A reflective metallic foil is modified so that an incident laser beam is diffused into multiple beams to dissipate the energy of the incident beam. The surface can have protrusions that range from 0.3 to 10,000 microns high with an average diameter of from 1 to 1,000 microns and an average spacing between protrusions of from 0.2 to 5,000 microns. The surface of the metallic foil can be provided with a first type pattern consisting of protrusions and indentations having an optimum range of 0.3 to 20 microns deep having average optimum diameter of 2 to 40 microns with an average optimum spacing between protrusions of 1 to 100 microns or a second type pattern consisting of protrusions and indentations having an optimum range of 20 to 100 microns deep having an average optimum diameter of 20 to 100 microns with an average optimum spacing of from 20 to 200 microns. The second type pattern can be superimposed on patterns of the first type.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is to a new laser beam reflector dispersion means in combination with a gauze for use as a shield during laser surgery, or other laser use, to protect persons and/or equipment in the vicinity by dissipating the beam energy in multiple directions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Laser usage has greatly proliferated over the past decade because of the many advantages the laser offers over the scalpel. The laser beam can be pin-pointed in its placement with great accuracy; it cuts without pressure; and it seals off blood vessels upon cutting, thereby greatly reducing the quantity of blood loss during surgery. The laser also represents a greater complexity and danger that must be dealt with effectively in the clinical setting. Safety has become a major concern when working with lasers and more powerful lasers continue to be developed. Numerous accounts of accidents with medical lasers during surgical procedures have been reported by the FDA and others. Injuries to the eye causing blindness is the most frequent devastating accident. Damage to the skin and other body organs has also frequently occurred. Laser beams that are reflected as highly collimated beams off smooth metallic surfaces, typical of surgical instruments and other objects found in the operating room, have been a particular problem that has resulted in serious injuries.
The most common method of protecting the patient from exposure to laser radiation in the operating room is by employing a surgical drape of towels or gauze pads that have been saturated with water or other suitable aqueous solutions, such as saline solutions. The wetted towels or gauze pads are applied adjacent the wound site, or locus of impact, where the surgeon intends to direct the laser beam, with the towel or gauze surrounding the wound site. Only the area to be operated on is left exposed. Additionally, in surgical procedures in the region of the head or neck, or whenever the patient undergoes general anesthesia, the patient's eyes are normally protected by draping the eyes with wetted towels or gauze pads. The time period over which wet towels or gauze pads provide protection depends on the type of laser and the power density of the laser beam. In many cases, the duration of effective protection against laser exposure is less than one second. When using typical power density carbon dioxide lasers, water in the towels is evaporated rapidly. Once the water is evaporated, the drape is no longer effective to protect the underlying tissue. During lengthy operating room procedures, water continually evaporates from the wetted gauze or towel dressings under ambient conditions, reducing the level of protection that was initially provided. When using the shorter wavelength lasers, the radiation is not effectively blocked or absorbed by the wet towel or gauze; it is transmitted to the underlying tissue. Exposure of tissue to the laser can result in serious injury to the patient.
Protective articles have been described in the prior art which seek to improve levels of safety in the operating room during laser surgical procedures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,641, issued 14 Oct. 1986 to E. Teeple, describes a surgical shield for use during laser surgical procedures comprised of a fabric sheet positioned between a pair of coextensive metal foil sheets. The preferred inner sheet is cotton gauze and the outer sheets are aluminum foil, with at least one of the foil sheets having an outer matte surface finish. The nature of the matte finish and method of its formation are not described. U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,625, issued 13 Jan. 1987 to E. Teeple, describes a surgical eye mask for use during laser treatment having an outer layer made from a metallic foil to which are secured a pair of gauze eye pads. The metallic foil is disclosed as being "highly reflective" and is intended to be the outer layer of the mask which is first to contact the laser beam. U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,738, issued 20 Feb. 1990 to R. Brink et al, describes a laser shield with an opaque, flexible, fabric sheet having one major surface with a reflective metal foil. The opaque, flexible, fabric sheet represents the outer layer, incident to the laser beam, and the foil represents an immediately underlying layer. The foil has a thickness sufficient to resist puncture by a carbon dioxide laser using 20 watts of power for at least one second. One function ascribed to the flexible fabric sheet is to reduce reflection of the beam. However, since the fabric sheet is rapidly penetrated by the laser beam, exposing the "shiny" metallic surface, protection from the reflected laser beam is very brief and may not be adequate to avert injury from exposure to the reflected beam.
In applicant's co-pending application, a laser barrier of a "gas blown" silicone foam sheet which optionally may contain an underlying layer of metallic foil is disclosed. That laser barrier has demonstrated being effective in stopping penetration of laser beams and of not externally reflecting the laser beam. It provides protection to the patient or underlying object as well as protecting persons or objects from reflected beams. Although that laser barrier is highly useful for many surgical procedures, the cost of the barrier limits its applications, especially for relatively low cost minor surgical and dental procedures where a laser is utilized. Also, the chemical and physical changes which occur to the laser barrier upon impact with the laser beam, cause a reduction in flexibility. Because of this, the barrier is not ideally suited for certain surgical procedures such as a minimally invasive laser surgical procedures which are accomplished within the body cavity without the need for large incisions. In such minimally invasive procedures, the barrier must remain flexible so that it can be passed through the small opening of the body wall after the surgery is completed.
Prior art laser barrier articles do not offer adequate combined protection of both the patient and the operating room staff. The "highly reflective" metallic foil protects the patient but endangers those in the operating room by virtue of specular reflection. Reducing the reflective nature of a thin metal layer by changing the molecular nature of the surface of the metal, such as by anodization, result in absorption of the beam on the surface, followed by meltdown and penetration of the thin metal layer. Application of nonreflective coatings to a thin metal layer surface, also results in absorption of the beam on the surface followed by meltdown and penetration. Applying a fabric layer on the outer surface of a thin metal layer provides only very brief protection before the fabric is vaporized and the exposed shiny metal layer reflects the beam.


The present invention relates to a novel thermoelectric method for determining the sequence of nucleotides on a nucleic acid molecule through use of a thermopile and/or sequencing reagents flowing under the conditions of laminar flow. The methods disclosed herein involve the measurement of the heat generated by a deoxynucleotide incorporation event that can be accomplished without the need to control the temperature of any of a thermopile's junctions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods useful in determining the nucleotide sequence of nucleic acids. More specifically, it relates to nucleic acid sequencing methods in which the nucleic acid acts as a template for the production of a complementary polymer by a polymerase enzyme and in which the incorporation of a nucleotide into the growing end of the lengthening complementary nucleic acid polymer is detected.
2. Description of Related Art
DNA sequencing has become an essential tool in molecular genetic analysis and is now commonly used to sequence large genomes of higher organisms, short regions of DNA to identify mutations of interest, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and complete genes and associated upstream and downstream control regions. New techniques are needed that are particularly suited for short or medium-long DNA sequencing projects such as SNP genotyping (Ahmadian, Gharizadeh et al 2000). Faster, less expensive and easy to implement sequencing methods will lead to improved SNP discovery. Now that the human genome has been sequenced, there is a need for rapid and inexpensive methods with improved read length and throughput that can be used to correlate phenotype and genotype differences for personalized genomics, personalized medicine, and the routine study of individual genomes (Chan, 2005).
Numerous methods can be used to sequence DNA. Wu and Taylor used methodology derived from RNA sequencing to sequence the cohesive ends of Phage λ DNA (Wu and Taylor, 1971). The method was not, however, easily applied to large-scale DNA sequencing. Plus minus sequencing was developed and used to sequence the phage ΦX174 genome (Sanger and Coulson, 1975) but was improved by Sanger's chain termination method (Sanger et al., 1977). In the chain termination method, 2′,3′-dideoxynucleoside triphosphates act as specific chain-terminating inhibitors of DNA polymerase. The method produces a series of DNA fragments of different lengths. DNA fragments of different lengths can also be produced using chemical agents to produce DNA fragments by breaking the DNA molecule at adenine, guanine, cystosine, or thymine (Maxam and Gilbert, 1977). Initially, the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase was used because this fragment does not have exonuclease activity. Li demonstrated greater accuracy and longer read lengths with native Taq DNA polymerase (Li et al., 1999). In the Sanger method, DNA synthesis is carried out in the presence of the four deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP) in four separate reaction mixes containing a low concentration of one each of the four dideoxynucleoside triphosphate analogues. One or more of the dideoxynucleoside triphosphates is labeled. To determine the nucleotide sequence, the DNA fragments are denatured and separated by high resolution gel electrophoresis and the order of the four bases can be read from the gel by measuring the location of each fragment in the gel by detecting the label using radioactivity or fluorescence. Methods to prepare DNA for sequencing have been automated (Lidstrom and Meldrum, 2003) as have the sequencing methods described above (Lidstrom and Meldrum, 2003) but there are still major disadvantages to their use including the cost of the required equipment, the need for highly trained technicians, the laborious nature of the methods, the time required for sequencing, the requirement for labeling, extensive space requirements, and the fact that often more information is generated than is needed. Additionally, high accuracy requires several-fold coverage of a genome (Chan, 2005).
If the objective of sequencing is to identify mutations or SNPs, short sequences of DNA are often analyzed from many different samples. Sanger sequencing can be used for this purpose but is expensive, time consuming, and generates more data than is needed. Current methods for sequencing short segments of DNA include sequencing by hybridization, Pyrosequencing, and massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS).
Pyrosequencing determines the DNA sequence by identifying which of the four bases is incorporated at each step in the copying of a DNA template by DNA polymerase without the need for electrophoresis, radioactivity, or fluorescence (Hyman, 1988). In this method, the DNA segment to be sequenced acts as a template for the production of a complementary DNA segment by a DNA polymerase. As DNA polymerase moves along the single stranded DNA template, each of the four nucleoside triphosphates is made available sequentially and, following adequate reaction time, is removed. Pyrophosphate (PPi) is released when one of the four bases is incorporated into the growing nucleic acid polymer by DNA polymerase. A number of methods can be used to detect the released pyrophosphate including the enzymatic method originally proposed by Hyman (Nyren and Lundin, 1985) in which ATP sulfurylase and luciferin are used to produce a light emission proportional in intensity to the amount of PPi as shown in the following reactions:

Nyren et al. showed that the sequencing method proposed by Hyman could be accomplished in the solid phase on immobilized DNA fragments (Nyren et al., 1993) and others have shown that the method may be used on double-stranded DNA (Nordstrom et al., 2000). The method as originally proposed by Hyman suffers from a number of drawbacks. Most notable is the fact that luciferase is not entirely specific for ATP as a high energy substrate and can also react with deoxyadenosine-5′triphosphate and to a lesser extent may react with other nucleoside triphosphates. Additionally, PPi is a contaminant of some commercially sold chemicals and is difficult to remove from buffers. Small nuclease contaminants in the buffers can potentially catalyze the formation of PPi via the reaction dNTP→dNMP+PPi.
To improve the signal to noise ratio of the Hyman method, Ronaghi et al. substituted deoxyadenosine α-thiotriphosphate (dATPαS) for the natural deoxyadenosine triphosphate (Ronaghi et al. 1996). They showed that dATPαS is incorporated into a growing strand of DNA polymer by DNA polymerase but is not recognized by luciferase. A further refinement of the Hyman method eliminated the need for intermediate washing steps needed to remove unincorporated nucleotides by the addition of a nucleotide-degrading enzyme to obtain a four-enzyme mixture, DNA polymerase, ATP sulfurylase, firefly luciferase and a nucleotide-degrading enzyme such as apyrase (Ronaghi et al. 1998). Despite this improvement, an inherent problem with the method is the difficulty in determining the number of incorporated nucleotides in homopolymeric regions due to the nonlinear light response following incorporation of more than three or four identical nucleotides (Ronaghi et al., 1998).
In view of these and other deficiencies in the art, a need exists for more accurate and less-expensive methods of sequencing DNA and other nucleic acid polymers to be developed.

Thermoelectric method of sequencing nucleic acids


Blade guards for table saws are disclosed. The blade guards can be used in a configuration where the guard holds a work piece against a work surface. This may be thought of as blade guards with hold-down capability. The blade guards also include splitters and anti-kickback assemblies. The anti-kickback assemblies include anti-kickback pawls that can be in an operable configuration or a disabled configuration.

A table saw is a power tool used to cut a workpiece to a desired size or shape. A table saw includes a work surface or table and a circular blade extending up through the table. A person uses a table saw by holding a piece of wood or other workpiece on the table and feeding it past the spinning blade to make a cut. Sometimes the workpiece will climb or rise up on the blade, creating a safety hazard that can result in the workpiece shifting unexpectedly or being kicked back or propelled by the blade toward the user. A user may inadvertently contact the spinning blade while trying to reposition the workpiece or as a result of the workpiece shifting or kicking back. The blade guard disclosed in this document provides a configuration that holds the workpiece down as the workpiece approaches the blade and as it is being cut to minimize the workpiece from climbing on the blade.
The disclosed blade guard also includes structure to substantially enclose the blade and protect against contact with the blade, a splitter or spreader to keep a workpiece from shifting sideways and catching on the rear edge of the blade, and an anti-kickback device such as a set of anti-kickback pawls configured to oppose a workpiece being thrown back toward a user. In one configuration, the blade guard also provides a block to prevent workpieces from contacting the blade if the workpieces are too high or thick to freely pass under the anti-kickback pawls or under any other structure associated with the blade guard and/or splitter.


Provided herein are methods for generating human induced pluripotent stem cells free from genomic integration of exogenous transgenes by transfecting into nucleated blood cells one or more DNA expression vectors (e.g., plasmid vectors) that do not contain a mammalian origin of replication, and encode and permit expression of one or more reprogramming factors (e.g., Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc). Also provided herein are the integration-free human induced pluripotent stem cells obtained by the methods described herein.

The advent of cellular reprogramming technology to generate human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells combined with directed differentiation in vitro has opened the door to vast opportunities for more effective drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Typically, an hiPS cell line is generated by transducing fibroblasts expanded from a small skin biopsy with one or more integrating retroviruses encoding reprogramming factors. The resulting hiPS line contains one or more proviral integrations, which may interfere with the use of the hiPS cell lines in several applications including, for example, regenerative medicine applications. Further, use of skin fibroblasts for generating hiPS cells presents a number of disadvantages: isolation of a skin biopsy is somewhat invasive for the patient; expansion of fibroblasts from a skin biopsy prior to cellular reprogramming is relatively slow and inefficient; and skin is often directly exposed to environmental mutagens (e.g., UV irradiation) that may compromise the genomic integrity of the fibroblasts and therefore that of fibroblast-derived hiPS cell lines.

Integration-free human induced pluripotent stem cells from blood


Methods, systems, and computer program products for post global title translation load sharing include receiving a plurality of signaling messages sent route on global title. Global title translation is performed for the signaling messages to result in multiple global title destinations for at least some of the signaling messages. One of the destination addresses is selected using the parameter in the signaling messages and the load sharing algorithm so that messages that are part of the same transaction are sent to the same destination address and messages related to different transactions are load shared among different destination addresses. Sequencing may also be performed so that sequenced messages are transmitted in the same order that they are received.

In telecommunications networks, such as SS7 networks, signaling points are often deployed in pairs to provide a desired level of network reliability. FIG. 1 is a simplified network diagram depicting interconnected signaling system 7 (SS7) signaling points. In FIG. 1, a service switching point (SSP) 102 is connected to signal transfer point (STP) 104 and STP 106, providing two paths for routing messages originating from SSP 102. STP 104 and STP 106 are deployed as paired nodes and provide redundant network services. STP 108 and STP 110 are also deployed as paired nodes and provide redundant network services as well. Messages sent to STP 104 may be routed to either STP 108 or STP 110 to obtain the desired service. Likewise, STP 106 may route messages to STP 108 or STP 110. Thus, a message signaling unit (MSU) originating from SSP 102 and destined for service control point (SCP) 112 may be routed in the first instance through either STP 104 or STP 106 and in the second instance through either STP 108 or STP 110 before reaching SCP 112. Likewise, MSUs intended for SCP 114 may be routed through either STP 108 or STP 110. Thus, in the event of a failure of either an STP or a signaling link between STPs, messages may still be routed through the network by following a redundant signaling path.
In some implementations, STPs are configured to provide global title translation (GTT) service for signaling messages that are sent route-on-global-title. Global title translation refers to a process where the global title address is translated into the point code and subsystem number of an intermediate destination when immediate global title translation is being performed and to the point code and subsystem number of a final destination when final GTT is being performed. In the network architecture illustrated in FIG. 1, STPs 104 and 106 may perform intermediate global title translation for messages destined for SCPs 112 and 114. Similarly, STPs 108 and 110 may perform final global title translation for messages destined for SCPs 112 and 114.
In order to balance the load on the signaling links or nodes in a SS7 network, it may be desirable to load share messages after performing global title translation. For example, it may be desirable for STP 104 to perform intermediate global title translation such that messages are alternatingly sent to STPs 108 and 110. Similarly, it may be desirable for STP 108 to perform final global title translation such that queries are alternatingly sent to SCPs 112 and 114.
One problem with such post-GTT load sharing occurs when messages are required to be delivered in sequence to the same destination. For example, a typical transaction capabilities application part (TCAP) transaction may include a begin transaction message sent from the originating switch to the database, a continue message sent from the database to the originating switch, a second continue message sent from the originating switch to the database, and a TCN message sent from the database to the originating switch. In order for such a transaction to be processed correctly by the database, the database that receives the begin transaction message must be the same database that receives the subsequent continue messages. In addition, the database must receive the begin transaction message before receiving the continue messages. Using conventional global title translation where the global title address translates into the same point code and subsystem number, such ordering is guaranteed. However, if load sharing is utilized, messages that are part of the same transaction may be delivered to different databases or the messages may be delivered to the same database out of order. Because such misordering and misdelivery can cause errors at the application level, conventional global title translation has not utilized a load sharing algorithm in networks where transactions require sequencing or multiple messages.
Accordingly, in light of the difficulties associated with conventional global title translation, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer program products for post-GTT load sharing.

Methods, systems, and computer program products for post-global-title-translation (GTT) load sharing


A decorative element includes a first layer and a second layer. The decorative element is disposed on an article, both the article and the decorative element being biodegradable. The first layer includes a protective material and the second layer includes at least one seed embedded therein. The first layer is disposed adjacent the second layer. An adhesive comprising a biodegradable material secures the decorative element to the article.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally relates to a decorative element, more specifically to a planting system having an article with the decorative element disposed thereon.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Planting systems of the type disclosed herein typically include an article, such as a greeting card, the greeting card having folding lines for overlapping pages and a decorative element attached thereon. An example of such a planting system is disclosed in United States Patent Publication 2002/0040670 to Hornak. The planting system includes a greeting card formed from a card stock with indicia disposed thereon. A decorative element is disposed on the greeting card and formed from mixing together a pulp, a quantity of water, and at least one seed. The decorative element is poured in a mold and dried. A first side and a second side of the decorative element include protrusions because the seeds bulge through the pulp. The protrusions make the design of the decorative element difficult to see. An adhesive attaches the decorative element to the greeting card. The adhesive bond is weak for easily detaching the decorative element from the greeting card. The decorative element is placed into soil to allow the seeds to germinate, while the greeting card is retained as a keepsake that may eventually be discarded into the trash.
Although the prior art has developed an improved planting system, there remains an opportunity to develop a planting system that avoids the potential drawbacks of the protrusions in decorative element and disposing of the greeting card.

Decorative element for a planting system and a method of forming a decorative element


A semiconductor device includes a plurality of electrically coupled memory cells in a generally vertical configuration extending in a generally perpendicular direction from a semiconductor substrate, a peripheral circuit configured to program the memory cells, and a control circuit configured to program a memory cell selected from the plurality of memory cells to trap charge in the selected memory cell, and to issue at least one command to the peripheral circuit to manage a dispersion of at least a portion of the trapped charge between memory cells adjacent to the selected memory cell.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to a semiconductor device and a programming method thereof, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device having a three-dimensional (3D) structure and a programming method thereof.
2. Related Art
A semiconductor device typically includes a memory cell array configured to store data, a program associated with the memory cell array, a peripheral circuit configured to perform read and erase operations, and a control circuit for controlling the peripheral circuit.
Examples of semiconductor devices include, but are not limited to, two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor devices and three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor devices. In a 2D semiconductor device, the memory cells are arranged in a generally parallel configuration on a semiconductor substrate, In a 3D semiconductor device, the memory cells are arranged in a generally perpendicular configuration on a semiconductor substrate.
In a 3D semiconductor device, the memory cell array typically includes a plurality of memory blocks. Each of the memory blocks is includes a plurality of vertical strings arranged in a generally perpendicular configuration with respect to the semiconductor substrate. The vertical strings include a vertical channel film. The vertical channel film is surrounded by a tunnel insulating film. The tunnel insulating film is surrounded by a memory film. The memory film includes a charge storage film. The charge storage film extends vertically along the tunnel insulating film A plurality of of word lines are spaced apart from each other vertically along the charge storage film in a stacked configuration.
While a configuration of a 3D semiconductor device has been described above, the 3 semiconductor device may have alternative configurations. The other configurations also typically include the vertically extending charge storage film and vertically spaced apart word lines in a stacked configuration.
A programming operation of the 3D semiconductor device is typically performed in the manner described below.
When a programming voltage of a relatively higher voltage is applied to a selected word line, charge is trapped in a memory cell electrically coupled to the selected word line. Charge is typically trapped in a charge storage film where the selected word line is formed.
Since the charge storage film extends vertically, the trapped charge may be move to an upper portion or a lower portion due to a relative difference in the density of the charge trapped in the charge storage film.

Semiconductor device and programming method thereof


An oil or gas production method forms a wellbore in a rock formation, wherein the wellbore including a lateral portion, and the method introduces a plurality of perforation diverters into the wellbore, wherein each perforation diverter in the plurality of diverters includes circuitry for determining a pressure proximate the perforation diverter, and the method measures a respective pressure proximate each perforation diverter and within the lateral portion.

The example embodiments relate to oil and gas fracing and production.
Oil and gas production have used a process called hydraulic fracturing ("fracing") since the late 1940s, where the fracing process is used to further fracture deep underground rock formations so as to enhance the release of oil and/or gas. In further detail, fracing is preceded by first drilling a vertical well to a depth that can be one to two miles or more, and once the vertical well reaches a certain depth, then extending the well horizontally, which extension can be an additional mile or more. The well is then encased with steel pipe cemented in the hole. Thereafter, and typically in repeated stages, corresponding to respective segments of length along the well, a number of perforations are formed along a segment of the steel pipe. Next, a high pressure, high flow rate fluid is introduced into the well, the fluid comprising overwhelmingly water, and the fluid also may include proppant (normally sand and/or ceramic) particles and a relatively small amount (e.g., less than two percent) of one or more additives/chemicals. The high pressure frac fluid passes through the already-formed perforations in a particular well segment and into the rock formation adjacent and proximate the perforations. Once a stage is fracked, it is isolated typically by a drillable plug, and then the process repeats for a next stage, until multiple (or all) stages likewise have been fracked.
In more detail, once the fracing mixture exits the well casing and enters the adjacent formation, its pressure will further fracture the natural fractures of the rock formations it reaches. Thus, the fracing materials and process thereby stimulate or improve production, for example from low permeability rock formations containing oil or gas, by creating or enlarging fractures within the formations. Moreover, in instances when the frack fluid includes sand or other particles, those particles will not only assist in applying pressure to and expanding the rock fractures, but once the fluid pressure is reduced or eliminated, those materials may remain in place, thereby maintaining or "propping" those expanded structures in place; accordingly, such materials are sometimes referred to as proppants. Thus, fracing extends fractures already present in the formation, and causes new fractures, resulting in a network of fractures that substantially increases the permeability of the formation near the wellbore, and proppants can maintain the network of fractures for a period of time to enhance subsequent oil/gas production, once the fracing process is completed. Also of note, as an alternative to proppants, the frac fluid may include acid, in which case the acid creates the fractures in the formation and etches or dissolves the fracture faces unevenly, thereby forming dissimilar fracture faces that can only partially close leaving fractures through which oil or gas can flow more freely.
Common examples of proppants include silica sand, resin-coated sand, and ceramic beads (and possibly mixtures of them). Because silica sand is the predominant proppant used for fracing, "sand" has become petroleum industry jargon for any type of proppant or combination of proppants used in fracing. Therefore, the term "sand" in this document refers to any type of propping agent, or combinations of them, suitable for holding open fractures formed within a formation by a fracing operation unless otherwise plainly stated. The term "frac fluid" will be used to refer to any type of hydraulic fluid used for fracing that may be used to form fractures and/or enlarge natural fractures in the formation. Frack fluids may be water-based, oil-based, acid or acid-based, and or foam fluids. Additives also can be used to control desired characteristics, such as viscosity. Further, references to "frac fluid and sand" in the context of fracing are intended to also include frac fluid and acid unless the context states or plainly indicates otherwise.
Because of differences in permeability of the rock adjacent (and exterior from the well relative to) each of the perforations due to different porosities or existing fractures (both naturally occurring and caused by perforating the casing), the rate at which frac fluid flows through perforations distributed along a wellbore may, and almost always does, vary along the length of the wellbore. When stimulating vertical wellbores over 60 years ago the petroleum industry frequently used a high number of perforations (up to 4 perforations per foot of casing) throughout most of the oil and gas pay zones of a wellbore. Such a large number of perforations resulted in the frac fluid and sand flowing first into more permeable rock. This resulted in fractures in the more permeable rock formations being packed with too much of the sand (or acid), which was intended to be distributed approximately equally through the perforations and into adjacent formations. The less permeable formations were, consequently, not being sufficiently fractured. As a result of this variance, a prior art approach was to introduce so-called diverters into the wellbore at certain points during the fracturing process, where the diverters would tend to seal the paths of least resistance, thereby diverting the frac fluid to other perforations and, hence, causing frac in rock formation areas of higher resistance. Historically, such diverters were solid, hard rubber balls, sometimes referred to as "ball sealers." More particularly, after pumping a portion of the frac fluid with sand or acid, multiple ball sealers were pumped into the well and carried by the frac fluid to the perforation being stimulated. The balls temporarily sealed some of the perforations—those adjacent to fractures formed in the more permeable rock—and diverted the frac fluid, with the sand or acid, away from the stimulated perforations to other perforations in the next most permeable zone of rock that had not yet been similarly or equally stimulated. After pumping of frac fluid ceases, the ball sealers, no longer being held against the perforations by the differential pressure between the frac fluid within the wellbore and the formation, fall off of the perforations to allow hydrocarbons from the fractured formation to flow into the well. However, the need for the relatively large and heavy ball sealers in vertical wellbores was minimized when industry began to selectively perforate only the better permeable zones (commonly referred to as "limited entry," which also typically involves completing a stage when a certain flow rate is met, without necessarily knowing if that flow rate guarantees that certain perforations of the stage have been adequately fracked).
For horizontal or highly deviated directional oil and gas wells, the conventional petroleum industry practice today is to frac lateral wellbores in stages. Typically a large number of stages are employed to frac a lateral wellbore extending 4,000 to 7,500 feet or more, where the number can be in the hundreds. Each frac stage may have 4 to 8 clusters of perforations, with each cluster typically having 6 perforations. The purpose of frac in multiple stages is to distribute a generally equal amount of frac fluid and sand to all perforations in a manner that achieves optimal stimulation of each perforation along the entire length of the lateral portion of the wellbore, thereby creating extensive cracking/fracturing of the rock formation surrounding the casing along its entire length. Each frac stage is isolated from the other stages and perforated and fracked separately. The petroleum industry experience of fracing a huge number of horizontal wells drilled to date appears to indicate that a large number of stages are required to ensure that a reasonably equal and sufficient volume of frac fluid and sand are pumped into each perforation. In the past few years, developments in hydraulic fracture technology indicate that superior stimulation results are achieved by using larger volumes of frac fluid and sand (15 million gallons and 15 million pounds of sand and more) pumped at extremely high rates (80 to 100 barrels per minute) and pressures (8,000-9,000 psi and more). The velocity of the frack fluid through the wellbore may reach or exceed 90 feet per second. Therefore, the industry continues to use the high-cost, multiple fracing stages in an effort to distribute generally equal amounts of frac fluid and sand to all perforations in the horizontal (lateral) casing.
The commercial value of drilling horizontal wells with longer laterals and multiple stages fracked with larger volumes of frac fluid and sand pumped at high velocity and pressure has been established by achieving robust wells that have higher oil and gas producing rates and estimated ultimate recoveries of oil and gas. Effective frac stimulation of most or perhaps all of the perforations in a horizontal casing creates an extensive fracture system that opens and connects more reservoir rock to the wellbore. However, such frack jobs with a large number of stages are time consuming and expensive due to the repetitive plug, perforate, and frac operation required to isolate and frac each individual stage. Completion costs typically represent about one-half of the total drilling and completion costs of a horizontal well. Although it is tempting to reduce costs by reducing the number of frac stages and increasing the number of perforations to be stimulated per stage, fewer stages with more perforations per stage risks partial or unequal stimulation of the perforations within the stages. Wells with ineffective stimulation have lower initial production rates and lower ultimate recovery of oil and gas. Such costs are overlaid with other factors in attracting interest and funding into new wells, where such factors may be local, regional, or even worldwide, and include competitive production, political and regulatory policies, and alternative investments and energy sources. Accordingly, attracting new development and investment is more easily achieved with technologies that reduce costs while either maintaining or improving production, as are achieved with example embodiments described below.

Diverter informed adaptive well completion system


A plastic sleeve covering containing an antimicrobial agent to resist or prevent the growth of microbes on the surface thereof, thereby preventing cross-contamination of subsequent users following the use of the item by an infected individual and especially items commonly used, such as writing pens, door handles, push-plate appliances for doors, and flush handles accompanying toilets in public facilities.

Writing instruments were in evidence in prehistoric cave drawings. While they, no doubt, facilitated the spread of communicable diseases, they have not been commonly recognized as instruments of transmission. A more commonly recognized instrument of disease transmission is the flush handle associated with a toilet and, to a lesser extent, door knobs or push-plates. Our daily lives are replete with opportunities for infection simply through the communal use of familiar objects which we do not find ominous because of their familiarity. A study demonstrating the potential for communicating an infection via handled objects has been conducted using card-playing college students as subjects. The study demonstrated that the communication of a viral infection, the common cold, was greater when the subjects handled common playing cards, than through the much more intimate contact of kissing. The results were attributed to the card players with colds effectively transmitting the virus to the non-infected players by contaminating the cards with the virus where it transfers to the hands of the non-infected players, whereupon the non-infected players infected themselves when they rubbed the mucus membranes of the nose and eyes.
Current events are often centered around communicable diseases and the suffering they are causing, and sometimes death. Many infections associated with the restaurant industry are apparently communicated to the public through the common use, by the subjects, of an object used initially by the diseased subject with unclean hands. Writing pens are among the most commonly used public items and are not thought of as instruments of communicable diseases. The common habit people have of unconsciously putting pens into their mouth and the open space between the end of the shaft and the small cap on the upper end of the pen, which would maintain a furtile environment for a host of pathogens, makes them one of the most potent sources of communicable disease. Other common habits such as putting fingers in the mouth, rubbing the nose, rubbing the eyes, and scratching or touching open wounds, all make the hands a potent source of infection. Also, other commonly used items, such as door knobs, flush-handles on toilets, by contaminated hands, are a source of communication of disease pathogens.
The potential for the transmission of disease via common items becomes greatly enhanced when visiting or working in an environment where the focus of that environment is treating diseased individuals. In fact, the common writing pen is probably the weakest link in a sterile environment in the health-care field.
Inks typically have a low vapor pressure to allow them to dry quickly and prevent smudging. This attribute also makes autoclaving the ink, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,971 to Neimer et al, at necessarily high temperatures without damaging the ink, impossible. Further, it is not common for the public offices of any description, other than health-care, to have an autoclave available for sterilizing a writing pen.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,482,258 to Steen addresses a method for maintaining a sterile ink supply. While that is important in maintaining a free-flowing ink supply, it was not intended to address the problem of communication of disease pathogens between users of the writing device.
Ink repellent coatings have been developed for writing pens, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,979,030 to Harrington and 3,030,925 to Dyson, to prevent ink from adhering to the pen which could soil documents being created or edited with the writing pen, or soil the user's fingers and clothing.
Others have used pens as part of a novel, multi-use item for grooming, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,531 to Broussard. The Broussard pen was apparently meant as a handy travel utility.
A pen which emitted a fragrance intended to adjust the sensitivities of the user to a more pleasant memory is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,416 to Lin. The inventor suggests that the fragrance emitted by the pen would help the user forget unsettling surroundings which have characteristic odors, such as a hospital or a sick ward.
A perforated tape that delivered a sterilizing liquid or foam from an underlying sponge area is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,042 to Crace. Such a tape would be common knowledge to anyone who has ever used an adhesive bandage and had the previously applied antiseptic seep through the holes in the top to soil their fingers. It would prove impractical for use under any, but very specialized, conditions where the liquid or foam deposited on the individual contacting the tape would not cause a problem being transferred to other objects being handled by the individual. Additionally, the drying of the solution in the sponge layer and/or repeated use, would rapidly render the tape ineffective.
In spite of attempts to modify writing instruments for a variety of purposes, it is believed that no writing pen has ever been proposed which would conveniently and consistently prevent the writing pen from becoming a vehicle for the transportation of a broad spectrum of communicable pathogens throughout the useful life of the writing pen without notably soiling the user. In addition, it is not believed that commonly used public items, such as door knobs or flush-handles on toilets, have been modified to resist the growth of pathogens placed on those objects by touching and thereby reduce the potential of them becoming vehicles of infection.
It has been customary to add preservatives to plastics to protect the plastic itself against attack by microorganisms. Plastic additives such as plasticizers can affect the susceptibility of a plastic to microbes. The test typically associated with a desire to protect the plastic, test the ability of fungi to use the polymeric material as a food source and the ability of stain-producing microorganisms to stain the polymeric material, is termed "the pink stain test". Other tests, such as a soil burial or humidity cabinet test, may be done. None of these tests or preservatives are directed at viruses which can live only in vital tissue, but may use a plastic device as a vehicle to infect. It is not believed that any attempt has been made to address the viability of human pathogens on commonly used objects such as writing pens, door knobs, or flush-tank handles.
Currently evolving communicable diseases such as AIDS define a need to develop some protection from disease pathogens omnipresent on commonly used public items. While AIDS is currently not as easily transmitted as many other viral infections, the incidence of recorded infections has risen from 1 million recorded cases world-wide, to a current figure of 14 million, in a relatively short period. The ability of the AIDS virus to undergo rapid mutation could produce a strain which readily infects, as cold or measle viruses do.

Plastic sleeve containing an antimicrobial agent


A cardiac pacemaker that is programmable to have one of a DDD and an AAI pacing mode of operation such that the pacing mode best suited to the patient's physiological condition is selected and implemented. The heart is paced in the AAI mode during periods of atrio-ventricular conduction. It automatically switches to pacing the heart in the DDD mode in response to a lack of atrio-ventricular conduction, and automatically switches back to the AAI mode after occurrence of a restoration event including restoration of atrio-ventricular conduction. Time delays for use in the DDD mode are calculated during operation in the AAI mode prior to loss of atrio-ventricular conduction and other timing delays for monitoring the patient's current physiological condition for mode switching are calculated.

Isolated sinusal dysfunctions, or those within the scope of the atrial illness, raise a question as to the choice of the optimal pacing mode. A single-chamber pacemaker for atrial pacing in the AAI operating mode appears most appropriate However, when the sinus deficiency extends to the bundle of His, paroxystic atrio-ventricular block may appear intermittently or completely. When it does appear, there is no atrio-ventricular conduction or spontaneous depolarization of the ventricle (the latter is also referred to as "ventricular detection"). In this situation, as long as the block exists, there is a need to provide pacing of the ventricle.
Therefore, as a safety measure, it has been the practice in such circumstances to implant a dual-chamber pacemaker which operates in the DDD mode to pace systematically the atrium and the ventricle. However, outside of a period of crisis, i.e., when there is no atrio-ventricular block, ventricle pacing is not necessary. A problem with ventricle pacing at such time is that it can cause competition between the paced and spontaneous depolarizations, and pacing consumes added energy for such unneeded pulses which shortens the useful life of an implanted, battery-operated pacemaker.
There is thus a continuing need for cardiac pacemakers having improved operating characteristics for pacing hearts that undergo temporary periods of crisis. There is a further need for more efficient and more adaptive pacemakers that change the pacing operating mode in response to physiological changes of the patient.

DDD type cardiac pacemaker having automatic operating mode switching


A plug connector has an insulative housing, a plurality of first terminals, a plurality of second terminals and a positioning bracket. The terminals are mounted in the insulative housing and each terminal has a soldering portion. The positioning bracket is mounted on the insulative housing and has a positioning protrusion having a top surface and a bottom surface respectively holding the soldering portions on two levels. The soldering portions are arranged in two levels to facilitate soldering wires to the soldering portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a plug connector capable of transmitting high frequency signals and facilitates soldering terminals thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 connectors are popular in various electronic devices. However, the USB 2.0 transmission protocol only allows a maximum transmission speed of 480 Mbps. Because electronic devices are constantly developed to increase transmission speed, the USB 2.0 transmission protocol does not meet the current transmission speed requirement of these electronic devices. Therefore, the USB Implementers Forum (USB IF) is setting up a USB 3.0 transmission protocol that may achieve a theoretical maximum transmission speed of 4.8 Gbps, almost 10 times of that of the USB 2.0 transmission protocol.
However, to implement the transmission of 4.8 Gbps, terminals of a USB 3.0 connector must be capable of transmitting high frequency signals. Transmitting high frequency signals usually encounters electromagnetic interference from nearby electronic components so that the impedance of USB 3.0 connector unstably alternates and reduces signal transmission.
To be compatible with USB connectors, a USB 3.0 connector must have rows of terminals. When the terminals are soldered with wires of a cable, the rows interfere with one another to make the soldering process difficult. Furthermore, the USB 3.0 connector has an insulative housing and a positioning bracket mounted on the insulative housing by setting hot-melt adhesive into the boundary therebetween. However, a mating boundary between the insulative housing and the positioning bracket is flat so that the hot-melt adhesive easily flows into terminal holes in the insulative housing and the positioning bracket to disadvantageously affect characteristics of the terminals and reduces signal transmission efficiency.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a plug connector to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


Disclosed is a system for providing a sound source information management service. The system for providing a sound source information management service manages sound source information transmitted from a driver terminal and extracts the sound source information corresponding to voice input data via voice recognition according to the voice input data transmitted from the driver terminal and provides the extracted sound source information to the driver terminal.

Audio systems mounted in a vehicle typically include an AM/FM radio receiver, a compact disk player, an MPET-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3) player, etc. For many years compact disk (CD) players were the main audio source for many consumers in a vehicle. A CD about 75-80 minutes of data capacity may store about 20 songs. Many CDs which are formatted to play music are formatted in a Waveform Audio File (WAV) Format. WAV files, however, typically are not able to provide sound source information as well to the CD player. That is, WAV files don't usually have information fields, for instance, in the case of a song, title, artist, album, year, etc.
MP3 CD players have been mainly used to play digital audio. A CD in MP3 format with 700M capacity may store typically about 100 songs although the song count can change depending on the file size of each individual song and the quality of the audio. MP3 files, however, are able to include sound source information called ID3 tags which unlike WAV files is able to provide data along with the audio to the player. The MP3 file may also be stored in a portable storage device (e.g., a USB memory, memory card, or the like), which may be connected with an audio system to provide the MP3 file to the audio system upon request by the user.
However, in both WAV and MP3 formats there are currently no techniques or devices for automatically creating a playlist from the CD or the portable storage device storing a large number of sound sources. For example, when a driver is utilizing a conventional voice recognition system in a vehicle, and voice inputs the phrase "Michael Jackson," the systems currently available would not be able to retrieve and organize a playlist, containing only "Michael Jackson" songs, automatically from a CD and/or a portable storage device.

System for providing a sound source information management service


Image analysis methods and systems are used for identifying objects in a background by defining a data space, such as a histogram or a color space. The data space comprises a plurality of sub-spaces, which could be selected based, for example, on a histogram, or on the way pixel values or color parameters cluster in their respective spaces. The threshold values in the data space are selected, a list of all ordered pairs of thresholds is generated to define multiple data sub-spaces, and the image is multiply searched, once in each sub-space for at least one representation of a candidate object, where the candidate object has at least one predetermined attribute value. Valid objects are identified by comparing the candidate object attribute values to a defined set of valid object attribute values contained in a driver.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image analysis methods and systems for identifying objects in a background by selecting thresholds for a data space, generating a list of threshold pairs, using the threshold pairs to subdivide the data space into a plurality of sub-spaces, selecting at least one sub-space and multiply searching an image of the object and the background using each selected sub-space for a representation of a candidate object and validating the candidate object which has at least one predetermined attribute value of a valid object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image analysis methods and systems, and more particularly, those methods and systems which recursively repeat the sequence of threshold selection and image searching for identifying objects in a background using thresholding are known in the art. For instance, published patent application WO 94/06562, teaches a method of entropically selecting a gray level threshold from a gray level histogram or a co-occurrence matrix, searching an image for candidate objects, validating the candidate objects, subdividing the histogram or the co-occurrence matrix and recursively repeating the threshold selection and searching steps of the method until a predetermined number of new valid objects is identified. In this published patent application, an image is recursively searched and individual thresholds are selected at each recursion.
Although thresholding is taught by WO 94/06562, the disclosure of this application is limited to entropic threshold selection combined with searching the image each time a new threshold is selected. Thus, in WO 94/06562, image searching is coupled to each threshold selection. Therefore, WO 94/06562 fails to find and identify certain valid objects under certain background conditions. Moreover, the selection of only individual thresholds increases the likelihood of selecting invalid objects.
By first selecting threshold pairs instead of individual thresholds before searching the image, a more comprehensive search of the data space of the image may be achieved, resulting in a higher likelihood that all possible objects will be found. Therefore, it would be desirable to separate the threshold selection step from the searching step, as well as to select threshold pairs as opposed to individual thresholds.

Adaptive vision system using dual thresholding


The present invention provides a stable charged particle beam apparatus to enable high-resolution observation by reducing the influence of the noise of a large number of power supplies used in an aberration corrector. The charged particle beam apparatus that has: an SEM column for irradiating an electron beam onto a specimen and making the electron beam scan it; a specimen chamber for housing a specimen stage on which the specimen is placed and held; a detector for detecting secondary electrons generated by the scanning of the electron beam; display means for displaying an output signal of the detector as an SEM image; and a control unit for controlling component parts including the SEM column, the specimen chamber, and the display means. The SEM column has a pair of accelerating electrodes and an aberration corrector that is placed between the pair of accelerating electrodes and corrects aberration of the electron beam, and accelerates the electron beam during a period when being transmitted through the aberration corrector by a high voltage being impressed across the pair of accelerating electrodes.

This invention relates to charged particle beam application technologies, and more specifically, to charged particle beam apparatuses, such as a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an aberration corrector, an electron beam semiconductor inspection system, a critical dimension measurement SEM, and a focused ion beam apparatus.
Since the scanning electron microscope can observe the surface of an object with resolution higher than that of the optical microscope, it is widely used not only as apparatuses for material research but also as industrial apparatuses, such as for dimension measurement of a pattern on a semiconductor wafer that is being advanced in miniaturization in recent years and inspection of surface foreign matters. In specimens (wafers) of the semiconductor industry that use insulators, high resolution of a few nm has become required at a low acceleration voltage of 1 kV or less at which observation can be performed without electrifying the insulators. Since the resolution of the SEM depends on how small an electron beam is focused on a specimen plane, it is determined by diffraction aberration, chromatic aberration and spherical aberration of electron lenses, etc. in addition to the size of an electron source that is reduction imaged by the lenses. Higher-resolution of the SEM has so far been attained by contrivance of an electron optical system, especially by reducing the aberrations by enlarging a reduction ratio of the electron source and optimizing the shape of an objective lens by combining an accelerating electric field and a decelerating electric field.
However, Scherzer proved that an objective lens having rotational symmetry about the optical axis can reduce neither spherical aberration nor chromatic aberration to zero, and accordingly these conventional methods have restrictions in achieving higher resolution from the viewpoint of dimensions of a shape, processing accuracy, material, and a withstand voltage. Then, a method of canceling the aberration of an objective lens with a chromatic and spherical aberration corrector that combined the quadrupole and the octupole was proposed (for example, refer to "H. Rose, Optik 33(1971), pp. 1-24"). In 1995, an SEM equipped with the aberration corrector has been put to practical use by Zach et al. (for example, refer to "J. Zach and M. Haider, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A363 (1995), pp. 316 to 325)").
FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the SEM electron optical system that includes the aberration corrector. Inside the aberration corrector, due to an effect of four-stage quadrupole fields, electrons travel on mutually different fundamental rays in two directions (an x-y coordinate system that rotates together with rotation of fundamental rays about the optical axis caused by a magnetic field lens) perpendicular to the optical axis (z-axis). They are called a fundamental ray x and a fundamental ray y. For example, the SEM electron optical system is so configured that the fundamental ray x forms a line image at a position of a second stage and the fundamental ray y forms a line image at a position of a third stage. If the quadrupole electric field and the quadrupole magnetic field are superposed so that force acting on electrons at the second stage and the third stage each having this line image may become constant, chromatic aberration of the system can be controlled independently in the x-direction and in the y-direction without changing the fundamental rays (for example, refer to "J. Zach and M. Haider, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A363 (1995), pp. 316-325," and "S. Uno, K. Honda, N. Nakamura, M. Matsuya, and J. Zach, Optik 116(2005), pp. 438-448").


In a mold apparatus, guide pins are provided at a movable mold, and guide holes are formed in a fixed mold, and even when the guide pins are offset in an arbitrary direction perpendicular to a mold clamping direction, the guide holes can be fitted respectively to the guide pins, and can guide the movable mold 19A into a position where the movable mold coincides with the fixed mold. A holding device is provided at the movable mold, and this holding device holds the movable mold relative to a movable base in a manner to allow the movable mold to move in an arbitrary direction perpendicular to the mold clamping direction.

This invention relates to a mold apparatus used in a molding machine such as a rotary injection molding machine and a slide-type injection molding machine.
As a conventional single molding machine for molding a multi-color or a multi-material molded product, there is known, for example, a rotary injection molding machine (see, for example, JP-UM-A-7-15318 Publication). This conventional rotary injection molding machine 1 is constructed as shown in FIGS. 1 to 10. A plurality of fixed molds 3A and 3B are mounted on a fixed platen 2, and are disposed at equal intervals around a rotation axis (center) Ca described later. A movable base 4a is rotatably mounted on a movable platen 4. A plurality of movable molds 5A and 5B are mounted on the movable base 4a through a base 6, and are disposed symmetrically with respect to the rotation axis Ca.
For molding a molded product, one movable mold 5A and one fixed mold 3A are clamped or closed together, and a first-stage molded product is molded. Thereafter, the one movable mold 3A is opened (as shown in FIG. 8), and the movable base 4a is rotated about the rotation axis Ca through an angle of 180 degrees, and by doing so, the one movable mold 5A is rotated or angularly moved (as indicated by arrow A in FIG. 9) to a position where it is opposed to the other fixed mold 3B (while the other movable mold 5B is opposed to the one fixed mold 3A. Then, the movable platen 4 is moved in a mold clamping direction to be clamped to the other fixed mold 3B. At this time, the other movable mold 5B is clamped to the one fixed mold 3A.
In such rotary injection molding machine 1, when the movable molds 5A and 5B were rotated, a mold center Pa (see FIG. 10) of each movable mold 5A, 5B was sometimes slightly (about 0.1 to about 0.2 mm) out of alignment with (or was offset from) a mold center Pb of the corresponding fixed mold 3A, 3B, depending on manufacturing accuracies of the molds and an assembling accuracy of the molding machine or the accuracy of mounting, of the movable molds 5A and 5B on the movable base 4a and a mounting accuracy of the fixed molds 3A and 3B. Therefore, in some cases, the fixed molds 3A and 3B and the movable molds 5A and 5B could not be clamped together, or even if this mold clamping operation could be achieved, the molds were damaged, or the mating molds were brought into biting engagement with each other. These problems were encountered also with slide-type injection molding machines.

Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho


A heat exchanger for medical treatment comprises a cylindrical blood passing space and a multiplicity of heat-exchanging tubes disposed inside the blood passing space and extending in the longitudinal direction of the blood passing space and provided with an inner space watertightly separated from the blood passing space for effecting exchange of heat between the blood being passed through the blood passing space and a heat-exchanging medium being passed through the inner spaces of the heat-exchnging tubes through the medium of walls of the heat-exchanging tubes. Blood inlet tube for introducing blood into the blood passing space and a blood outlet tube for discharging blood from within the blood passing space are expended inwardly from outside substantially along a straight lines perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the blood passing space and tangent to the peripheral plane of the blood passsing space and communicating with the blood passing space. Optionally, the heat exchanger further comprises blood chambers disposed one each near the blood inlet and the blood outlet and each formed of an empty space destitute or devoid of the arrangement of the heat-exchanging tubes, and ribs formed on the inner wall of the blood passing space for retarding the flow of blood.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a heat exchanger for medical treatment. More particularly, it relates to a heat exchanger for medical treatment to be used in the extracorporeal circulation of blood for the purpose of maintaining the temperature of the blood at a desired level during the course of the circulation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Extracorporeal blood circulation is generally employed as an auxiliary measure for surgery of the heart, particularly for cardiotomy. In the extracorporeal blood circulation as an auxiliary measure for cardiotomy, the blood drawn out of the patient's body is forwarded to an oxygenator, there to be oxygenated, and then returned in an oxygen-saturated state back to the patient's body. In the surgical operation performed on a complicated infantile cardiac deformation or on an adult aortic aneurysm, for example, the extremely low body temperature extracorporeal circulation method or the medial body temperature extracorporeal circulation method is employed. This blood circulation is effected by cooling the blood drawn out of the patient's body. In the extracorporeal body circulation of the nature under discussion, the blood drawn out of the patient's body must be kept at a prescribed temperature or cooled or heated. For this purpose, it has been customary to use a heat exchanger in the circuit for the extracorporeal blood circulation.
The heat exchangers developed to date for use in extracorporeal blood circulation are widely varied in type. For example, a shell-and-tube exchanger 1 which, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises a first fluid passing space 2 and a multiplicity of heat-exchanging tubes 4 disposed inside the first fluid passing space 2 in the longitudinal direction of the first fluid passing space 2 and provided with an inner space 3 destined to form a second fluid passing space watertightly separated from the first fluid passing space 2 is a highly hopeful heat exchanger for medical treatment which effects very efficient exchange of heat and enjoys exceptional compactness of design. When the first fluid passing space 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape, a first fluid inlet tube 5 for introducing a first fluid into the first fluid passing space 2 and a first fluid outlet tube 6 for discharging the first fluid from the first fluid passing space 2 are adapted, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, so as to be extended inwardly from outside substantially along the straight line passing the central part of a cross section perpendicular to the axis of the first fluid passing space 2 and consequently allowed to communicate with the first fluid passing space 2.
When the shell-and-tube exchanger 1 constructed as described above is used in effecting exchange of heat between the blood and the heat-exchanging medium by passing the heat-exchanging medium through the first fluid passing space 2 and the blood through the second fluid passing space, i.e., the inner spaces 3 of the heat-exchanging tubes 4, the exchange of heat can be accomplished substantially uniformly on all of the blood because the blood is distributed comparatively uniformly and allowed to keep a relatively constant contact with respect to the heat-exchanging medium. When the pressure loss during the introduction of the blood is large and the extracorporeal blood circulation lasts for a long time, a fair possibility ensues that the blood will be coagulated inside the inner spaces 3 of the heat-exchanging tubes 4 and will consequently clog or constrict the heat-exchanging tubes 3. Conversely, when the exchange of heat is carried out by passing the blood through the first fluid passing space 2 and the heat-exchanging medium through the second fluid passing space or the inner spaces 3 of the heat-exchanging tubes 4, the aforementioned possibility of the blood conduits being clogged or constricted is substantially precluded and the pressure loss due to the introduction of the blood is repressed to a comparatively large extent. Since the first fluid inlet tube 3 and the first fluid outlet tube 6 are adapted, as described above, so as to be extended inwardly from outside substantially along the straight line passing the central part of a cross section perpendicular to the axis of the first fluid passing space 2 and consequently allowed to communicate with the first fluid passing space 2, the blood mainly advances toward the central part of the first fluid passing space 2 and consequently the flow of the blood inside the first fluid passing space 2 is not uniform but is varied locally. In the region of relatively high blood flow, exchange of heat is effected to an unduly small extent because the blood does not sufficiently contact the heat-exchanging tubes 4 now passing the heat-exchanging medium inside the inner spaces 3 thereof. By contrast, in the region of relatively low blood flow, the exchange of heat is effected to an unduly large extent because the blood contacts the heat-exchanging tubes 4 more than is normally required. Where the heat-exchanging tubes 4 are distributed throughout the whole blood passing space 2 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the unfavorable situation mentioned above grows in conspicuity because the blood introduced through the blood inlet tube 5, on entering the blood passing space 2, comes into direct contact with the heat-exchanging tubes 4 and, consequently, the blood flow is not uniformly distributed throughout the entire blood passing space 2. The shell-and-tube exchanger which is incapable of effecting exchange of heat uniformly on all of the blood being passed therethrough thus, there is the possibility of impairing the uniformity of blood temperature distribution, exchanging heat excessively or insufficiently, exchanging heat and bringing about adverse effects upon the blood components.
Further, the conventional heat exchanger is so constructed that a heat-exchanging medium inlet port for introducing the heat-exchanging medium into the heat exchanger and a heat-exchanging medium outlet port for discharging the heat-exchanging medium from within the heat exchanger are integrally formed with a housing of the heat exchanger and are fixed on the housing. A connection tube which leads out of a heat-exchanging medium temperature controller communicating with the heat-exchanging medium inlet port and the heat-exchanging medium outlet port is generally large in diameter and hard to the touch. The connection between the coupler disposed on the heat-exchanging medium inlet port or the heat-exchanging medium outlet port and the coupler disposed at the leading end of the connection tube of the heat-exchanging medium temperature controller is obtained only with difficulty. Moreover, the possibility ensues that this connection will be dissolved in consequence of a deviation suffered to occur in the positional relationship between the heat exchanger and the heat-exchanging medium temperature controller during the course of operation.
An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an improved heat exchanger for medical treatment.
Another object of this invention is to provide a heat exchanger for medical treatment which, in extracroporeal blood circulation, enables the blood drawn out of a patient's body to be kept at a desired temperature.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a heat exchanger for medical treatment which effects uniform exchange of heat between the blood and the heat-exchanging medium and inflicts damage sparingly on the blood under treatment.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a heat exchanger for medical treatment which enjoys exceptional compactness of design and suffers from only a small pressure loss during the introduction of blood.
A further object of this invention is to provide a heat exchanger for medical treatment which is capable of being integrated with an oxygenator.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a heat exchanger for medical treatment which excels in operability and ensures great safety.


The inspection apparatus for inspecting performance of a structure such as stator windings of an electric rotating machine of the invention comprises a probe including a measuring element, an arm unit and a cylinder face circumferential moving apparatus. The arm unit has an arm link section supporting the probe (mainly comprising a leading end link assembly and an arm posture keeping mechanism), an arm housing section (mainly comprising a guide rail) regarding driving of this arm link section, and an arm driving mechanism. The arm driving mechanism causes the leading end link assembly to project from the guide rail at an angle toward a measuring position side of the stator windings relative to the axial direction of the rotor unit, while causing the arm link section to travel along the guide rail. The arm posture keeping mechanism is provided with a link wire and a spring, and maintains a straight arm posture of the leading end link assembly after projection from the guide rail.

The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus using a measuring element such as an inspection apparatus of a stator winding of an electric rotating machine, an arm unit and a cylinder face circumferential moving apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an arm construction and a traveling mechanism suitable for an inspection apparatus for measuring electrostatic capacity of a stator winding in a state in which a rotor is inserted.
There is known in general a type of electric rotating machine having a water-cooled stator winding. Examples of this type are illustrated in FIGS. 29 to 31.
The electric rotating machine shown in FIG. 29 comprises a stator unit 120 comprising a stator 104 formed by inserting and fixing a stator winding (an upper stator winding 103a and a lower stator winding 103b in FIG. 29) in a stator iron core 102 attached to a stator frame 101, and a rotor unit 130 arranged oppositely to this stator unit 120 in a non-contact manner, the rotor unit having a rotor 121, protecting ring 122 and a rotation shaft 123.
Among these components, the stator winding 103 is formed, as shown in FIGS. 30 and 31, by gathering a plurality of strands 105, covering the outside thereof with an insulating layer 106 such as an insulating tape or an epoxy resin, and attaching clips 107 to each end of the individual strands 105. Each of the strands 105 is provided with a hollow hole 108 through which cooling water can flow. These hollow holes 108 communicate to an insulating connection pipe (not shown) and a cooling water duct 110 outside the stator frame 101 through a water inlet port or a water inlet port 109 of the clip 107. Cooling water from the cooling water duct 110 is therefore supplied through the insulating connection pipe and the water inlet port 109 of the clip 107 to the hollow hole 108, and cooling water is discharged through the water inlet port 109 of the clip 107 to the cooling water duct 110.
The individual strands 105, the clip 107 and the insulating connection pipe thus forming a path for cooling water are connected by brazing, and the outside of braze-connected portions is covered with an insulating layer 106 in a manner as described above. The braze-connected portions covered with the insulating layer 106 is subjected to various leakage tests after a strict quality control with a view to preventing leakage of cooling water and thus to assuring reliability. To avoid such inconveniences as partial peeling of the braze-connected portions or pit corrosion caused by vibration, heat cycles and corrosion through service for many years, a coil pressurizing test or a vacuum drop test is usually applied during a periodical inspection to check a change in pressure and thus to confirm the non-leakage state.
However, when cooling water leaks from the connecting portion between the strands 105 and the clip 107, cooling water permeates through the insulating layer 106 at the portion covered with an insulating tape by capillary action, and particularly when cooling water permeation reaches the stator iron core 102, an inconvenience known as a ground-fault may occur between the stator winding 103 and the ground. It is therefore believed to be important to pay sufficient attention to permeation of cooling water into the insulating layer 106 and check it up as early as possible.
As a method for such a checkup, there is proposed a method of inspection, paying attention to the difference in specific inductive capacity between the insulating layer 106 and cooling water, which comprises determining a corroded stator winding resulting from absorption of water by the insulating layer caused by cooling water leakage by measuring electrostatic capacity through application of a measuring element to measuring positions P and P (see FIG. 29) of the stator winding.
In the checkup method of determining the corroded stator winding resulting from absorption of water by the insulating layer caused by cooling water leakage, however, the measuring position of the stator winding to which the measuring element is applied is located at a depth in the electric rotating machine or the human hand is unreachable in the state as it is. It is therefore necessary to perform an inspection by pulling out the rotor unit from the stator unit.
The operation of thus pulling out the rotor unit requires much labor for dismantling, takes much time, and is not always efficient. Furthermore, because inspection of the stator winding including the operation for pulling out the rotor unit is carried out by stopping the electric rotating machine, a longer inspection period leads to a higher cost.
The inspection carried out after removal of the rotor unit also requires direct use of human power in pressing operation of the measuring element, and is not therefore always efficient.
Because, for example, the measuring element has usually a rectangular shape, there may be a change in the effective area of the measuring element, depending upon the direction of pressing, resulting in easy occurrence of fluctuations of measured data. In order to obtain satisfactory measured data, it is necessary to press the measuring element while causing the same to follow the curved and other surfaces of the stator winding, and it is difficult to carry out this pressing operation within a limited space.

Inspection apparatus for inspecting performance of structure by inserting measuring element through gap formed therein