Systems and methods of predicting documentation associated with an encounter between attendees are provided. For instance, attendee data indicative of one or more previous visit notes associated with a first attendee can be obtained. The attendee data can be inputted into a machine-learned note prediction model that includes a neural network. The neural network can generate one or more context vectors descriptive of the attendee data. Data indicative of a predicted visit note can be received as output of the machine-learned note prediction model based at least in part on the context vectors. The predicted visit note can include a set of predicted information expected to be included in a subsequently generated visit note associated with the first attendee.

Attendees at meetings or other encounters often generate records or notes that document the meetings. Such records or notes can include information relating to the information discussed in the meetings and/or information to be associated with future meetings. For instance, doctors generally document doctor-patient encounters between the doctor and a patient by generating a visit note associated with the doctor-patient encounter. Such visit note can include information relating to a medical history of the patient, discussions between the doctor and the patient during the DPE (e.g. health problems or symptoms reported by the patient), the doctor's findings (e.g. physical exam results), the doctor's diagnosis, a proposed treatment plan, rationale for the treatment plan, the doctor's analysis, care arrangements for the patient, medical needs of the patient, non-medical needs of the patient, follow up procedures or plans (e.g. additional tests or studies, follow up appointments, referrals to a specialist, etc.), and/or any other suitable information relating to the DPE or to the patient in general.
Generating such notes can consume significant time and resources. Further, notes that are generated manually (e.g. typed, handwritten, etc.) can include errors. As an example, visit notes generated by a doctor that include such errors can lead to clinical errors that can endanger patient safety. Various tools and techniques have been introduced to aid in generating such notes, and to increase the accuracy with which the notes are recorded. Such conventional techniques for visit note aid include providing templates that can be used to generate suitable notes. Further techniques include auto-populating information to be included in a visit note. However, such auto-population techniques can be inaccurate, and/or inefficient.

Generating templated documents using machine learning techniques


A vehicle includes an engine, a transmission, and a controller. The transmission includes a pressure control solenoid (PCS) valve device having a PCS and a regulating valve, a friction clutch, and a clutch piston in fluid communication with the regulating valve. The piston is operable to apply a clutch pressure to the friction clutch during a shift of the transmission. The controller is programmed to receive an acceleration value describing a lateral and/or longitudinal acceleration force of the vehicle, calculate the clutch pressure using the received acceleration value, and control an operation of the regulating valve via the PCS using the calculated clutch pressure. The acceleration value may be determined via one or more accelerometers or calculated. A method is also disclosed for compensating for acceleration in control of the regulating valve in a vehicle having a transmission that includes a friction clutch, PCS, and regulating valve.

A friction plate clutch of an automatic transmission is ordinarily applied via a clutch piston, which in turn is actuated via hydraulic fluid pressure. Hydraulic fluid pressure supplied to a given friction plate clutch is closely regulated via the use of a regulating valve, which in turn may be controlled by a pressure control solenoid (PCS). Clutch pressure is typically calculated via a transmission control module rather than directly measured. For instance, the transmission control module may multiply a commanded PCS pressure by a calibrated gain, with the calibrated gain being a function of the geometry of the regulating valve upon which the PCS pressure acts. However, such methods may be less than optimal when performing shifts during certain driving maneuvers.

Transmission with acceleration-compensated valve control


Various source follower circuits and methods for implementing such are disclosed. As one example, a class AB source follower circuit is disclosed that includes a source follower circuit that is actively biased. The dynamic biasing allows the source follower circuit to sustainably sink a DC current. In some instances of the embodiments, the class AB source follower circuits are operable to source and sink both AC and DC currents.

The present invention is related to systems and methods for implementing source follower circuits. More particularly, the present invention is related to class AB source follower circuits.
Source follower circuits are known in the art, however, known source follower circuits suffer from one or more deficiencies. As an example, one existing source follower circuit 100 is depicted in FIG. 1. Source follower circuit 100 includes four transistors 115, 120, 125, 130 each with a source (labeled 's'), a drain (labeled 'd') and a gate (labeled 'g'). The gate of transistor 120 is connected to a voltage input 155; the source of transistor 120 is attached to the drain of transistor 115, the drain of transistor 130, and a resistor 145; and the drain of transistor 120 is connected to a capacitor 135, the gate of transistor 130, and the drain of transistor 125. In addition, the gate of transistor 125 is connected to a resistor 140, which is attached to a first bias voltage 150; and the source of transistor 125 is connected to a power source. The gate of transistor 130 is connected to capacitor 135, the drain of transistor 125, and the drain of transistor 120; and the source of transistor 130 is connected to the power source. The gate of transistor 115 is connected to capacitor 135 and to a resistor 110 that connected to a second bias voltage 160; and the source of transistor 115 is connected to a ground. An output end of resistor 145 is connected to a voltage output 165 at a node 175.
Source follower circuit 100 operates well where you have a capacitive load connected to node 175 or where you have a pure AC input. However, if there is added DC load at node 175, there cannot be a corresponding DC current to the gate of transistor 115 because of capacitor 135, and thus the voltage at the gate of transistor 115 is equal to bias voltage 160. In this case, the DC load at node 175 will be greater than the quiescent current, and source follower circuit 100 is not capable of sinking sustained current greater than the quiescent current I1 as the DC voltage across resistor 145 decays to zero. It should be noted that source follower circuit 100 may be able to provide some sink current, but on an inconsistent basis during transient operation and for a period shorter than the RC time constant defined by resistor 110 and the gate capacitance of transistor 115. Said another way, source follower circuit 100 is not capable of providing a sustained current greater than I1 via resistor 145.
Hence, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art for advanced circuits capable of a broader range of operation.


Disclosed is a process for making isocyanatoorganosilane by adding a carbamatoorganosilane of the general formula to an inert liquid medium and holding the mixture thus formed at a temperature and pressure effective to convert said carbamatoorganosilane to isocyanatoorganosilane.

There has been a continuing need for an economical method of preparing isocyanatoorganosilanes, including isocyanatoalkylsilanes, in high yields and purities from relatively non-hazardous raw materials. Heretofore, isocyanatoorganosilanes have been made in relatively low volumes by inefficient or costly processes.
For example, isocyanatoorganosilanes have been prepared by processes involving the addition of hydrosilanes to unsaturated isocyanates, particularly allyl isocyanate, in the presence of a noble metal catalyst. Allyl isocyanate is a highly toxic raw material of limited commercial availability.
Processes also are known wherein isocyanatoalkylsilanes are prepared from carbamatoalkylsilanes at low temperature in the liquid phase, or from aminoalkylsilanes and highly toxic phosgene by various routes. All liquid phase processes disclosed thus far suffer from one or more disadvantages of low yield, slow kinetics, need for highly toxic raw materials, need for extensive work-up or purification, often in the presence of higher levels of close-boiling contaminants, and substantial generation of by-products and waste materials.
High temperature, vapor phase processes are also known; but these generally require specialized equipment capable of high temperature operation, with concurrent extensive capital investment. A method for making 2-isocyanatoethoxysilanes by liquid phase thermal rearrangement of N-silyl-2-oxazolidinones has also been disclosed. The bonding of the isocyanatoalkyl groups to silicon atoms in these molecules is through hydrolyzable silicon-oxygen bonds, and the silane moiety does not contain additional alkoxy groups as are present and often necessary in current commercially useful isocyanatoalkylsilanes.

Hot oil process for producing isocyanato organosilanes


A first airbag apparatus of the present invention has an airbag module, which includes an airbag and an inflator, and a displacement mechanism, which displaces the airbag module. The displacement mechanism displaces the airbag module from an original position to a predetermined position when a collision of the vehicle is predicted and displaces the airbag module from the predetermined position to the original position when the predicted collision is avoided. A second airbag apparatus of the present invention has the airbag module and the displacement mechanism, which displaces a support member. The support member displaces the airbag from the original position to the predetermined position before the airbag is deployed. The deployed airbag is supported between the support body that is displaced to the predetermined position and an occupant.

The present invention relates to an airbag apparatus mounted to a vehicle.
As prior art airbag apparatus, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-206176 discloses an airbag apparatus 300 shown in FIGS. 29 to 31. As shown in FIG. 29, a first airbag module is provided in a door 210. The first airbag module includes a first inflator 288, a first airbag 282, and a contacting plate 286. When a collision of the vehicle is predicted based on detection by a pre-crash sensor (not shown), the first inflator 288 is activated to deploy the first airbag 282 toward the interior of a vehicle passenger compartment S as shown in FIG. 30. The deployment moves the contacting plate 286 toward the interior of the passenger compartment S and pushes an occupant toward the interior of the passenger compartment S.
A second airbag module is supported on the first airbag 282. The second airbag module includes a second inflator 290 and a second airbag 284. When the first airbag 282 is deployed, the second airbag module is pushed into the passenger compartment S. Thereafter, when a collision sensor (not shown) detects a collision of the vehicle, the second inflator 290 is activated and deploys the second airbag 284 between the occupant and the door 210 as shown in FIG. 31. This reduces the influence of the impact of the collision to the occupant.
The second airbag 284 is projected into the passenger compartment S in an undeployed state when the first airbag 282 is deployed. However, after being projected, the second airbag 284 is inflated on the unstable first airbag 282. Therefore, the second airbag 284, which chiefly protects the occupant, can be inflated at a position that is not suitable for protection. Even if the second airbag 284 is deployed at a position corresponding to the occupant, the second airbag 284 can be displaced due to contact with the occupant and therefore cannot effectively absorb the impact. Accordingly, the second airbag 284 cannot effectively protect the occupant under certain circumstances.
The second airbag 284 moves toward the center of the passenger compartment S by the deployment of the first airbag 282, based on the prediction of a collision. If the collision is prevented after that, the first airbag module needs to be replaced to return the undeployed second airbag 284 to the original position. However, it is almost impossible for an owner of the vehicle to replace the first airbag module.


A method of obtaining an ultrasound image, the method including: obtaining a bio cycle of an examinee comprising at least one section; setting an ultrasound mode corresponding to each of the at least one section of the bio cycle or a beam forming method; transmitting an ultrasound signal to an object of the examinee according to the set ultrasound mode or beam forming method, receiving an echo signal from the object, and obtaining ultrasound data; and generating an ultrasound image of the object by using the obtained ultrasound data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of obtaining an ultrasound image of an object and an ultrasound system, and more particularly, to a method of obtaining an ultrasound image of an object by using a bio cycle of an examinee and an ultrasound system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ultrasound devices are equipment used to observe an inner structure of an organism. Ultrasound devices are noninvasive diagnosis devices that display structural details, internal tissues, and a fluid flow of a human body.
Ultrasound devices transmit an ultrasound signal to an object through a human body, receive an echo signal reflected from the object, and display an image of a structure inside the human body.
An ultrasound image is generally diagnosed by examining a B-image of an object, and examining a color Doppler image of an interest region of the object, a continuous wave Doppler image thereof, a pulsed Doppler image thereof, etc.
An examiner diagnoses the object by continuously changing an ultrasound mode during the examination of the B-image. However, this method causes a time delay in the examination of an ultrasound image, and fails to obtain the ultrasound image at a desired point of time in a bio cycle of an examinee since the ultrasound mode is not synchronized with the bio cycle. For example, in a case where the examiner wants to examine a continuous wave Doppler image of a heart in a QRS section of an electrocardiogram cycle having a maximum blood flow speed of the heart, the examiner needs to determine the continuous wave Doppler image of the QRS section by continuously placing a probe at a corresponding part on the B-image based on his experience. In this case, however, the continuous wave Doppler image of the QRS section may not be accurately obtained.

Ultrasound system and method of obtaining ultrasound image


An adjustable mounting assembly for mounting a bird bath bowl or other object to a wide variety of base types, shapes and sizes. The adjustable bracket assembly includes components that can be assembled to one another so as to create a variety of embodiments, enabling a bird bath bowl, for example, to be mounted to a wide variety of base types, base shapes and base sizes. Bracket members which attach to a base may be adjustably secured to a center mounting plate, whereby the bracket members may be adjustably extended to various radial lengths. The adjustable bracket members may also be connected together without use of the plate so as to accommodate a variety of other base types, including railings.

This invention relates to an adjustable mounting assembly and, more particularly, an adjustable mounting assembly for a bird bath.
Prior patents may show one or more features of the present invention, but they do not disclose the unique combination of parts comprising the adjustable mounting assembly adapted for a wide range of uses.
Cullinan U.S. Pat. No. 2,250,361 discloses a portable holder which can be adapted to support objects of various shapes. The holder in Cullinan does not adjustably attach to the surface upon which it rests. The present invention, in contrast, provides means for adjustably securing an object to a variety of base shapes and sizes.
Koch U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,142 discloses a removable garbage can support which is inserted into the ground. The support slightly elevates the garbage can above ground level. Unlike the Koch reference, the present invention is directed towards securing objects, such as bird bath bowls, to a variety of bases.
Dieleman U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,569 discloses a bird bath containing a self-cleaning apparatus. Although the Dieleman bird bath comprises a bowl and pedestal, the reference fails to disclose any means for adjustably securing the bowl to a variety of bases.
Jones U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,659 and Liff U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,226 both disclose a bird bath with a heating apparatus. While each of these references disclose a means for attaching a bird bath bowl to a base, they do not disclose any means for adjustably securing a bowl to a variety of base types, base shapes, and base sizes.


The invention relates to positional data recording, and in particular, to a method and system for polling the concordance of a mobile radio terminal user for the transmission of positional data to a poller. Specifically, polling data are supplemented by a specification stipulated for the poller on the basis of which it van be determined at least whether the consent of the mobile radio terminal is to be obtained for forwarding the mobile radio position data to the poller.

Document WO 98/52379 describes the determination of the geographical location of a mobile station in a mobile communications network. The intention is to protect the integrity of a mobile station user and to prevent the location of a mobile station becoming known against the will of the user. For this purpose an authorization check is performed in conjunction with an inquiry to determine the geographical location of a mobile station. The geographical location is only determined if authorization is present for the mobile station to be determined. Said authorization check includes verification of whether a mobile station user has given consent for the location of his mobile station to be determined. The authorization check also includes that only certain third parties are informed of the geographical location of a mobile station.
Document WO 99/63780 describes a method in a telecommunications system for administering location services by using black and gray location application lists and a position gateway. When a location application subscribes to a location service, the service provider assigns to the location application a unique location application identifier number (LAIN) which is included in every position inquiry. The black list is used to bar services to location applications included in the list, while maintaining the location application profile of the location application in a position gateway. Location applications included in the gray list have access to a service, but the latter is monitored by a network unit.
It is known from 3GPP-TS 23.271 to use positional data of a mobile radio terminal user of a cellular mobile radio network for location-based services such as information about the nearest service station, etc. ("location services"=LCS). However, in some circumstances a mobile radio terminal user would wish to prevent every third party being able to obtain his current position from the mobile radio network. The mobile radio terminal user consequently requires a function which defines for every potential poller of his position from the mobile radio network whether notification of the positional data of the mobile radio terminal user to said poller is generally permitted, generally barred, or may be permitted following verification from the mobile radio terminal user. This function is referred to as the LCS user privacy function.
The LCS user privacy defined by 3GPP (3GPP standards TS 23.271 and TS 29.002) requires a relatively large amount of memory in the home location register (HLR) of the mobile radio network and in the exchange (MSC-SGSN), and creates a high load when copying conditions relating to the transmission of positional data of a user to a poller from the HLR to the exchange currently being used by the user (visited MSC/SGSN).
According to 3GPP standards TS 23.271 and TS 29.002, the LCS user privacy is stored for every subscriber in a home location register (HLR) in a plurality of privacy classes and is downloaded from the HLR to the MSC or SGSN visited by the user, whereupon an LCS user privacy function checks whether, in the case of an inquiry about the position of the mobile radio terminal (mobile terminating location request MT-LR) from a GMLC, positional data is to be transmitted to the poller. LCS privacy classes are provided for value added services, namely the call session-related class and the call session-unrelated class. In 3GPP the user can specify for each of these two classes up to 40 LCS client IDs, and for each client ID (identities of potential pollers seeking the position of the user) can define specifications relating to how the MSCs/SGSNs visited by the user are to perform the LCS user privacy check. For example it is possible to specify that the user only receives an LCS notification (that is to say a notification that someone is inquiring about his position) or that the user receives an LCS verification (that is to say a query to obtain consent from the user before transmitting his position to a poller), as well as other possibilities. If an LCS client ID is not stored in a list specified by the user, a default behavior as stipulated by the user is executed.


A soil remediation unit that changes the use and purpose of certain commercially available aggregate mixing devices and or pug mills for removing unwanted contaminants from a quantity of contaminated soil aggregate or substrate which includes a canopy and a burner tube attached to the canopy. The burner tube includes an upper securing element and a lower adjustment element. The soil remediation unit also includes a burner supported in a desired position within the burner tube by the upper securing element and the lower adjustment element.

Construction projects and work sites are often faced with issues when the soil in a work site has become contaminated with various materials. Contaminated soil may require remediation in order to remove the contaminants that may have accumulated in the soil over time. Contaminants are often found in the soil associated with industrial sites, sites related to the petroleum industry (e.g., refineries, processing facilities, and gas stations) and transportation sites (e.g., airports, rail yards, pipelines, etc.).
One method of decontaminating the soil in such sites includes the heating of the soil to sufficient temperature so as to burn off the various contaminants that have accumulated in the soil. One known method of performing this decontamination is by transporting the soil to a large industrial oven and heating the soil to the necessary temperature and then returning the soil to the site. This method is faced with many disadvantages including the cost of transporting the contaminated soil to the heating facility as well as the environmental issues associated with operating an industrial furnace.
A second method of decontamination includes heating the contaminated soil at the work site. U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,430, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, includes an example of heating contaminated soil in a mobile decontamination apparatus at a work site. Known apparatus, however, include several disadvantages including efficiency, durability, and performance problems.
Therefore, there exists a need for an improved device that can efficiently, cost-effectively, and reliably remove contaminants from soil.


A system and method for controlling the output power of a heat source. The system includes a user interface so that a user may select the power required from the heat source, a power supply, and a controller that receives a rectified signal having a work ratio that corresponds to a nominal voltage of an alternating voltage signal corresponding to a phase of a power supply. The controller is configured to control the output power of the heat source in accordance with the power selected by the user, and modifies, if necessary, the work cycle of a power signal linked to the heat source in accordance with the work ratio in order to compensate possible differences in the nominal voltage between different power supplier.

The most widely used method for controlling the temperature of a heat source (linked to a specific power) is to use a closed-loop control in which the temperature of a heat source or its surroundings is determined by a temperature sensor, and in which an automatic control is used to adjust the power of the heat source for the purposes of reaching and maintaining the required temperature. A thermostat may be used for this purpose, for example. Although the closed-loop temperature control is effective, it is not easy to use in some applications, such as cooker hob heat sources.
In devices in which heat sources supplied by external power supplies are used it is desirable that the nominal voltage of the power supply be ascertained, as the heat emitted by the heat sources is directly related to the nominal voltage. Different nominal voltages may thus result in different temperatures in the heat source despite the fact that the required or selected power is the same in all cases.
In the United States, for example, it is known that domestic appliances may be connected to an external 208V three-phase power supply with a phase difference of 120° between two adjacent phases or to a 240V two-phase power supply with a phase difference of 180° between both phases. When a specific power is selected for a determined heat source, the heat emitted by the source may be different if the external supply is 208V or if it is 240V, and it may thus be the case, for example, that food may have to be cooked in a different way in both of these cases.
In order to solve this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 6,841,761 B1 discloses a system for identifying the nominal voltage of the voltage supply to which at least one heat source is connected, which takes into account the phase difference between the various phases of the power supply. The system disclosed in the patent detects the phase difference between two adjacent phases, determining the value of the nominal voltage in accordance with the phase difference detected (if it is 180° the nominal voltage is 240V, and if it is not, it is 208V).

System for determining the nominal voltage of a power supply


An exemplary steerable stylet handle assembly includes a housing having first and second side walls defining a channel therebetween, a button in communication with the first and second side walls and configured to move distally and proximally within the channel, and a stylet subassembly having an inner stylet wire located at least partially within an outer tubing. The inner stylet wire has a pre-curved portion and is coupled to a proximal portion of the housing. The outer tubing is coupled to the button. Movement of the button within the channel is configured to selectively expose and cover at least a portion of the pre-curved distal portion of the inner stylet wire with the outer tubing.

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a well-accepted clinical method for treating a variety of medical conditions in certain populations of patients. SCS systems typically include an implantable pulse generator (IPG) and at least one stimulating lead with one or more electrodes disposed thereon. The lead may be implanted epidurally near the patient's spine and the IPG may be implanted in a surgically convenient location (e.g., within a subcutaneous pocket created within the torso of the patient). The IPG may then generate and deliver electrical stimulation pulses via the one or more electrodes to the spine in accordance with stimulation parameters configured to treat a particular medical disorder.
It is often difficult for a physician to properly position an electrode lead within the epidural space of the spine. To this end, a number of different insertion tools have been developed to assist physicians in positioning electrode leads and other stimulating members (e.g., catheters) within a patient. For example, a typical insertion tool that has been used is known as a stylet and consists of a flexible tube in which a wire with a pre-curved distal portion. When the pre-curved distal portion of the wire is inside the tube, it is restrained from assuming its pre-curved shape, and when it is positioned outside the tube, it assumes its preset shape. The tube is fastened to a handle through which the wire runs to be accessible for adjustment of its position in the tube. When the stylet wire together with the lead is moved towards a desired implant location within the patient, the physician can, by extending a larger or smaller part of the preshaped end of the wire, position the lead at the desired location.
The handling of this stylet is often difficult and cumbersome. Both hands of the physician are often required to adjust the position of the stylet in relation to the tube. In addition, handling of the stylet is complicated by the fact that the physician wears gloves which easily get wet and slippery during an operation.

Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation


An ambient ionisation ion source is disclosed that comprises a first device arranged and adapted to generate analyte ions from a target and an enclosure surrounding the first device. The enclosure includes one or more gas inlets and one or more gas outlets. The ambient ionisation ion source also comprises a second device arranged and adapted to supply the enclosure with a first gas via the one or more gas inlets such that the enclosure is maintained, in use, at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure.

A number of different ambient ionisation ion sources are known. Ambient ionisation sources are characterised by the ability to generate analyte ions under ambient conditions (i.e. as opposed to under vacuum).
Desorption electrospray ionisation ("DESI") is an ambient ionisation technique that allows direct and fast analysis of surfaces without the explicit need for prior sample preparation. A spray of (primary) electrically charged droplets is sprayed onto a surface, and subsequent ejected (secondary) droplets carrying desorbed analyte ions are directed toward an atmospheric pressure interface of a mass and/or ion mobility spectrometer or analyser via a transfer capillary.
The ionisation process in many ambient ionisation techniques, including desorption electrospray ionisation ("DESI"), occurs in the ambient atmosphere. Accordingly, factors such as room temperature and humidity can have an effect on the performance of the ion source.
Furthermore, airborne compounds present in the ambient environment may interact with the ion source and may ionise, resulting in the generation of mass spectral peaks that are not from the sample under analysis. These peaks can change over time, and may be in the same mass range as analyte ions of interest. In addition, many ambient ionisation techniques have safety implications, e.g. due to potentially harmful aspects of the ion source (e.g. solvent, laser beams, etc.) or of the sample, being present in the atmosphere or otherwise accessible to a user.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,847,244 (Venter et al.) discloses an arrangement in which the spray, the sample surface, and the mass spectrometer inlet capillary of a desorption electrospray ionisation ion source are enclosed in a pressure tight enclosure. This arrangement isolates the ion source from the ambient environment.
However, this arrangement can suffer from memory effects wherein analyte ions are trapped within the enclosure for some time before being drawn into the mass spectrometer and analysed. Equally, since in this arrangement the inlet capillary effectively samples the analyte enriched atmosphere of the enclosure, rather than the charged droplets reflected off the sample surface, it is not possible to obtain spatially resolved information.
It is desired to provide an improved ambient ionisation ion source.

Enclosure for ambient ionisation ion source


There is provided an input circuit including a current/current conversion circuit and a current change-over circuit for converting an input control current into an inside control current; a control amplification circuit for amplifying a voltage corresponding to a difference current between an output current from the input circuit and a monitor current which is fed back from the photodetector for detecting a light output of the LD; an output circuit which is controlled with an output from the control amplification circuit; an offset compensation circuit for compensating for the offset generated between the input of the current/current conversion circuit and the output of the control amplification circuit, so that the offset is detected to compensate for the offset in the state in which the output of the control amplification circuit is cut off with the switch.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-085113, file Mar. 24, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser driving circuit for driving a semiconductor laser used in an optical disk or the like in accordance with an input control current.
In optical disks, laser printers, light communication systems or the like, an input control current corresponds to information to be recorded or transmitted is supplied from the outside of an integrated circuit, and a semiconductor laser driving circuit is used which is constituted of an integrated circuit for supplying a driving circuit to the semiconductor laser in accordance with the input control current. As a known example of such semiconductor laser driving circuit, for example, there is available U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,473 (Inventor: TAGUCHI) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,329 (Inventor: TAGUCHI).
The semiconductor driving circuit in these known examples has a structure such that a light output of the semiconductor laser is detected with a photodetector and a monitor current thus obtained is compared with the input control current to carry out a wide-band feed back control so that a difference between the two becomes minimum to drive the semiconductor laser. In these structures, there arises an offset at an input circuit and a control amplification circuit for supplying to an output circuit a voltage according to a difference current between a control current given to an input circuit which receives a current for driving the semiconductor laser and via the input current and a monitor current of the light output of the semiconductor laser. The offset becomes particularly conspicuous when the circuit is constituted with the CMOS transistor.
When the above offset is present in the semiconductor laser driving circuit, the following problem arises, for example, in the case of the optical disk device. In the beginning, this offset becomes a large error which cannot be ignored at the reproduction time at which the semiconductor laser is set to a low output light amount. For example, when the output light amount of the semiconductor laser becomes the predetermined value or more with this offset, information recorded on the optical disk is gradually erased. Then, when the output light amount of the semiconductor laser becomes less than the predetermined value, the S/N of the reproduction signal is lowered with the result that a normal reproduction becomes impossible.
On the other hand, it is desired that the semiconductor laser driving circuit is all constituted of CMOS transistors in order to meet with a strong demand on the lower consumption of power, and a cost reduction on the market of optical disk devices. However, in the CMOS transistor, the offset voltage of the input circuit or the control amplification circuit is extremely large as compared with the conventional bipolar transistor circuit with the result that the above problem becomes conspicuous. Thus, it is almost impossible to provide an overall CMOS transistor structure unless this offset is decreased.
Furthermore, in order to correspond to each kind of specifications of the optical system of the optical disk device, for example, the kind of the semiconductor laser and the difference in the monitor amount or the like peculiar to an optical channel which leads to the photodetector for the monitor from this semiconductor device, a loop gain of the feedback loop can be adjusted in a wide range, and it is required to increase and decrease the magnitude of the input control current from the outside in accordance with the magnitude of the monitor current. However, in the semiconductor laser driving circuit from the above known embodiment, since the loop gain variation capability by the control amplification circuit is limited, it is difficult to sufficiently cope with the loop gain. Furthermore, there is a problem in that when an attempt is made to increase and decrease the magnitude of the input current in accordance with the magnitude of the monitor current, an increase in the consumed power and a decrease in the transmission S/N of the input control current is invited.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor laser drive circuit and a semiconductor laser device which can stably drive the semiconductor laser, for example, in the entire CMOS transistor circuit structure by sufficiently decreasing offset.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor laser device which can widely adjust a loop gain of a feed-back loop, and which can be easily controlled in conformity with the magnitude of a monitor current.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor laser driving circuit which drives a semiconductor laser in accordance with an input control current supplied from the outside, the device comprising:
an input circuit configured to convert the input control current into a control current inside of an integrated circuit;
a control amplification circuit configured to amplify a voltage corresponding to a difference current between the control current output from the input circuit and a monitor current corresponding to a light output of the semiconductor laser fed back from a photodetector for detecting the light output;
an output circuit configured to supply a drive current to the semiconductor laser in correspondence to an output from the control amplification circuit;
a first switch configured to interrupt the input control current to the input circuit;
a second switch configured to cut off the output of the control amplification from an input of the output circuit;
an offset compensation circuit configured to detect an offset generated in a signal channel up to the output of the control amplification circuit from an input of the input circuit in the state in which the first switch is operated to interrupt the input control current to the input circuit while the second switch is operated to cut off the output of the control amplification circuit from the input of the output circuit, upon a drive instruction of the semiconductor laser being given and compensate for the offset on the basis of the detection result.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor laser device for driving a semiconductor laser in accordance with an input control current supplied from the outside, the device comprising:
a semiconductor laser;
a photodetector configured to detect a light output of the semiconductor laser;
a current/current conversion circuit configured to convert the input control current into a control current inside of an integrated circuit;
a current change-over circuit configured to change over and output the control current output from the current/current conversion circuit at a conversion ratio which is controlled on the basis of the control signal from the outside;
a control amplification circuit configured to amplify a voltage corresponding to a difference current between a control current output from the current change-over circuit and a monitor current corresponding to the light output of the semiconductor laser fed back from photodetector; and
an output circuit configured to supply a drive current to the semiconductor laser in correspondence to an output from the control amplification circuit;
wherein the current/current conversion circuit, the current change-over circuit, the control amplification circuit, and the output circuit are constituted of the integrated circuit; and the device further comprising:
a current/voltage conversion resistor configured to convert the difference current between the control current and the monitor current into a voltage to supply the difference current to a voltage to supply the voltage to the control amplification circuit.
In the semiconductor laser driving circuit and the semiconductor laser device which are constituted in this manner, even when the offset is effectively decreased which is generated in a signal channel from the input of the input circuit up to the output of the control amplification circuit and circuits are entirely constituted of CMOS transistors for the decrease of consumed power and a cost reduction, the output light amount of the semiconductor laser can be stably controlled to a value corresponding to the input control current. Consequently, in the case where the semiconductor laser driving circuit and the semiconductor laser device are applied to the drive of the semiconductor laser for use in the recording and reproduction of, for example, an optical disk, it becomes possible to avoid such problems as damage and erasure of recorded information on the optical disk resulting from a large deviation of the output light amount from the desired value and a decrease in the S/N of the reproduction signal.
Furthermore, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor laser device for driving a semiconductor laser in accordance with an input control current supplied from the outside, the device comprising:
a semiconductor laser;
a photodetector configured to detect a light output of the semiconductor laser;
an input circuit configured to convert the input control current into a control current inside of an integrated circuit;
a control amplification circuit configured to amplify a voltage corresponding to a difference current between the control current output from the input circuit and a monitor current corresponding to the light output of the semiconductor laser fed back from the photodetector;
an output circuit configured to supply a drive current to the semiconductor laser in correspondence to an output from the control amplification circuit;
a first switch configured to interrupt the input control current to the input circuit;
a second switch configured to cut off the output of the control amplification circuit from an input of the output circuit; and
an offset compensation circuit configured to detect an offset generated in a signal channel up to the output of the control amplification circuit from an input of the input circuit in the state in which the first switch is operated to interrupt the input control current to the input circuit while the second switch is operated to cut off the output of the control amplification circuit from the input of the output circuit, upon a drive instruction of the semiconductor laser being given and compensate for the offset on the basis of the detection result.
Furthermore, the input circuit further comprises a current change-over circuit for outputting an output current from the current/current conversion circuit by changing over the current at a conversion ratio which is controlled on the basis of the control signal from the outside. With the addition of such current change-over circuit, the output current of the current change-over circuit, namely the input voltage to the control amplification circuit can be largely changed without enlarging the set range of the input control current. Accordingly, it is possible to correspond to optical systems for output light monitors with various specifications provided in the optical disk device without depreciating the control precision of the drive current of the semiconductor laser. At the same time the problems such as increase in the consumed power and a reduction in the transmission S/N can be also settled.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.

Semiconductor laser driving circuit and semiconductor laser device


An apparatus for manufacturing a pressed powder body has a die assembly comprising an upper die and a lower die, for pressing an unpressed powder body of a material powder filled on a pressing surface of the lower die, into a pressed powder body between the upper die and the lower die, at least one of the upper die and the lower die being vertically movable to press the unpressed body, and a powder increasing mechanism for increasing an amount of the material powder locally in the unpressed powder body. The powder increasing mechanism comprises at least one of the upper die and the lower die, the at least one of the upper die and the lower die comprising a first die member for pressing a first portion of the unpressed powder body at a first time and a second die member for pressing a second portion of the unpressed powder body at a second time which is different from the first time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of powder metallurgy, and more particularly to a method of and an apparatus for pressing a fine metal powder into a compacted body having a gear shape or the like which will be sintered into a gear as a powder metallurgy product, in a manner to increase the mechanical strength of a local region of the completed gear.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has heretofore been known a powder metallurgy process for manufacturing sintered mechanical parts such as gears which are required to have a desired degree of wear resistance and rigidity. According to the powder metallurgy process, a fine metal powder is pressed into a compacted body having a gear shape, for example, by a pressing machine, and the compacted body is heated, i.e., sintered, into a gear. The pressing machine comprises a lower die having a cavity for receiving the fine metal powder and an upper punch movable into the cavity to press the fine metal powder into a compacted gear shape.
For producing a gear with a hole defined centrally therein using such a pressing machine, a fine metal powder is filled in the cavity of the die around a core placed at the center of the cavity, and then the core is lifted to a position where the upper surface of the core is higher than the upper surface of the filled fine metal powder. Thereafter, the punch is lowered into the cavity to press the fine metal powder around the core. The compacted body has a hole defined centrally therein by the core which has been removed.
Heretofore, powder metallurgy products that are pressed by a die and a punch have uniform mechanical properties because they are subject to uniform loads over their entire surface regions. Some mechanical parts need to have different mechanical properties in different regions thereof. For example, gears should have greater strength and toughness at their teeth and greater wear resistance at their center. However, it has been impossible for powder metallurgy products to have different local mechanical properties.
FIG. 13 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional process of manufacturing a pressed powder body as a gear blank. As shown in FIG. 13, when a core 51 is lifted to a position where it is higher than the upper surface of a fine metal powder G placed in a die cavity, the circumferential edge of the upper surface of the core 51 scrapes off and carries upwardly a surrounding layer of the metal powder G, resulting in a reduction in the density of the fine metal powder G around the hole therein. After the fine metal powder G thus shaped is pressed by an upper punch 52 and then sintered into a gear, the formed gear has a reduced mechanical strength around its central hole. As a consequence, if a rotational shaft is pressed into the central hole of the gear, then the region of the gear around the central hole tends to be damaged in use especially if the gear is a helical gear or the like which is likely to develop eccentric stresses in the central region of the gear. If the gear is machined to form internal gear teeth around its central hole, then the internal gear teeth are apt to be broken in use.
There has been a demand in the art for a process of preventing the density of a fine metal powder from being lowered around a hole which is defined in the fine metal powder by the core 51, so that the mechanical strength of the completed gear will not be reduced around the central hole thereof. Stated otherwise, it has been desired in the art of powder metallurgy to process a fine metal powder, at the time of pressing and sintering it into a powder metallurgy product such as a gear, in a manner to give different local mechanical properties to the completed powder metallurgy product.

Apparatus for manufacturing pressed powder body


A loader implement includes a support mast that is provided with a mounting area for a front loader arrangement. The loader implement includes a roll-over protective assembly that is coupled to one of the other or both of the loader implement, or support mast. The protective assembly can be selectively pivoted between a raised protective position wherein it extends over an operator's platform and a lowered non-protective position, wherein it extends forward of the operator's platform. So as to prevent the loader arrangement from being used without the benefit of the protective assembly in its protective position, the mounting area for the loader arrangement is blocked by the protective assembly when the latter is in its non-protective position and is not cleared to permit the mounting of the loader arrangement until the protective assembly is moved to its protective position.

In the state of the art, agricultural vehicles such as tractors are known with which loader operations can be performed by means of a loader arrangement, for example, a front loader. Loader operations can include stacking operations, but also planning operations, shove operations or clearing operations. In part such vehicles are offered for sale without an operator's cab, in particular in the case of smaller vehicles, for example, small tractors, with which in addition to loader operations other operations can also be performed in narrow spaces and particularly in spaces with low overhead. In order to protect the operator of the implement, such vehicles are equipped with a roll-over protective structure in the form of a roll-bar extending in the vertical direction behind or in front of the implement operator's seat.
For operations in narrow or low space, the roll-bar may be an obstacle. For this reason, many manufacturers of such vehicles offer a roll-bar that can be pivoted or even folded, so that if necessary or desired, the vehicle can be operated with a roll-bar that has been pivoted downward or folded together.
Such vehicles are offered for sale, for example, by the company BCS. A small tractor with a mounted loader arrangement is disclosed in a product brochure "VALIANT 400–500" by the company BCS publication number 901000766-07/2002, in which the roll-bar is pivoted from a vertical position over the front hood of the vehicle and can be locked in a horizontal position. The problem here is that during the installation of the loader arrangement, the pivoted roll-bar can remain in a horizontal position, so that an operator of the vehicle could fail to erect the roll-bar. However, without the roll-bar the safety of the operator is impaired.
The problem underlying the invention is seen in the fact that the safety of the implement operator may be impaired during loader operations.


The invention relates to radiolabeled compounds and their use in methods of imaging amyloid deposits, as well as to methods of their manufacture. The invention also relates to compounds for inhibiting the aggregation of amyloid proteins that form amyloid deposits, methods for delivering therapeutic agents to amyloid deposits, as well as methods of making compounds that inhibit the aggregation of amyloid proteins.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline, irreversible memory loss, disorientation, and language impairment. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease of the brain. It is a significant medical problem with a high prevalence in millions of elder people. Major neuropathology observations of postmortem AD brains depict the presence of senile plaques (containing β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregates) and neurofibrillary tangles (highly phosphorylated tau proteins). Currently, there is no definitive imaging method to diagnose AD, except by postmortem biopsy and staining of the brain tissue which demonstrates the senile plaques containing predominantly Aβ aggregates.
Several genomic factors have been linked to AD. Familial AD (or early onset AD) has been reported to have mutations in genes encoding β-amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PS1) and presenilin 2 (PS2) (Berezovska, O, A Lleo, L D Herl, et al. "Familial Alzheimer's disease presenilin 1 mutations cause alterations in the conformation of presenilin and interactions with amyloid precursor protein." J Neurosci 25:3009 (2005); Deng, Y, L Tarassishin, V Kallhoff, et al. "Deletion of presenilin 1 hydrophilic loop sequence leads to impaired gamma-secretase activity and exacerbated amyloid pathology." J Neurosci 26:3845 (2006); Hardy, J, D J Selkoe "The amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease: progress and problems on the road to therapeutics." Science 297:353 (2002); Selkoe, D J "Alzheimer's disease: genes, proteins, and therapy." Physiol Rev 81:741 (2001)). The exact mechanisms of these mutations which lead to the development of AD are not fully understood; however, the formation of Aβ plaques in the brain is a pivotal event in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease.
Amyloidosis is a condition characterized by the accumulation of various insoluble, fibrillar proteins in the tissues of a patient. An amyloid deposit is formed by the aggregation of amyloid proteins, followed by the further combination of aggregates and/or amyloid proteins. Formation of soluble and diffusible Aβ and Aβ aggregates in the brain are now considered the critical events, which produce various toxic effects in neuronal cells leading to the formation of neuritic plaques (Catalano, S M, E C Dodson, D A Henze, et al. "The Role of Amyloid-Beta Derived Diffusible Ligands (ADDLs) in Alzheimer's Disease." Curr Top Med Chem 6:597 (2006); Hardy, (2002); Jicha, G A, J E Parisi, D W Dickson, et al. "Neuropathologic outcome of mild cognitive impairment following progression to clinical dementia." Arch Neurol 63:674 (2006); Rosenberg, R N "Explaining the cause of the amyloid burden in Alzheimer disease." Arch Neurol 59:1367 (2002); Thal, D R, E Capetillo-Zarate, K Del Tredici, et al. "The development of amyloid beta protein deposits in the aged brain." Sci Aging Knowledge Environ 2006:re1, (2006)). Recent reports have suggested that β-amyloid aggregates, i.e. Aβ plaques, in the brain play a key role in a cascade of events leading to AD. Postmortem examination of AD brain sections reveals abundant senile plaques (SPs) composed of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides and numerous neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) formed by filaments of highly phosphorylated tau proteins (for recent reviews and additional citations see Ginsberg, S. D., et al., "Molecular Pathology of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders," in Cerebral Cortex: Neurodegenerative and Age-related Changes in Structure and Function of Cerebral Cortex, Kluwer Academic/Plenum, NY (1999), pp. 603-654; Vogelsberg-Ragaglia, V., et al., "Cell Biology of Tau and Cytoskeletal Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease," Alzheimer's Disease, Lippincot, Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pa. (1999), pp. 359-372).
While the exact mechanisms underlying AD are not fully understood, all pathogenic familial AD (FAD) mutations studied thus far increase production of the more amyloidogenic 42-43 amino-acid long form of the Aβ peptide. Thus, at least in FAD, dysregulation of Aβ production appears to be sufficient to induce a cascade of events leading to neurodegeneration. Indeed, the amyloid cascade hypothesis suggests that formation of extracellular fibrillar Aβ aggregates in the brain may be a pivotal event in AD pathogenesis (Selkoe, D. J., "Biology of β-amyloid Precursor Protein and the Mechanism of Alzheimer's Disease," Alzheimer's Disease, Lippincot Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pa. (1999), pp. 293-310; Selkoe, D. J., J. Am. Med. Assoc. 283:1615-1617 (2000); Naslund, J., et al., J. Am. Med. Assoc. 283:1571-1577, (2000); Golde, T. E., et al., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1502:172-187 (2000)).
Significant circumstantial evidence suggests that fibrillary Aβ plaques consisting predominately of aggregates of Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptides play a major role in AD pathogenesis —"Amyloid Cascade Hypothesis" (Armstrong, R A "Plaques and tangles and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease." Folia Neuropathol 44:1 (2006); Golde, T E "The Abeta hypothesis: leading us to rationally-designed therapeutic strategies for the treatment or prevention of Alzheimer disease." Brain Pathol 15:84 (2005); Hardy, J "Has the amyloid cascade hypothesis for Alzheimer's disease been proved?" Curr Alzheimer Res 3:71 (2006); Hardy (2002); Marchesi, V T "An alternative interpretation of the amyloid Abeta hypothesis with regard to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:9093 (2005)). ApoE4 expression appears to increase the risk of AD (Fryer, J D, J W Taylor, R B DeMattos, et al. "Apolipoprotein E markedly facilitates age-dependent cerebral amyloid angiopathy and spontaneous hemorrhage in amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice." J Neurosci 23:7889 (2003)). It is likely that amyloid precursor protein (APP) is degraded by several proteases, among which the catabolism reactions of β- and β-secretases on APP lead to the production of excess Aβ. The excessive burden of Aβ, produced by various normal or abnormal mechanisms, may represent the starting point of neurodegenerative events. The fibrillar aggregates of amyloid peptides, Aβ40 and Aβ42, are major metabolic peptides derived from amyloid precursor protein found in senile plaques and cerebrovascular amyloid deposits in AD patients (Xia, W., et al., J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97:9299-9304, (2000)). Prevention and reversal of Aβ plaque formation are being targeted as a treatment for this disease (Selkoe, D., J. JAMA 283:1615-1617 (2000); Wolfe, M. S., et al., J. Med. Chem. 41:6-9, 1998; Skovronsky, D. M., and Lee, V. M., Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 21:161-163 (2000)).
Early appraisal of clinical symptoms for diagnosis of AD is often difficult and unreliable (Boss, M A "Diagnostic approaches to Alzheimer's disease." Biochim Biophys Acta 1502:188 (2000)). Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission tomography (SPECT) imaging of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) for diagnosis and monitoring of patients with AD have been reported (Ishii, K, S Minoshima "PET is better than perfusion SPECT for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease—for." Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 32:1463 (2005); Mega, M S, I D Dinov, L Lee, et al. "Orbital and dorsolateral frontal perfusion defect associated with behavioral response to cholinesterase inhibitor therapy in Alzheimer's disease." J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 12:209 (2000a); Mega, M S, L Lee, I D Dinov, et al. "Cerebral correlates of psychotic symptoms in Alzheimer's disease." J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 69:167 (2000b); Tang, B N, S Minoshima, J George, et al. "Diagnosis of suspected Alzheimer's disease is improved by automated analysis of regional cerebral blood flow." Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 31:1487 (2004)). Diagnosis of AD based on regional glucose metabolism in the brain has been evaluated using PET imaging with [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG). The overall performance of FDG/PET is favorable for routine clinical evaluation of suspected AD (Frey, K A, S Minoshima, D E Kuhl "Neurochemical imaging of Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative Dementias." Q J Nucl Med 42:166 (1998); Hoffman, J M, K A Welsh-Bohmer, M Hanson, et al. "FDG PET imaging in patients with pathologically verified dementia." J Nucl Med 41:1920 (2000); Minoshima, S "Imaging Alzheimer's disease: clinical applications." Neuroimaging Clin N Am 13:769 (2003); Minoshima, S, B Giordani, S Berent, et al. "Metabolic reduction in the posterior cingulate cortex in very early Alzheimer's disease." Ann Neurol 42:85 (1997); Phelps, M E "PET: the merging of biology and imaging into molecular imaging." J Nucl Med 41:661 (2000); Silverman, D H S, M E Phelps "Invited Commentary: Evaluating Dementia Using PET: How Do We Put into Clinical Perspective What We Know to Date?" J Nucl Med 41:1929 (2000)). While imaging rCBF and glucose metabolism may have some use in AD patients, none of these modalities provide any information on the presence or quantity of Aβ aggregates in the brain.
Various approaches in trying to inhibit the production and reduce the accumulation of fibrillar Aβ in the brain are currently being evaluated as potential therapies for AD (Skovronsky, D. M. and Lee, V. M., Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 21:161-163 (2000); Vassar, R., et al., Science 286:735-741, 1999; Wolfe, M. S., et al., J. Med. Chem. 41:6-9, 1998; Moore, C. L., et al., J. Med. Chem. 43:3434-3442 (2000); Findeis, M. A., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1502:76-84, 2000; Kuner, P., Bohrmann, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 275:1673-1678 (2000)). It is therefore of interest to develop ligands that specifically bind fibrillar Aβ aggregates. Since extracellular SPs are accessible targets, these new ligands could be used as in vivo diagnostic tools and as probes to visualize the progressive deposition of Aβ in studies of AD amyloidogenesis in living patients. Development of Aβ plaque-specific imaging agents has been reported previously (for review see Blennow, K, H Zetterberg "Pinpointing plaques with PIB." Nat Med 12:753 (2006b); Huddleston, D E, S A Small "Technology Insight: imaging amyloid plaques in the living brain with positron emission tomography and MRI." Nat Clin Pract Neurol 1:96 (2005); Mathis, C A, Y Wang, W E Klunk "Imaging b-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the aging human brain." Curr Pharm Des 10:1469 (2004); Nichols, L, VW Pike, L Cai, et al. "Imaging and in vivo quantitation of beta-amyloid: an exemplary biomarker for Alzheimer's disease?" Biol Psychiatry 59:940 (2006); Schmidt, B, HA Braun, R Narlawar "Drug development and PET-diagnostics for Alzheimer's disease." Curr Med Chem 12:1677 (2005)).
Potential ligands for detecting Aβ aggregates in the living brain must cross the intact blood-brain barrier. Thus brain uptake can be improved by using ligands with relatively smaller molecular size and increased lipophilicity. Highly conjugated thioflavins (S and T) are commonly used as dyes for staining the Aβ aggregates in the AD brain (Elhaddaoui, A., et al., Biospectroscopy 1:351-356 (1995)). To this end, several interesting approaches for developing fibrillar Aβ aggregate-specific ligands have been reported (Ashburn, T. T., et al., Chem. Biol. 3:351-358 (1996); Han, G., et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 118:4506-4507 (1996); Klunk, W. E., et al., Biol. Psychiatry 35:627 (1994); Klunk, W. E., et al., Neurobiol. Aging 16:541-548 (1995); Klunk, W. E., et al., Society for Neuroscience Abstract 23:1638 (1997); Mathis, C. A., et al., Proc. XIIth Intl. Symp. Radiopharm. Chem., Uppsala, Sweden:94-95 (1997); Lorenzo, A. and Yankner, B. A., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91:12243-12247 (1994); Zhen, W., et al., J. Med. Chem. 42:2805-2815 (1999); Klunk, W. E., et al., J. Histochem. Cytochem. 37:1273-1281 (1989)).
The approach has been based on highly conjugated dyes, such as Congo Red and Chrysamine G (CG) (Dezutter, N A, R J Dom, T J de Groot, et al. "99mTc-MAMA-chrysamine G, a probe for beta-amyloid protein of Alzheimer's disease." Eur J Nucl Med 26:1392 (1999); Klunk, W E, M L Debnath, A M Koros, et al. "Chrysamine-G, a lipophilic analogue of Congo red, inhibits Aβ-induced toxicity in PC12 cells." Life Sci 63:1807 (1998); Klunk, W E, M L Debnath, J W Pettegrew "Small-molecule beta-amyloid probes which distinguish homogenates of Alzheimer's and control brains." Biol Psychiatry 35:627 (1994)). Thioflavin S and T have also been used in fluorescent staining of plaques and tangles in postmortem AD brain sections (Elhaddaoui, A, E Pigorsch, A Delacourte, et al. "Competition of congo red and thioflavin S binding to amyloid sites in Alzheimer's diseased tissue." Biospectroscopy 1:351 (1995)). More abbreviated forms of Chrysamine G (CG), such as styrylbenzenes, have been reported as fluorescent dyes for staining amyloid aggregates (Link, C D, C J Johnson, V Fonte, et al. "Visualization of fibrillar amyloid deposits in living, transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans animals using the sensitive amyloid dye, X-34." Neurobiol Aging 22:217 (2001); Styren, S D, R L Hamilton, G C Styren, et al. "X-34, a fluorescent derivative of Congo Red: a novel histochemical stain for Alzheimer's disease pathology." J Histochem Cytochem 48:1223 (2000)). They are useful research tools but these charged and bulky agents do not cross intact blood-brain barrier.
A highly lipophilic tracer, [18F]FDDNP, for binding both tangles (mainly composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein) and plaques (containing Aβ protein aggregates) has been reported. (Shoghi-Jadid K, et al., Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 10:24-35 (2002); Barrio, J R, S- C Huang, G Cole, et al. "PET imaging of tangles and plaques in Alzheimer's disease with a highly hydrophobic probe." J Lab Compds Radiopharm 42 Suppl. 1:S194, (1999a); Barrio, J R, S C Huang, G M Cole, et al. "PET imaging of tangles and plaques in Alzheimer's disease." J Nucl Med 40:70P, (1999b)). Preliminary studies in humans suggested that [18F]FDDNP showed a higher retention in regions of brain suspected of having tangles and plaques (Kepe, V, J R Barrio, S C Huang, et al. "Serotonin 1A receptors in the living brain of Alzheimer's disease patients." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:702 (2006); Shoghi-Jadid, K, J R Barrio, V Kepe, et al. "Exploring a mathematical model for the kinetics of beta-amyloid molecular imaging probes through a critical analysis of plaque pathology." Mol Imaging Biol 8:151 (2006); Shoghi-Jadid, K, J R Barrio, V Kepe, et al. "Imaging beta-amyloid fibrils in Alzheimer's disease: a critical analysis through simulation of amyloid fibril polymerization." Nucl Med Biol 32:337 (2005); Shoghi-Jadid, K, G W Small, E D Agdeppa, et al. "Localization of neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid plaques in the brains of living patients with Alzheimer disease: Binding characteristics of radiofluorinated 6-dialkylamino-2-naphthylethylidene derivatives as positron emission tomography imaging probes for beta-amyloid plaques in Alzheimer disease." Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 10:24, (2002)). Using positron-emission tomography (PET), it was reported that this tracer specifically labeled deposits of plaques and tangles in nine AD patients and seven comparison subjects. (Nordberg A. Lancet Neurol. 3:519-27 (2004)). Using a novel pharmacokinetic analysis procedure called the relative residence time of the brain region of interest versus the pons, differences between AD patients and comparison subjects were demonstrated. The relative residence time was significantly higher in AD patients. This is further complicated by an intriguing finding that FDDNP competes with some NSAIDs for binding to Aβ fibrils in vitro and to Aβ plaques ex vivo (Agdeppa E D, et al. 2001; Agdeppa E D, et al., Neuroscience. 2003; 117:723-30).
A neutral and lipophilic thioflavin derivative, [11C]6-OH-BTA-1 (PIB), showed excellent brain penetration and initial brain uptake, and displayed a high binding affinity to Aβ plaques (Ki=2.8 nM) (Klunk, W E, Y Wang, G- f Huang, et al. "Uncharged thioflavin-T derivatives bind to amyloid-beta protein with high affinity and readily enter the brain." Life Sci 69:1471 (2001); Mathis, C A, B J Bacskai, STBMC Kajdasz, et al. "A lipophilic thioflavin-T derivative for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of amyloid in brain." Bioorg Med Chem Lett 12:295 (2002a); Mathis, C A, Y Wang, W E Klunk "Imaging b-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the aging human brain." Curr Pharm Des 10:1469 (2004); (Mathis C A, et al., Curr Pharm Des. 10:1469-92 (2004); Mathis C A, et al., Arch. Neurol. 62:196-200 (2005)). Contrary to that observed for [18F]FDDNP, [11C]6-OH-BTA-1 binds specifically to fibrillar Aβ in vivo. Patients with diagnosed mild AD showed marked retention of [11C]6-OH-BTA-1 in the cortex, known to contain large amounts of amyloid deposits in AD. In the AD patient group, [11C6]-OH-BTA-1 retention was increased most prominently in the frontal cortex. Large increases also were observed in parietal, temporal, and occipital cortices and in the striatum. [11C]6-OH-BTA-1 retention was equivalent in AD patients and comparison subjects in areas known to be relatively unaffected by amyloid deposition (such as subcortical white matter, pons, and cerebellum). Fluorinated PIB and related neutral thioflavin derivatives, such as BTA-1, have also been reported (Mathis, C A, D P Holt, Y Wang, et al. "18F-labeled thioflavin-T analogs for amyloid assessment." J Nucl Med 43:166P, (2002b)).
In the past few years, successful PET imaging studies in AD patients with [11C]PIB has been reported (Klunk, W E, B J Lopresti, M D Ikonomovic, et al. "Binding of the positron emission tomography tracer Pittsburgh compound-B reflects the amount of amyloid-beta in Alzheimer's disease brain but not in transgenic mouse brain." J Neurosci 25:10598, (2005); Lopresti, B J, W E Klunk, C A Mathis, et al. "Simplified Quantification of Pittsburgh Compound B Amyloid Imaging PET Studies: A Comparative Analysis." J Nucl Med 46:1959 (2005); Mathis, C A, W E Klunk, J C Price, et al. "Imaging technology for neurodegenerative diseases: progress toward detection of specific pathologies." Arch Neurol 62:196 (2005); Price, J C, W E Klunk, B J Lopresti, et al. "Kinetic modeling of amyloid binding in humans using PET imaging and Pittsburgh Compound-B." J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 25:1528 (2005)). Recently, [11C]PIB has been used in testing a limited number of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (Buckner, R L, A Z Snyder, B J Shannon, et al. "Molecular, structural, and functional characterization of Alzheimer's disease: evidence for a relationship between default activity, amyloid, and memory." J Neurosci 25:7709 (2005); Nordberg, A "PET imaging of amyloid in Alzheimer's disease." Lancet Neurol 3:519 (2004); Price, J C, W E Klunk, B J Lopresti, et al. "Kinetic modeling of amyloid binding in humans using PET imaging and Pittsburgh Compound-B." J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 25:1528, (2005)). Using PIB/PET to study the relationship between Aβ plaque burden and AD neurological measurements, the results seem to suggest that there are some MC1 cases that convert to AD, while those with lower PIB uptake in the cortex appear to have less propensity to convert to AD (Engler, H, A Forsberg, O Almkvist, et al. "Two-year follow-up of amyloid deposition in patients with Alzheimer's disease." Brain (2006); Mintun, M A, G N Larossa, Y I Sheline, et al. "[11C]PIB in a nondemented population: potential antecedent marker of Alzheimer disease." Neurology 67:446 (2006); Price, J C, S K Ziolko, L A Weissfeld, et al. "[O-15] Water and PIB PET imaging in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment." J Nucl Med:75p (abstract) (2006); Rentz, D M, J A Becker, E Moran, et al. "Amyloid imaging in AD, MCI, and highly intelligent older adults with Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB)." J Nucl Med:289p (abstract) (2006); Villemagne, V L, S Ng, S J Gong, et al. "11C-PIB PET imaging in the differential diagnosis of dementia." J Nucl Med:74p (abstract), (2006)).
Recently, another 11C labeled Aβ plaque-targeting probe, a stilbene derivative, [11C]SB-13, has been studied. In vitro binding using the [3H]SB-13 suggests that the compound showed excellent binding affinity and binding can be clearly measured in the cortical gray matter, but not in the white matter of AD cases. (Kung M-P, et al., Brain Res. 1025:98-105 (2004). There was a very low specific binding in cortical tissue homogenates of control brains. The Kd values of [3H]SB-13 in AD cortical homogenates were 2.4±0.2 nM. High binding capacity and comparable values were observed (14-45 pmol/mg protein) (Id.). As expected, in AD patients [11C]SB-13 displayed a high accumulation in the frontal cortex (presumably an area containing a high density of Aβplaques) in mild to moderate AD patients, but not in age-matched control subjects. (Verhoeff N P, et al., Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 12:584-95, (2004)).
Recently, there have been reports on using an in vivo multiphoton optical imaging technique for invasive imaging of senile plaques in transgenic mice (by opening the skull) (Bacskai, B J, S T Kajdasz, R H Christie, et al. "Imaging of amyloid-beta deposits in brains of living mice permits direct observation of clearance of plaques with immunotherapy." Nat Med 7:369, (2001)). Additional improvements on developing near-infrared optical imaging agents have been reported (Bacskai, B J, G A Hickey, J Skoch, et al. "Four-dimensional multiphoton imaging of brain entry, amyloid binding, and clearance of an amyloid-beta ligand in transgenic mice." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:12462 (2003); Hintersteiner, M, A Enz, P Frey, et al. "In vivo detection of amyloid-beta deposits by near-infrared imaging using an oxazine-derivative probe." Nat Biotechnol 23:577 (2005); Nesterov, E E, J Skoch, B T Hyman, et al. "In vivo optical imaging of amyloid aggregates in brain: design of fluorescent markers." Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 44:5452 (2005)).
There are several potential benefits of imaging Aβ aggregates in the brain. The imaging technique will improve diagnosis by identifying potential patients with excess Aβ plaques in the brain; therefore, they may be likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. It will also be useful to monitor the progression of the disease. When anti-plaque drug treatments become available, imaging Aβ plaques in the brain may provide an essential tool for monitoring treatment. Thus, a simple, noninvasive method for detecting and quantitating amyloid deposits in a patient has been eagerly sought. Presently, detection of amyloid deposits involves histological analysis of biopsy or autopsy materials. Both methods have drawbacks. For example, an autopsy can only be used for a postmortem diagnosis.
In addition to the role of amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's disease, the presence of amyloid deposits has been shown in diseases such as Mediterranean fever, Muckle-Wells syndrome, idiopathetic myeloma, amyloid polyneuropathy, amyloid cardiomyopathy, systemic senile amyloidosis, amyloid polyneuropathy, hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis, Down's syndrome, Scrapie, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, Kuru, Gerstamnn-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome, medullary carcinoma of the thyroid, Isolated atrial amyloid, β2-microglobulin amyloid in dialysis patients, inclusion body myositis, β2-amyloid deposits in muscle wasting disease, and Islets of Langerhans diabetes Type II insulinoma.
The direct imaging of amyloid deposits in vivo is difficult, as the deposits have many of the same physical properties (e.g., density and water content) as normal tissues. Attempts to image amyloid deposits using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computer-assisted tomography (CAT) have been disappointing and have detected amyloid deposits only under certain favorable conditions. In addition, efforts to label amyloid deposits with antibodies, serum amyloid P protein, or other probe molecules have provided some selectivity on the periphery of tissues, but have provided for poor imaging of tissue interiors.
It would be useful to have a noninvasive technique for imaging and quantitating amyloid deposits in a patient. In addition, it would be useful to have compounds that inhibit the aggregation of amyloid proteins to form amyloid deposits and a method for determining a compound's ability to inhibit amyloid protein aggregation.

Acetylene derivatives and their use for binding and imaging amyloid plaques

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


The present specification discloses as one embodiment a power receiver for transmitting a message by using a power transmission signal. The power receiver comprises: a power reception portion for receiving the wireless power signal that is formed by a power transmitter; a demodulation portion for demodulating the received wireless power signal; a modulation portion for modulating the received wireless power signal; and a control portion for decoding a first packet from the wireless power signal that is demodulated by means of the demodulation portion, for determining whether a second packet that does not collide with the first packet which has been decoded can be transmitted, and for modulating the received wireless power signal so as to comprise the second packet by controlling the modulation portion, when transmission is possible according to the result of the determination.

In recent years, the method of contactlessly supplying electrical energy to wireless power receivers in a wireless manner has been used instead of the traditional method of supplying electrical energy in a wired manner. The wireless power receiver receiving energy in a wireless manner may be directly driven by the received wireless power, or a battery may be charged by using the received wireless power, then allowing the wireless power receiver to be driven by the charged power.
The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) which manages technologies for a magnetic inductive wireless power transfer has published a standard document "System description Wireless Power Transfer, Volume 1, Low Power, Part 1: Interface Definition, Version 1.00 Release Candidate 1 (RC1)" for interoperability in the wireless power transfer on Apr. 22, 2010. The standard document of the WPC has described a method of transferring power from one wireless power transmitter to one wireless power receiver by a magnetic induction.
However, a wireless power signal which is generated by one wireless power transmitter to transfer power may be received by a plurality of wireless power receivers. Therefore, there is a need for a method, by which the plurality of wireless power receiver executes communication with the wireless power transmitter to control power transferred.

Communication of wireless power receiver through wireless power signal


A folding stock coupling system for a firearm. An openable/closeable hinge mechanism comprising front and rear hinge elements pivotably mounts the rear stock to the main body of the firearm. The hinge mechanism is selectively movable between a locked condition when the stock is unfolded and inline with the main body for firing, and an unlocked condition when the stock is folded forward and offset from the main body for compact carrying or storage. A manually movable actuating button of the hinge mechanism selectively locks or unlocks the rear to the front hinge members in the locked and unlocked conditions, respectively. Embodiments include a detent mechanism for removably retaining the folded position. An elongated rear mounting extension coupled to the rear hinge member provides a common stock mounting interface compatible for interchanging a plurality of different stocks to the firearm each sharing a common mounting profile.

The present invention generally relates to firearm stocks, and more particularly to an improved stock coupling system for mounting a folding stock to a long gun such as a rifle or shotgun.
The rear stock (or buttstock) in a long gun generally attaches to the rear portion of the forward main body of the firearm formed by the forend stock or chassis which supports the receiver. The rear stock is used for shouldering the firearm when sighting the target down range before and during firing. Various techniques may be used to interface and mount the rear stock to the chassis. Some rear stocks are fixed in position inline with the firearm, while others allow folding the rear stock to facilitate carrying and storage of the firearm. In addition, many users have personal preferences on the style and configuration of rear stocks or buttstocks that they favor.
An improved stock coupling system is desired which is compatible for use with various different aftermarket rear stock configurations to suit personal user preferences.

Folding stock coupling system for firearm


An arrangement for measuring electrical energy consumption includes an input circuit operable to generate a first signal representative of a line voltage waveform and a second signal representative of a line current waveform. The arrangement further includes a processing circuit operable to generate energy consumption data based on the first signal and the second signal. The processing circuit is further operable to generate a first pulse waveform having a plurality of output pulses based on the energy consumption data, each output pulse corresponding to a quantity of energy consumed. The arrangement further includes a wireless transmitter coupled to the processing circuit, the wireless transmitter configured to transmit an RF signal each time the first pulse waveform changes state.

Electricity meters are widely used for measuring electrical energy consumption. FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an exemplary conventional electricity meter 10 configured to measure power flowing the power lines 9 to a facility. The electricity meter 10 includes an input circuit 11 configured to sense current and voltage on the power lines 9. The electricity meter 10 also includes a processing circuit 12 that is configured to receive the sensed current and voltage from the input circuit 11 and provide information representative of energy consumption to various outputs. The outputs may include a meter display 14 and an automatic meter reading (AMR) communications module 15. Another output that may be provided in conventional electricity meters is the optical communications port 16, which allows for optical communications to and from the processing circuit 12. Yet another output that is provided on many conventional electricity meters is the pulse wave output 17, which is configured to be hard-wired to an external device 18 that is housed completely separate from the meter 10.
The pulse wave output 17 is configured to receive output pulses from the processing circuit 12 that represent an energy metric measured by the meter 10. For example, it is known for a meter to generate so-called "KYZ pulses" that are representative of energy consumption. FIG. 2a shows an exemplary "alternating state" pulse train 20 that is representative of a KY or KZ pulse waveform. The waveform consists of a series of pulses 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 wherein each pulse merely changes the signal logic state and remains in that logic state until the next pulse. In a KY or KZ pulse waveform, each change in state (e.g., on to off/high to low) is representative of a quantity of electrical energy consumed. FIG. 2b shows a differential alternating state pulse train 25 which includes two identical pulse trains 26 and 27 having opposite polarity. Such a differential pulse train 25 is used in many meters and is often referred to as a "KYZ pulse signal".
With reference again to FIG. 1, the pulse wave output is provided by a KYZ output/input card 17 or other interface/device configured to deliver a KYZ pulse signal (such as that shown in FIG. 2a or 2b). It is known to use the output pulses delivered from the electricity meter's pulse wave output 17 in a device external to the meter for various purposes. For example, the external device 18 may use the output pulses of a KYZ pulse (or other pulse) for load control, a rate indicator, an end-of-interval, or for other kinds of control inputs as will be recognized by those of skill in the art. Accordingly, exemplary external devices 18 include load control devices, rate indicators, pulse recorders or the like.
As mentioned above, in current implementation, the pulse wave output 17 of the meter is wired to a receiver of an external device 18, such as a building control system device or other output device that is external to the meter. One drawback of the wired connection between the pulse wave output 17 of the meter 10 and the external device 18 is the difficulty of protecting the interface for the pulse wave output 17 in the meter 10 and the receiver at the external device 18 from high voltage spikes when the electrical system is excited by high voltage from equipment operations or lightening strikes. In particular, some metering systems are connected to ungrounded electrical service, and can experience voltage surges in excess of a few thousand volts. It is not uncommon for these voltage spikes to exceed the 4 KV isolation provided in the equipment. When the meter 10 is completely isolated from ground, with no connection to a grounded external device 18, such spikes are not necessarily problematic. However, when the meter 10 is wired to an external device 18 having a local ground, problems can exist. In particular, because of the wiring between the pulse wave output 17 of the meter 10 and the receiver of the external device 18, a path to ground is provided via the external devices 18. Thus, large voltage spikes in an ungrounded meter 10 may result in damage to the equipment, including damage to the processor 12, the interface of the pulse wave output 17, the receiver of the external device 18, and other equipment.
In view of the above, it would be advantageous to provide an arrangement for measuring electrical energy consumption where an ungrounded electricity meter is protected from voltage spikes.

Utility meter with wireless pulse output


A wear resistant metal composite which comprises formed porous fly ash obtained by forming fly ash into the desired shape and a metal impregnated into voids present in the interior of said formed fly ash, wherein the percentage by volume of said formed fly ash is 30% by volume or less, and wherein said fly ash is exposed on the surface of said wear resistant metal composite.

1. Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wear resistant metal composite which is used in a member which is required to be wear resistant such as a cylinder block, a piston and the like of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Wear resistant metal composites have been hitherto used in a sliding part of a cylinder block of an internal combustion engine. For example, as such a wear resistant metal composite, there has been hitherto a sliding member in which a reinforcer composed of alumina short fiber and mullite particles is added to aluminium as disclosed in Laid-Open Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-322459.
In addition, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,494, there is disclosed a metal composite in which reinforcing particles such as graphite, fly ash, oil ash or the like is mixed into aluminium molten meal.
However, there are the following problems in the above previous wear resistant metal composites.
That is, in the former sliding member, alumina short fiber and mullite particles have the higher cost. For this reason, it is difficult to manufacture wear resistant metal composites at the lower cost.
In addition, in the latter metal composite, aluminium molten metal containing reinforcing particles is cast into a mold and, at the same time, this is required to be stirred so as not to cause the concentration difference of the reinforcing particles due to their precipitation at casting. For this reason, operations at melting become complicated.
Further, there is a method for reinforcing whole metal composite according to a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,494. However, in this case, unnecessary parts of a metal composite must be processed, which leads to difficult cutting.


A state space controller includes an integral part configured to integrate a control deviation, wherein the control deviation indicates a difference between a digital value of a gradient coil current and a reference current; a delay compensator configured to generate a digital control amount according to the integrated control deviation by the integral part, and generated a pulse-width modulation drive signal according to the digital control amount, and includes a subtractor of which a non-inverting input terminal is connected to an output terminal of the integral part, a delayer configured to delay the digital control amount by one calculation cycle, and a first feedback loop configured to delay the digital control amount by one calculation cycle and multiply a first compensation coefficient to obtain a first compensation amount, wherein the first compensation amount is input into a first inverting input terminal of the subtractor.

The principle of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is that a subject placed in a magnetic field can be excited by radio frequency electromagnetic waves to generate magnetic resonance signals. Magnetic resonance signals can be acquired by a receiver coil. Processing the magnetic resonance signals according to a certain mathematical method can create a digital image. Among them, the subject placed in the magnetic field contains nuclei whose spins are not zero. When a MRI scan is performed on a human body, electromagnetic signals are obtained from the human body using a magnetic resonance phenomenon, and human body information can be obtained. In order to spatially encode the received magnetic resonance signals and determine the slice or slice thickness of the MRI scan, the gradient magnetic fields are added to the main magnetic field of the MRI system. The gradient magnetic fields have gradients in the orthogonal x-, y-, and z-directions.
Gradient power amplifiers excite gradient coils to generate gradient currents to obtain gradient magnetic fields. Accurate control of the gradient current is required to produce a gradient magnetic field that meets imaging requirements. A built-in closed-loop controller of the gradient power amplifier is responsible for accurately controlling the gradient coil current. Current technologies used by the controller include PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) control technology and state space control technology. Controllers that use state space control technology can be called state space controllers. The state space controller may generate a Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) driver signal, and control the output voltage of the gradient power amplifier through this signal, thereby controlling the current of the gradient coil which is a load of the gradient power amplifier.
NEUSOFT MEDICAL SYSTEMS CO., LTD. (NMS), founded in 1998 with its world headquarters in China, is a leading supplier of medical equipment, medical IT solutions, and healthcare services. NMS supplies medical equipment with a wide portfolio, including CT, MRI, digital X-ray machine, ultrasound, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Linear Accelerator (LINAC), and biochemistry analyser. Currently, NMS' products are exported to over 60 countries and regions around the globe, serving more than 5,000 renowned customers. NMS's latest successful developments, such as 128 Multi-Slice CT Scanner System, Superconducting MRI, LINAC, and PET products, have led China to become a global high-end medical equipment producer. As an integrated supplier with extensive experience in large medical equipment, NMS has been committed to the study of avoiding secondary potential harm caused by excessive X-ray irradiation to the subject during the CT scanning process.

State space controller and gradient power amplifier

Shanghai Neusoft Medical Technology Co., Ltd.


A method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes forming a gate structure, a first edge structure and a second edge structure on a semiconductor strip. The method further includes forming a first source/drain feature between the gate structure and the first edge structure. The method further includes forming a second source/drain feature between the gate structure and the second edge structure, wherein a distance between the gate structure and the first source/drain feature is different from a distance between the gate structure and the second source/drain feature. The method further includes implanting a buried channel in the semiconductor strip, wherein the buried channel is entirely below a top-most surface of the semiconductor strip, a maximum depth of the buried channel is less than a maximum depth of the first source/drain feature, and a dopant concentration of the buried channel is highest under the gate structure.

Radio frequency (RF) circuits, such as voltage controlled oscillators ("VCOs"), low noise amplifiers ("LNAs"), and phase locked loops ("PLLs"), are widely used in wireless communication systems. Various RF circuits that operate at high frequencies, for example, in gigahertz (GHz) frequency ranges, are integrated with other devices to form a system. In some instances, the RF circuit is applied to a microwave or millimeter-wave (mmW) apparatus, which usually refers to a device capable of transmitting signals at a frequency approximately 10 GHz to 300 GHz.
In some approaches, the frequency is achieved by thinning a gate dielectric or shallowing a source/drain region. In some embodiments, in order to obtain a lower resistance-capacitance (RC) time constant, a sheet resistance of the gate electrode is reduced. In some approaches, the device is formed to include asymmetric lightly-doped drain (LDD) regions.

Method of making a semiconductor device, semiconductor device and ring oscillator

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.