite hat stringers are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of forming a composite structure includes placing a generally cured composite hat stringer on a tool, the hat stringer having a rigid mold line conformal surface for adjoining a generally uncured skin, positioning the skin adjacent to the rigid mold line conformal surface, coupling the skin to the rigid mold line conformal surface of the composite hat stringer, including applying a pressure to a surface of the skin to urge the skin into engagement with the composite hat stringer, and curing the skin.

Structural members are available in a wide variety of configurations to provide structural support under a variety of loading conditions. In particular, the fuselage, wings, and empennage of an aircraft typically include structural members called stringers or longerons that are coupled to skin members on the fuselage, wing, and empennage surfaces that cooperatively provide flexural and torsional stiffness to these portions of an aircraft. Traditionally, the fuselage, wing, stabilizers, and empennage surfaces are fabricated from a metal, such as without limitation, aluminum, steel or titanium. The stringer may include a planar wall portion that is generally oriented in a direction approximately perpendicular to the skin member and extending in a generally length wise direction along the fuselage and empennage surface and generally spanwise direction along the wing or stabilizer so that the web portion offers resistance to bending. A flange portion may be positioned on one or both of the longitudinal edges of the web portion in order to provide increased rigidity and support to the stringer. The flange portion further allows the stringer to be coupled to the skin member by providing an attachment surface.
Fiber-reinforced composite materials are also available that may be used to form various structural members, and may be used as a substitute for metals, particularly in applications where relatively low weight and high mechanical strength is desired. As a result, fiber-reinforced composite materials are widely used in a variety of commercial and military aircraft, terrestrial vehicles and consumer products. The material is generally comprised of a network of reinforcing fibers that are generally applied in layers (e.g., plies), and a polymeric resin that substantially wets the reinforcing fibers to form an intimate contact between the resin and the reinforcing fibers. The material may be formed into a structural component by a variety of known forming methods, such as an extrusion process or other forming processes. The use of fiber-reinforced composite materials may have drawbacks including increased complexity in the manufacture and assembly of such materials, additional expense, and creation of waste when materials are improperly cured.
Although desirable results have been achieved using prior art apparatus and methods, a stringer and skin structure that may be fabricated at a low cost and result in a more integrated structure would have utility.

Manufacturing process using bladderless mold line conformal hat stringer


A capacitor has at least two capacitor units, wherein a first capacitor unit and a second capacitor unit of the at least two capacitor units have opposite polarities.

The present invention relates to a capacitor and to a vehicle having such a capacitor.
A capacitor normally has a plurality of capacitor units. FIG. 1 shows an electrical capacitor 10 known from the prior art having a plurality of capacitor units or capacitor windings 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. The capacitor is provided, within one plane, with capacitor windings 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 connected in parallel. These capacitor windings have the same polarity, as shown in FIG. 1. The capacitor units 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are arranged next one another in a row. The positive poles of the capacitor windings 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are arranged on the same side and connected to the positive busbar of the capacitor 10. In a similar manner, the negative poles of the capacitor windings 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are arranged on the other same side and connected to the negative busbar of the capacitor. All of the capacitor windings 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 in the capacitor 10 are normally charged with the same potential.
The magnetic or electromagnetic field 19 indicates the situation of the electromagnetic field, induced by the capacitor 10, inside and outside of the capacitor 10. The length and size of the arrows indicate the strength of the electromagnetic field at the respective location. As clearly shown in FIG. 1, the parallel arrangement and the identical polarity of the capacitor windings 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 results in the amplification of the overall electromagnetic field outside of the capacitor 10. Inside the capacitor 10, the electromagnetic field 19 is reduced.
The formation of a relatively large or larger overall electromagnetic field also directly has negative effects on both the acoustics and the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), which can adversely affect the compatibility of the capacitor with other electrical components. Furthermore, a relatively high stray inductance in the commutation circuit results. This leads to a high overvoltage at the switching element, as a result of which the switching current generally has to be limited. The poor EMC furthermore necessitates additional EMC filtering, which is reflected in increased component costs.
Proceeding from this, the object of the present invention is to provide a capacitor having a reduced electromagnetic field outside of the capacitor. Furthermore, the costs and the installation space of the capacitor should not be significantly increased.
This object is achieved by a capacitor according to the invention comprising at least two capacitor units, wherein a first capacitor unit and a second capacitor unit of the at least two capacitor units have opposite polarity.
An alternating, parallel arrangement of the capacitor windings is proposed. The adjacent capacitor windings have an opposite polarity, as a result of which the electromagnetic field is amplified locally between capacitor windings; at the same time, the overall electromagnetic field outside of the capacitor winding is weakened. Advantageously, the inherent inductance of the capacitor can be significantly reduced.
According to one development of the invention, a first capacitor unit and a second capacitor unit of the at least two capacitor units are arranged in parallel with respect to their spatial alignment.
According to one development of the invention, the at least two capacitor units are arranged next to one another in a capacitor unit row.
According to one development of the invention, the capacitor has a housing, which contains the at least two capacitor units.
According to one development of the invention, the capacitor has a first capacitor connection and a second capacitor connection.
According to one development of the invention, the at least two capacitor units each have a first electrical connection and a second electrical connection, wherein the first electrical connections of the at least two capacitor units are arranged next to one another in a first row and the second electrical connections of the at least two capacitor units are arranged next to one another in a second row.
According to one development of the invention, the first capacitor connection makes electrical contact with the first electrical connection of the first capacitor unit and with the second electrical connection of the second capacitor unit, wherein the second capacitor connection makes electrical contact with the second electrical connection of the first capacitor unit and with the first electrical connection of the second capacitor unit.
The first capacitor connection preferably has a first contact-making part and a second contact-making part, wherein the first contact-making part of the first capacitor connection is electrically connected to the first electrical connection of the first capacitor unit and a second contact-making part of the capacitor connection is electrically connected to the second electrical connection of the second capacitor unit.
The second capacitor connection preferably has a first contact-making part and a second contact-making part, wherein the first contact-making part of the second capacitor connection is electrically connected to the second electrical connection of the first capacitor unit and a second contact-making part of the second capacitor connection is electrically connected to the first electrical connection of the second capacitor unit.
The first and the second capacitor units are preferably arranged at a distance from one another.
According to one development of the invention, the capacitor has a third capacitor unit, wherein the first, second and third capacitor units are arranged in parallel with one another and wherein the second capacitor unit and third capacitor unit have opposite polarity.
According to one development of the invention, the first capacitor connection is electrically connected to the first electrical connection of the third capacitor unit, wherein the second capacitor connection is electrically connected to the second electrical connection of the third capacitor unit.
According to one development of the invention, the first capacitor unit, the second capacitor unit and/or the third capacitor unit are a film capacitor.
The present invention also provides an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle comprising an above-mentioned capacitor.
According to the invention, a low inherent inductance of the capacitor can be achieved. The design is comparable to that of a conventional film capacitor. As a result, it is possible to retain the rectangular shape of the capacitor. This has the advantage that existing capacitors can be replaced with new capacitors in inverters with a relatively low level of outlay. Since the invention also provides a busbar guidance system that is adapted to the capacitor windings, a parallel and close guidance of positive and negative busbars with overlapping on the end side of the capacitor is achieved. Therefore, entanglements can be prevented.
By retaining the rectangular shape of the capacitor, it is also easily possible to use the new capacitors in the existing inverters, as a result of which no further redesign measures arise. Furthermore, the component material of the busbar guidance system can be saved. Therefore, the capacitor according to the invention can be realized in a cost-effective manner.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The exemplary embodiments explained below illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Capacitor comprising a plurality of capacitor units

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


An optical arrangement (10) for imaging a sample (20). The arrangement comprises an illumination objective lens (30) for producing an illumination beam (40) and a detection objective lens (50) for imaging radiation (60) from the sample (20). The illumination objective lens (30) is arranged at a non-perpendicular angle to the detection objective lens (50).

A microscope is a scientific instrument that is used to image objects, which either are too small themselves or have details that are too small to be visible to the naked eye. There are many types of microscopes available on the market. The most common of these and the first to be invented is the so-called optical microscope, which uses light in a system of lenses to magnify images of the samples. The image from the optical microscope can be either viewed through an eyepiece or, more commonly nowadays, captured by a light-sensitive camera to generate a so-called micrograph. The images were previously captured on photographic film, but modern developments in charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras allow the capture and storage of digital images.
The illumination sources used in optical microscopes have been developed over the years and wide varieties of illumination sources are currently available, which can emit light or other types of radiation at different wavelengths. Optical filters can be placed between the illumination source and the sample to be imaged in order to restrict the wavelength of the radiation illuminating the sample.
Modern biological microscopy uses fluorescent probes for imaging specific structures within a cell as the sample. In contrast to normal trans-illuminated light microscopy, the sample in fluorescence microscopy is illuminated through an objective lens with a narrow set of light wavelengths. These narrow set of light wavelengths interact with fluorophores in the sample, which then emit light of a different wavelength. This emitted/fluoresced light is used to construct the image of the sample.
European Patent EP 1 019 769 (Carl Zeiss Jena) teaches a compact confocal theta microscope which can be used as a microscope with single objective or dual-objective system. The microscope has separate directions of illumination and detection, whereby the direction of detection in the objective is inclined at a set angle in relation to the direction of illumination. The set angle is chosen such that the area of overlap of the illumination cone and detection cone is reduced in comparison with a conventional confocal microscope. In the optical path between the objective and an image plane of the microscope, a beam splitter or reflector is positioned for injecting the illumination light and/or coupling out the detection light. The microscope disclosed in this patent uses point illumination.
The optical performance of a typical light-sheet microscope is limited by geometrical constraints imposed by physical dimensions of the illumination objective lens and the detection objective lens. The optical performance (contrast, optical resolution and light collection) of the light-sheet microscope depends on the numerical aperture (NA) of the illumination objective lens and the detection objective lens.
FIGS. 1a and 1b show an example of the light-sheet microscope, as known in the art. An illumination objective lens 30 produces an illumination beam 40, which illuminates a sample 20. Radiation 60 is reflected or fluoresced from the sample 20 and enters the detection objective lens 50, where it is measured using a detector (not shown) and images are generated in a computer (not shown). Detectors used are typically CCD detectors.
The numerical aperture (NA) of the detection objective lens 50 defines the maximum cone of light that can enter the detection lens 50. The numerical aperture is defined as follows: NA=n*sin (θdet). The refractive index n=1.33 (water) for most light-sheet microscopes. θdet is the half angle of the maximum cone of light that can enter or exit the detection objective lens 50.
The illumination light cone 35 of the illumination objective lens 30 and the detection light cone 55 of the detection objective lens 50 may not overlap for perpendicular light-sheets arrangements. In other words, the angle θill (half angle of the illumination light cone 35) and θdet (half angle of the detection light cone 55) must be less than 90°. The mechanical housing of the detection objective lens 50 and the illumination objective lens 30 usually occupy a significantly larger cone than that which is needed for a specific value of the numerical aperture. This results in an arrangement of the illumination objective lens 30 and the detection objective lens 50, which may be sub-optimal.
International Patent Application No. WO 2014/063764 A1 (Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie) teaches a microscope with an illuminating lens mounted on or above a sample table. The illuminating lens guides at least one illuminating beam in the form of a two-dimensional light sheet to illuminate a sample under examination that is on the sample table. At least one detection objective lens is mounted underneath the sample and detects a detection beam being reflected or emitted from the sample under examination. The optical axis of the illumination lens is arranged at an angle, greater than 90° with respect to the optical axis of the detection objective lens. The illuminating beam is preferably incident upon the illuminating lens outside of the optical axis of the illuminating lens at an incident angle, such that the light sheet lies within the focusing plane of the detection objective.
The arrangement of this microscope requires a high degree of precision in the arrangement of the sample, source of the illuminating beam and the detection lens to ensure that the images of the sample can be accurately recorded by a camera.
US Patent Publication No. US 2012/0320438 A1 (Knebel et. al. assigned to Leica Microsystems GmbH) also teaches a scanning microscope that includes a light source, illumination optics and a scanning device for moving the illumination focus across a target region and in doing so by varying the direction of incidence in which the illuminating beam enters the entrance pupil of the illumination optics. The illuminating lens and the detection objective lens are mounted at an acute angle (of less than 90°) to each other, above the sample table and lie in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the sample table.

Optical arrangement for imaging a sample


Camera apparatus operative with a film cartridge having a rotatable radial bar coded data disc thereon positioned at predetermined angular settings corresponding that indicate the condition of film in the cartridge, i.e. exposed, unexposed, partially exposed, etc.. The setting of the disc is determined during initial film spool rotation during the film loading process by counting with the optical sensor in the camera the number of bar code elements occurring between the initial set position of the disc and a reference position on the disc such as an edge of a quiet zone element normally included on the radial bar coded disc. The visual exposure indicator (VEI) positions on the cartridge are spaced about the perimeter of the cartridge such that there exist unambiguous element count ranges corresponding to each of the cartridge VEI positions. Element counting for this purpose can be performed in a cameras that operate to cause initial spool rotation during a film loading operation in either an unwind or rewind direction.

In recent years, photographic film cartridges have been proposed in which the film strip is completely enclosed within the cartridge and the film is loaded into the camera by simply causing the cartridge film spool to be rotated in the unwinding direction. A motor drive in the camera would generally be used for this purpose. Simplicity in film loading is one reason for this arrangement.
A problem with this arrangement, however, is that, unlike prior conventional film cartridges, there is no film leader extending out of the cartridge to indicate that the film is unexposed. Consequently, arrangements have been proposed to provide a visual indication of the exposure condition of the film and also to prevent loading of exposed film into the camera. This is particularly useful if the photographer wishes to switch cartridges to a different film type midway through the film exposures in the first cartridge. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,833 and the applications cross-referenced therein are representative of such proposals. However, such arrangements have the drawback that they require specially designed cartridge configurations and special mechanical sensors built into the camera to implement the double exposure prevention.
In commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,030,978 and 5,032,854, film cartridges are disclosed that utilize a rotatable radial bar coded disc element to provide information about the film in the cartridge, such as film manufacturer, film type, etc.. These patents describe apparatus and methods for reading the bar codes during rewind operation to position the spool and the associated bar coded disc at a particular angular position of the spool so as to align visual indicators on the cartridge that indicate the exposure condition of the film, e.g. unexposed, partially exposed or exposed. In the '854 patent, a simple locking feature is shown that holds the spool in the desired indicator position. While useful as a visual indicator of film exposure condition, no provision is made for enabling the camera to automatically prevent reloading of exposed film or of enabling reloading of partially exposed film to an available frame position without the use of the special cartridge configuration and mechanical sensors of the types considered in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,833.
It is therefore considered desirable to provide camera apparatus that will cooperate with a film cartridge having a radial coded disc arrangement and that will conveniently and reliably prevent double exposure of film in the cartridge without the need for a specially designed film cartridges and costly, space consuming mechanical sensor arrangements in the camera.

Camera apparatus and method for film double exposure prevention


This device for processing and digitizing an energy spectrum of a radiation, comprises a charge preamplification circuit of the integrating circuit type, suitable for being connected to a semiconductor detector; a lag line energy measurement circuit connected to the output of the preamplification circuit; and a sampler connected to the output of the energy measurement circuit. It further comprises a synchronization circuit a current pulse measurement circuit connected to the output of the preamplification circuit and calculating the difference between the output and a differential of the output of the preamplification circuit; and a discrimination circuit forming a binary signal according to the output of the pulse measurement circuit said logic signal controlling the sampling times of the sampler.

Detectors based on semiconductors, for example like detectors with a photodiode or phototransistor matrix, allow the direct conversion of the incident radiation into an electrical signal, and have applications in several fields, such as medical imaging, luggage inspection and nuclear probes, for example.
A conventional spectrometer, that is a detector coupled with a processing and digitization circuit which determines the energy spectrum of the radiation received by the detector, is shown in FIG. 1 under the general reference 10. The spectrometer 10, designed for applications requiring a high counting rate of the incident photons on the detector, measures the energy of the photons using a lag line.
This spectrometer 10 comprises a semiconductor detector 12, for example made from CdZnTe, CdTe:Cl, or CdTe:In, polarized under a "HT" DC voltage via a resistance 14.
The detector 12 is subjected to a photon radiation, for example of gamma photons or X-ray photons, which ionize the semiconductor material. The charges thereby generated migrate toward electrodes (not shown) of the detector 12 due to the existence of the HT bias voltage.
The charge current "i" thus generated is recovered on a collector electrode 16 by a processing and digitization circuit 18, which counts the incident photons according to their energy in order to obtain the energy spectrum of the radiation.
The circuit 16 comprises a low noise charge preamplifier 20 mounted as an integrated circuit, a lag line energy measurement circuit 22, and an analog-to-digital converter 24.
The preamplifier 20 comprises a high gain amplifier 26 mounted in negative feedback with a parallel mounting of a capacitance 28, having the value C1, and a resistance 30, having the value R1, and also a capacitance 32 connected between the collector electrode 16 and the input of the amplifier 26.
FIG. 2 shows two pulses I1 and I2 of the current i resulting from the interaction of two photons with the detector 12, and FIG. 3 shows the corresponding voltage Vout at the output of the preamplifier 20.
The energy measurement circuit 22 comprises a lag line 32, connected to the output of the preamplifier 20 and applying thereto a predefined lag Δt and a first gain 34, connected to the output of the line 32.
The energy measurement circuit 22 also comprises a subtractor 36, connected to the preamplifier 20 and to the first gain 34 and calculating the difference between their outputs. Finally, a second gain 38 is provided at the output of the subtractor.
FIG. 4 shows, as a function of time "t", a voltage Vout(t) at the output of the preamplifier 20, the corresponding lag voltage at the output of the first gain 34 Vout(t−Δt), and the corresponding voltage E(t) at the output of the energy measurement circuit 22.
The energy measurement circuit 22 therefore generates voltage pulses corresponding to the charge pulses generated by the incident photon on the detector. It is demonstrated that the amplitude of a pulse at the output of the circuit 22 is proportional to the energy of the corresponding photon if and only if the lag Δt is greater than the rise time Tm of the voltage Vout at the output of the preamplifier 20. FIGS. 5 to 10 show, as a function of time, the shape of a pulse E(t) at the output of the circuit 22 for Δt=Tm (FIGS. 5 to 7) and for Δt>Tm (FIGS. 8 to 10).
The output voltage of the measurement circuit 22 is therefore converted to a digital voltage by the converter 24, that is quantified and sampled in time at a predefined sampling frequency fe.
The digital voltage is then delivered to a digital processing module (not shown) which detects the digital voltage peaks to determine the energy of the photons and thereby construct an energy spectrum of the incident radiation on the detector.
The abovementioned system permits a high counting rate (about a few megaphotons per second).
However, the charge sampling and generation in the detection are asynchronous events. Accordingly, some sampling times may be inappropriate because not corresponding to the voltage peaks at the output of the measurement circuit. This problem is particularly serious when the peaks of this voltage display very steep slopes. To reduce this drawback, it is possible to significantly increase the sampling frequency of the converter, but at the cost of very expensive equipment with high power consumption.

Device for processing and digitizing an energy spectrum of an electromagnetic radiation


A ROM embedded in a multi-layered integrated circuit includes rows of transistor memory cells. For reduced area, each transistor in a row optionally shares a terminal with an adjacent transistor in the row, whereby adjacent transistors share one of a source and a drain. A plurality of contact lines one each connected to each common terminal, serve as address terminals for cells. A plurality of metal layers are connected to the other of the drain or source terminals by filled vias and include a final metal layer defining a metal pad for each of the other terminals. Filled vias couple selected metal pads to selected signal lines to provide xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d outputs from selected cells and signal lines which are not coupled by filled vias to the metal pads provide xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d outputs from selected cells.

This invention relates, in general, to Read Only Memories (ROMs) and, more particularly, to ROMs and a method for manufacturing the ROMs, wherein the ROMs are capable of being programmed very late in the manufacturing process.
Most, if not all, embedded microcontroller parts have a Read-Only-Memory (ROM) module on-board. During engineering development, system designers typically use embedded Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) to debug their microcontroller code. However, once the system and code have been released for customer use and volume production begins, often ROM is substituted for NVM. This decreases costs, both directly through die size reduction (program ROM can be a significant fraction of die size) and indirectly through lower probe and test costs.
Increasingly, customers see a substantial fraction of the value they add to a microcontroller system to be the Intellectual Property (e.g. software, algorithms, etc.) they build into the code the microcontroller is running. Thus, suppliers need to build die which are identical in all other aspects (CPU, digital modules, analog modules, I/O, etc.) but with different code stored in ROM. For maximum flexibility of their production lines, manufacturers would like to delay putting the code in ROM as late as possible in the fabrication process. A common inventory of wafers past the point of ROM coding will not serve all customers.
Another reason to delay putting the code in ROM is that customers sometimes wish to upgrade their code and algorithms. When these code changes and corrections are made, the customer looks for minimum cycle time. The earlier the code is stored in ROM, the longer the cycle time for code updates.
Together, these pressures have driven manufacturers to devise means of programming ROM at later and later stages in the fabrication process. ROMs programmed at Active Area formation are still used (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,021,781, 4,151,020, and 4,208,726 for example) but ROMs with later programming are increasingly popular. The means of late ROM programming is accomplished by Ion Implantation before deposition of ILDO (the first inter-level dielectric layer). Examples of this process are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,230,505, 4,342,100, 4,390,971, and 5,585,297. In some processes, programming data in ROM is delayed until slightly later in the process by implanting through etched-back ILDO regions (U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,609), by using the metal as a mask (U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,399), using high energy implants or by using electron beams (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,272,303 and 4,591,891). Programming has also been delayed until contact formation (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,326,329, 4,219,836, 5,494,842, and 6 5,471,416). In this last approach, the ROM is programmed using contacts to the gates of transistors in the array. Some ROM designs which delay programming until later in the back-end result in a large bitcell size.
Many modern processes for high-performance applications have as many as five layers of metal. Increasing numbers of interconnect layers are likely to be used in conjunction with planarization techniques like Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP). The increased back-end cycle time means that ROM programming at a step close to ILD0 deposition is no longer xe2x80x9clatexe2x80x9d in the process. In order to keep the cycle time for customer ROM code changes low, ROM programming must be moved even later in the process. Further, bitcell size must be kept small and even reduced if possible.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable to provide methods and structures which overcome these problems, which are inexpensive and easy to perform, install and use. Further, in some specific applications, the structure has a substantially reduced chip area.

Ultra-late programming ROM and method of manufacture


Embodiments of the present invention generally relates to substrate supports for use in a plasma processing chamber. The substrate supports, which are metallic, have ceramic inserts to prevent arcing between the substrate support and the shadow frame used to protect the edges of the substrate support during processing. In large area substrate processing chambers, the shadow frame may comprise multiple pieces. The individual pieces may be coupled together, but spaced slightly apart by a gap to permit thermal expansion. Ceramic inserts are positioned on the substrate support so that when a shadow frame is positioned adjacent thereto, the ceramic inserts are located adjacent the gaps in the shadow frame. The ceramic inserts adjacent the gap prevent and/or reduce the arcing because the gaps are located over electrically insulating material rather than electrically conductive material.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to substrate supports for use in a plasma processing chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Televisions, computer monitors and other flat panel displays (FPDs) are typically fabricated in large area substrate processing chambers. These large area processing chambers are designed to process rectangular shaped substrates in order to maximize the effective use of the substrate. As most FPDs are rectangular in shape, a processing chamber designed to process circular shaped substrates, such as semiconductor wafers, may not be desirable due to the amount of wasted substrate that would need to be removed to form the final shape of the rectangular FPD.
As the large area processing chambers continue to increase in size, fabricating the various chamber components out of a unitary piece become difficult. Thus, some chamber components may comprise multiple pieces. Each piece may expand and contract due to thermal expansion issues. Therefore, the multiple pieces may be spaced slightly apart to create a gap between adjacent pieces. If the pieces are biased, arcing can easily occur within the chamber.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for avoiding arcing in a large area processing chamber where multi-piece components are utilized.

Substrate support with ceramic insulation


A floating transducer drive configured to isolate relatively low voltage system electronics from a relatively high voltage transmit circuit in an ultrasound imaging system. A receive circuit is electrically connected to an isolated local ground. An isolation circuit is electrically connected between the receive circuit and a relatively low-voltage processing circuit. The isolation circuit is configured such that during a transmit event during which the relatively high voltage transmit circuit sends a relatively high voltage signal to a transducer, the isolated local ground is electrically connected to the transmit circuit, but when the transmit event is not occurring, the isolated local ground is electrically connected to a system ground.

Medical imaging is a field dominated by high cost systems that may be so complex as to require specialized technicians for operation and the services of experienced medical doctors and nurses for image interpretation. Medical ultrasound, which is considered a low cost modality, utilizes imaging systems costing as much as $250K, or more. These systems may be operated by technicians with two years of training or specialized physicians. This high-tech, high-cost approach works very well for critical diagnostic procedures. However it makes ultrasound impractical for many of the routine tasks for which it would be clinically useful.
A number of companies have attempted to develop low cost, easy to use systems for more routine use. One example of such an attempt is that by Sonosite. The Sonosite system produces very high quality images at a system cost of at least $20,000. While far less expensive than high-end systems, these systems are still very sophisticated and require a well-trained operator. Furthermore, at this price few new applications may be opened.
Many ultrasonic imaging systems utilize an array transducer that is connected to beamformer circuitry through a cable, and a display that is usually connected directly to or integrated with the beamformer. This approach is attractive because it allows the beamformer electronics to be as large as is needed to produce an economical system. In addition, the display may be of a very high quality.
Some conventional system architectures have been improved upon through reductions in beamformer size. One of the most notable efforts has been undertaken by Advanced Technologies Laboratories and then continued by a spin-off company, Sonosite. U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,961 to Pflugrath et al., entitled "Ultrasonic Signal Processor for a Hand Held Ultrasonic Diagnostic Instrument," hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes some of the signal processing employed to produce a highly portable ultrasonic imaging system. The Pflugrath '961 patent makes reference to an earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,024 to Ogle et al., entitled, "Hand Held Ultrasonic Diagnostic instrument with Digital Beamformer," hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,498 to Bunce et al., entitled "Ultrasonic Imaging Device with Integral Display," hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, however, the transducer, beamformer, and display may be all integrated to produce a very small and convenient imaging system.
Other references of peripheral interest are U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,641 to Poland, et al., entitled "Method of and system for ultrasound imaging," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, which describes an ultrasonic apparatus and method in which a volumetric region of the body is imaged by biplane images. One biplane image has a fixed planar orientation to the transducer, and the plane of the other biplane image can be varied in relation to the fixed reference image.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,634 to Leavitt, et al., entitled "Sub-beam-forming apparatus and method for a portable ultrasound imaging," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes a sub-beam-forming method and apparatus that is applied to a portable, one-dimensional ultrasonic imaging system. The sub-beam-forming circuitry may be included in the probes assembly housing the ultrasonic transducer, thus minimizing the number of signals that are communicated between the probe assembly and the portable processor included in the imaging system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,766 to Savord, entitled "Integrated circuitry for use with transducer elements in an imaging system," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes integrated circuitry for use with an ultrasound transducer of an ultrasound imaging system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,032 to Savord, entitled "Beam-forming methods and apparatus for three-dimensional ultrasound imaging using two-dimensional transducer array," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes an ultrasound imaging system including a two-dimensional array of ultrasound transducer elements that define multiple sub-arrays, a transmitter for transmitting ultrasound energy into a region of interest with transmit elements of the array, a sub-array processor and a phase shift network associated with each of the sub-arrays, a primary beam-former and an image generating circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,602 to Savord, et al., entitled "Phased array acoustic systems with intra-group processors," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes an ultrasound imaging apparatus and method that uses a transducer array with a very large number of transducer elements or a transducer array with many more transducer elements than beam-former channels.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,479 to Savord, et al., entitled "Phased array acoustic systems with intra-group processors," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes an ultrasound imaging apparatus and method that uses a transducer array with a very large number of transducer elements or a transducer array with many more transducer elements than beam-former channels.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,372 to Poland, entitled "Ultrasound system for the production of 3-D images," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes an ultrasound system that utilizes a probe in conjunction with little or no specialized 3-D software/hardware to produce images having depth cues.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,780 to Hossack, et al., entitled "Method and apparatus for medical diagnostic ultrasound real-time 3-D transmitting and imaging," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes a medical diagnostic ultrasound real-time 3-D transmitting and imaging system that generates multiple transmit beam sets using a 2-D transducer array.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,534 to Smith, et al., entitled "Methods and devices for ultrasound scanning by moving sub-apertures of cylindrical ultrasound transducer arrays in two dimensions," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes methods of scanning using a two dimensional (2-D) ultrasound transducer array.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,310 to Smith, et al., entitled "Maltese cross processor: a high speed compound acoustic imaging system," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes an electronic signal processing device which forms a compound image for any pulse-echo ultrasound imaging system using a two-dimensional array transducer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,211 to Smith, entitled "Methods and systems for selective processing of transmit ultrasound beams to display views of selected slices of a volume," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes the selection of a configuration of slices of a volume, such as B slices, I slices, and/or C slices.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2010/0312106 to Blalock et al., entitled "Ultrasound Imaging Beam-Former Apparatus and Method, which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes an ultrasound imaging beamformer apparatus in which an incoming signal from a transducer is applied to an in-phase sample-and-hold and a quadrature sample-and-hold.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2010/0063399 to Walker et al., entitled "Front End Circuitry for Imaging Systems and Methods of Use," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes front end circuitry including a receive circuit configured to receive signals generated using coded excitation, perform analog sampling the received electrical signals generated using coded excitation, and provide a weighted, summed digital signal by processing the analog samples.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0016044 to Blalock et al., entitled "Ultrasonic Transducer Drive," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes a shunt that is connectable between a receive side of an ultrasonic transducer and a reference potential. A signal generator may generate an outgoing signal during a period of time while the shunt connects the receive side of the transducer to the reference potential. A signal receiver may receive an incoming signal during a period while the shunt is substantially open.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0016022 to Blalock et al., entitled "Ultrasonic Imaging Beam-Former Apparatus and Method," which is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference thereto, describes an incoming signal from a transducer in an ultrasound imaging beam-formed apparatus that is applied to an in-phase sample-and-hold and a quadrature sample-and-hold.
A schematic diagram of a transducer drive 10 for a conventional phased array ultrasound system is shown in FIG. 1. A piezoelectric transducer array 12, shown on the left, acts as an interface to a signal processor by converting electrical signals to acoustic pulses and vice versa. Images may be formed by transmitting a series of acoustic pulses from the transducer array 12 and displaying signals representative of the magnitude of the echoes received from these pulses. Low voltage receive electronics 14 receive electrical signals form the transducer and process the signals to form images. A relatively high voltage transmit generator generates a relatively high-voltage electrical signals that are inputted to the transducer array 12 to be transduced to outgoing ultrasound. Transmit/Receive (T/R) high voltage switches 18 are provided that are switchable from one configuration, in which switches 18 electrically connect the transmit generator 16 to the transducer array 12 to input relatively high voltage electrical signals to the transducer array, to a second configuration, in which switches 18 electrically connect the transducer array 12 to the low-voltage receive electronics 14.
Image formation begins when T/R switches are placed in the first configuration to connect the transducer elements 12 to individual transmit circuits. Next, transmit generators 16 output time varying waveforms with delay and amplitude variations selected to produce a desired acoustic beam. Voltages of up to 200 Volts or more may be applied to the transducer elements 12. Once transmission is complete, the T/R high voltage switches 18 are switched to the second configuration to connect the transducer elements 12 to individual receive circuitry (in the low voltage receive electronics 14) associated with each element.
Note that the transducer array 12 shown in FIG. 1 has one common electrode 13, and the non-common electrodes may be multiplexed between high-voltage transmit and low-voltage receive signals. The conventional T/R high voltage switches 18 are the source of considerable expense and bulk in typical ultrasound systems. For modern, three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound systems, the channel count (and thus, the number of T/R high voltage switches required) can reach into the thousands making the bulk and expense of the high voltage switches impractical, if not prohibitive.
Ultrasonic transducers associated with ultrasound imaging systems may be driven from a single terminal with the second terminal grounded. A transducer may be used to transmit ultrasound signals as well as receive reflected ultrasound.
A signal received at a transducer (reflected signal) may typically be several orders of magnitude smaller than the signal (outgoing signal) that was transmitted due to, inter alia, signal attenuation by the target tissue. Some of the signal may be lost due to transducer inefficiencies as well. It may be thus necessary to couple the transducer to a high-voltage transmit signal while the ultrasound is being transmitted, and then to a sensitive low-noise preamplifier while the reflected ultrasound is being received.
A switch that couples the transducer to the transmit and receive signals must be capable of withstanding high peak transmit voltages (typically 50-200 volts) while isolating the preamplifier input from those voltage levels, since they would otherwise destroy the preamplifier. If a receiver for the signals from the transducers is fabricated as a high-density, low-voltage integrated circuit (IC), the switches themselves may need to be fabricated off-chip in a separate package from materials and devices that can withstand the high voltage transmit pulses.
Commercial ultrasound systems have been limited to one-dimensional (1-D) or linear transducer arrays until fairly recently. A typical number of transducers in such an array may be 128. Providing separate multiplex and receive circuitry is manageable with this many transducers, albeit with significant use of expensive high-voltage switches. Newer arrays, however, may be likely to be two-dimensional (2-D) or square arrays. The number of transducers in a two-dimensional array may range up to 128×128 or 16,384, and is often in the thousands. Maintaining separate receive, transmit, and multiplex partitioning for the transducers in such an array creates a tremendous burden in terms of cost, space, and complexity. The power consumption and heat dissipation of thousands of high-voltage multiplexers is enough to discourage the use of two-dimensional arrays in portable ultrasound imaging systems.
Accordingly, existing ultrasound systems with thousands of separate transmit and receive switches may be too expensive and/or too bulky for many applications. While a variety of systems and methods may be known, there remains a need for improved systems and methods.

Floating transducer drive, system employing the same and method of operating


There is provided an enzymatic detergent composition comprising one or more surfactants and an endoglucanase which is not a Family 7 cellulase, which contains no cellulose binding domain and wherein the catalytic domain contains at least two disulphide bridges. Preferably, the endoglucanase is producible from Thermomonospora fusca, or mutants or variants thereof.

Various types of enzymes are known in the art as additives for detergent compositions. For example, detergent compositions containing proteases, lipases, amylases and cellulases and various combinations thereof have been described in the literature and several such products are currently on the market. Of these enzymes, proteases, lipases and amylases are most abundantly used. The enzymes assist in the cleaning of fabrics by degrading their natural substrates protein, fat and starch. Cellulase, on the other hand, is not added to detergent products because of its capability to break down cellulose, but rather to attain certain "care" benefits such as colour clarification, anti-pilling and reduction of the harshness of the fabric.
The harshness-reducing action of cellulase in detergent compositions was first described GB-A-1 368 599 (Unilever). DE-A-3 207 847 (Kao) discloses that the addition of cellulase to a detergent product improves its cleaning performance. EP-A-220 016 (Novo Nordisk) describes a colour clarification activity of cellulases.
Cellulases occur in nature as very complex mixtures of enzymes and in recent years several attempt have been described to isolate its various components and to produce them by means of recombinant DNA techniques. For a classification of cellulases, see Henrissat and Bairoch, Biochemical Journal 293, 781-788 (1993). A special class of cellulases, the endoglucanases, have been described as particularly useful for detergent applications.
W-A-89/09259 (Novo Nordisk) discloses a cellulase preparation useful for reducing the harshness of cotton-containing fabrics, comprising at least 40% of an endoglucanase component with a high endoase activity and affinity towards cellulose. W-A-91/17243 (Novo Nordisk) discloses a cellulase preparation consisting essentially of a homogeneous endoglucanase which is immunoreactive with or homologous to a 43 kD endoglucanase derived from Humicola insolens DSM 1800. The pH optimum of the endoglucanase from Humicola insolens DSM 1800 is about 8. W-A-94/21801 (Genencor) discloses the production and purification of endoglucanase EGIII from Trichoderma longibrachiatum. This endoglucanase is said to have a pH optimum of 5.5-6.0.
W-A-95/24471 (Novo Nordisk) discloses that certain cellulases of Family 7 (in the classification according to Henrissat), which do not comprise a carbohydrate binding domain, may have enhanced activity which may result in improved soil removal from fabrics.
Thus, although various endoglucanases have been reported to have favourable properties in detergent products, there is still a need to provide alternative or improved endoglucanase containing detergent compositions. In particular, the storage stability of endoglucanases, as well as their stability in the presence of proteolytic enzymes and/or bleach leave to be desired, especially in liquid detergent formulations. There is also a need for detergent products having improved anti-pilling properties.
For instance, it was found that the activity of the of Endoglucanase III from Trichoderma longibrachiatum, which has a pH optimum of 5.5-6.0, is rapidly decreasing in the alkaline region. Thus, there is also a particular need for endoglucanase containing detergent compositions which exhibit typical cellulase-associated benefits at alkaline pH.
It is therefor an object of the present invention to provide a detergent composition for fabric washing, containing an endoglucanase that is stable in (liquid) detergents during storage, in particular in the presence of proteolytic enzymes and/or bleach. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a detergent composition containing an endoglucanase that has satisfactory anti-pilling properties and that is effective at alkaline pH.
We have now surprisingly found that these and other objects can be achieved by using in the composition an endoglucanase which contains no cellulose binding domain and wherein the catalytic domain contains at least two and preferably tree, four, five or even more disulphide bridges.
In particular, such endoglucanases can be used to formulate detergent compositions which are stable and exhibit anti-pilling and colour clarification properties, even at alkaline pH and in the presence of proteolytic enzyme and/or bleach. We have also found that such endoglucanases do not depend on special proteases for stability, such as described in W-A-92/18599 (Novo Nordisk) for the 43 kD endoglucanase derived from Humicola insolens DSM 1800.

Lever Brothers Company, Division of Conopco, Inc.


Disclosed are a preparation method for a diamond-based field effect transistor and a field effect transistor, relating to the technical field of semi-conductors. Said method comprising: forming a conductive layer on the upper surface of a diamond layer; the diamond layer being a high-resistance layer; manufacturing an active region mesa on the diamond layer; manufacturing, on the conductive layer, a source electrode on a first region corresponding to a source electrode region, and manufacturing, on the conductive layer, a drain electrode on a second region corresponding to a drain electrode region; depositing, on the conductive layer, a photocatalyst dielectric layer on the upper surface of a third region corresponding to a source and gate region, and depositing, on the conductive layer, the photocatalyst dielectric layer on the upper surface of a fourth region corresponding to a gate and drain region; illuminating the photocatalyst dielectric layer; depositing, on the conductive layer, a gate dielectric layer on a fifth region corresponding to gate electrode region, manufacturing a gate electrode on the upper surface of the gate dielectric layer. The present invention can reduce the on-resistance of devices.

Devices made from materials based on monocrystal, polycrystal and nano-crystal diamonds are all called diamond-based devices, such as metal semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET), metal insulating field effect transistor (MISFET) and junction field effect transistor (JFET). The diamond-based device has advantages such as a high working temperature, a high breakdown field strength, a high cut-off frequency, a high power density, and is a best choice in the field of future high-power microwave devices.

Method for preparing diamond-based field effect transistor, and corresponding field effect transistor

The 13th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation


A method for determining haemodynamic performance in a human or animal subject comprises receiving at a processor data representing haemodynamic variables measured from the subject over time. The haemodynamic variables comprise at least two of Systemic Perfusion Pressure (SPP), Systemic Vascular Resistance (SVR), Cardiac Output (CO), Heart Rate (HR) and Stroke Volume (SV). The data are processed to produce a display signal for causing a display device to present a visual mapping relating the haemodynamic variables according to the relationship SPP=CO×SVR and the visual mapping is displayed on a display device. The visual mapping may be corrected Heart Rate (HR) or include a second mapping which facilitates an adjustment to take account of HR.

In a normal state of health, the human or animal body system continuously maintains physiological balance. Even during times of external influence due to disease, drugs, surgical intervention, trauma, cardiopulmonary bypass and the like, the body system auto regulates in order to maintain physiological balance. To achieve this balance, receptors throughout the body work to monitor and adjust haemodynamic variables such as pressure and flow.
In a non-optimal state of haemodynamic performance and where autoregulation has become impaired, the subject will often enter a state of shock manifesting in low blood pressure. In the clinical setting, the subject is monitored and therapy administered to ensure that there is sufficient flow in the body to reach all vital organs including the brain, heart and kidneys, so as to maintain adequate oxygen delivery to meet the metabolic needs of those organs. Failure to administer appropriate therapy leads to worsening of the patient's condition, ultimately leading to heart failure.
Traditionally, monitoring involves obtaining blood pressure measurements, together with measurements of oxygen saturation, heart rate ECG, and in the most severe cases, measuring cardiac output. Each of these parameters together with the clinician's assessment of physical signs give an indication of the subject's circulatory function e.g. during critical care, anaesthesia and surgery. Changes in circulatory function indicate that therapy must be adjusted in order to restore the function to more optimal values. Given the complexity and interaction of the organs of circulatory system, it is difficult for physicians to determine appropriate treatment when the subject's haemodynamic performance is being monitored using a variety of distinct variables viewed subjectively and individually. The principal obstacle to improving outcomes arises from the lack of a consensus about the appropriate haemodynamic goals in patient management. There is broad agreement that all patients require the same haemodynamic goals, but there is disagreement about which goals (in blood pressure, cardiac output, oxygenation) are critically important.
Physiology text books replicate two curves to describe the physiology of shock as illustrated in FIG. 1. During normal circulation, constant flow is maintained across a range of blood pressures. This is known as the "autoregulatory range". Although the physiological mechanism for autoregulation is not fully understood, it is believed to be an intrinsic property of muscle (the "myogenic" hypothesis), and/or the result of physiological molecules (the "metabolic" hypothesis) which accumulate as pressure increases, and/or an effect of fluid crossing the barrier of the vessels and exerting increased pressure from outside to maintain flow at the lower level (the "tissue pressure" hypothesis).
Curve I represents the autoregulation curve in the "normal patient" having a mean arterial pressure of between 60 and 130 mmHg (normo-tensive patient). Curve II represents the autoregulation curve in the hypertensive patient. Here, constant flow is maintained at higher pressures hence the blood pressure range across which "autoregulation" occurs is shifted to the right. In the hypertensive patient, instead of auto regulating flow between a pressure range of 60 to 130 mmHg, in the hypertensive patient this range may be 80 to 150 mmHg.
Below the lower end of the autoregulatory range (region A), blood pressure and cardiac output fall. This is accepted to characterise low output hypotension. However, these curves do not describe the subject having high output hypotension (as occurs in sepsis). Instead, physicians have relied on graphical representations originating from the Guyton model. The Guyton model devised in the 1970s relied on the study of small numbers of laboratory animals and now inferior measurement techniques to explain how blood pressure and cardiac output were controlled, in order to devise treatments.
According to Guyton, in the circulation there is a constant matching of venous return (preload) and ventricular function (cardiac output). This is represented in FIG. 2. In the closed system of Guyton, venous return to the heart (Central Venous Pressure (CVP)/Right Arterial Pressure (RAP)) must match volume ejected by the heart. Any central venous pressure value can represent multiple "equilibrium points" between venous return and ventricular function. If venous return is increased the venous return curve shifts right, the central venous pressure is increased and the patient moves "up" the ventricular function curve (VFC). If the patient bleeds, venous return decreases, the curve shifts left and the new equilibrium point occurs at a lower point on the ventricular function curve.
In the clinical setting, physicians rely on individual vital sign monitoring systems as may be applied to the Guyton paradigm in order to determine appropriate therapies for subjects exhibiting characteristics of non-optimal haemodynamic function. Although the Guyton model intuitively matches clinical observations in a steady state situation, it does not adequately explain shock states and fails to account for physiological differences in e.g. the fit versus obese individual and the young versus elderly adult. Further, its use has prompted unproven theories that have been applied in the clinical setting, perhaps to the detriment of patients being treated. These deficiencies have been known for some time. One group of researchers is investigating use of an alternative resuscitation algorithm devised by Rivers (NEJM, 2001) which is the latest manifestation of 'goal directed therapy' the goal being to increase oxygen delivery on the as yet unproven assumption that this is the physiological purpose to which vasodilation and increased cardiac output is directed.
It would be desirable to provide an improved approach to monitoring subjects experiencing or likely to experience non-optimal haemodynamic performance. It would also be desirable to improve the manner in which therapies for restoring optimal haemodynamic performance are determined.