A system for segmenting an organ in a plurality of images is described. The system includes an imaging system configured to generate a first set of slices showing images of a subject having the organ. The system also includes a controller configured to determine a second set of slices within the first set, where the second set of slices includes the organ and a remaining set of slices within the first set of slices excludes the organ. The controller is also configured to segment the organ from the second set of slices.

This invention relates generally to imaging systems and more particularly to systems and methods for segmenting an organ in a plurality of images.
Several modalities are used to image a patient's internal anatomy or alternatively the patient's functionality. During clinical diagnosis, the images are obtained to determine how a disease has progressed. For example, the images help distinguish between infected tissues (such as a tumor mass, for example) and healthy tissues within the patient. As another example, the images may help distinguish between differences present within the healthy tissues.
The images are also useful for radiotherapy planning (RT) or alternatively for surgical planning. In the case of RT planning, computed tomography (CT) imaging is generally used because intensity values are a function of radiation dose calculation. A CT image is three dimensional (3D), and more precisely, it is a collection of adjacent transaxial two dimensional (2D) slices. Clinicians, such as radiologists, dosimetrists, and radiotherapists, recombine anatomical elements of 2D slices to form a 3D organ image that includes anatomical data about the patient.
RT planning typically involves tracing outlines of a few critical structures on a large number of images. Manually drawing the outlines on a contiguous set of 2D slices and combining the 2D slices can be time consuming and labor intensive. The time and labor increases significantly with the number of image slices, and the number and size of organs in an anatomical area of interest. The quality of the outlining and the resultant 3D organ image depend on the resolution and contrast of the 2D slices, and on the knowledge and judgment of the clinicians.
Some automated methods for segmenting the organ provide a solution that reduces the time and labor associated with manually segmenting the organ. For example, in one automated method, a region and an enclosing edge of a spinal canal are obtained by tracing a set of images. Once a portion of the region is obtained, pixels surrounding an edge of the portion are examined to determine whether the pixels should be included within the portion of the region. However, in automated methods, "leaking out", described below, occurs, where the organ leaks out of a boundary of the organ. For example, in the method where the pixels surrounding the edge are examined, leaking out occurs when a contour of the spinal canal cannot be identified in an image due to a partial volume averaging effect or alternatively due to an open vertebra.

Systems and methods for segmenting an organ in a plurality of images


A device for varyingly irradiating by means of ray shaping is described. Furthermore, a method of manufacturing a structure made of a curable material by means of molding is described. In a first step of the method, a molding tool is arranged above a surface such that the curable material abuts on the surface and a molding surface, facing the surface, of the molding tool in a region between the molding tool and the surface and such that further curable material may continue to flow to the region. In a second step, the curable material is irradiated in the region in a locally varying manner such that the ray experiences ray shaping in an optical channel and such that the curable material cures at different speeds in a laterally varying manner.

The present invention relates to manufacturing structures made of a curable material by means of molding, and to a method of curing same by radiation.
UV-curing plastics, such as, for example, Ormocere, UV glues from Delo, Norland, Epoxy Technology or Panacol-Elosol, shrink in a range of a few percent while being irradiated. If the plastics are molded during a manufacturing process and irradiated subsequently, the result will be shape deviations between the tool and the molded structure which, in particular, in optical applications are inacceptable.
Molding using UV-curable polymers is done in, among others, two variations and thus in two different types of apparatuses. The method includes either molding many structures at the same time in parallel on a large area, or repeatedly molding individual structures in a sequential process, wherein the individual molding processes are done on a common substrate spatially next to one another.
The first process variation mostly takes place in a mask aligner which allows precise positioning of the molding tool relative to marks on the substrate which is to be molded onto. For curing, the polymer on the substrate is irradiated by UV radiation through the tool or through the substrate and thereby cured.
A potential method for irradiating through the tool or the substrate is known from DE10 2009 055 080 A1.
The second process variation mostly takes place in a so-called Step &Repeat machine, which may exemplarily be an adapted nano-imprinting lithography apparatus. Thus, a defined quantity of a polymer to be cured is deposited onto a substrate such that a polymer drop forms on the substrate. Subsequently, a molding tool is positioned on the drop such that the drop, on the one hand, takes the shape of the structure to be and, on the other hand, may be positioned on the substrate using the molding tool.
Subsequently, the polymer is cured by means of UV radiation, wherein the UV radiation may cause the polymer to be cured, for example, through a transparent molding tool or through the substrate.
After curing of the polymer, the molding tool is removed and positioned on another drop of polymer positioned there in the meantime in order to mold the next structure. In this way, all the structures to be molded are applied on the substrate one after the other. Such a method allows any pattern of individual structures of the molding tool on the substrate with a positional precision of better than 1 μm.
A potential flow of the individual process steps is illustrated in FIG. 11.
Both during the parallel process and during the sequential process, material shrinking while curing the polymer has the result that the shape of the optical structure, exemplarily of the lens, predetermined by the molding tool cannot be met precisely and thus imprecisions may occur in the lens or mechanical tension induced by the shrinkage results in the substrate to be deformed. DE10 2009 055 080 A1 discusses a method which allows material shrinkage while curing to be compensated by a polymer continuing to flow or reflowing. A locally varying irradiation is done here such that a variable shutter with a variable aperture size allows a variable intensity of the curing radiation and a variable size of the curing zone generated such that at first a central region of the lens to be formed is cured, the material shrinkage occurring there may be compensated by material continuing to flow and subsequently the peripheral regions of the lens may be cured.
In this method, determining the curing zone takes place by the cast shadow caused by the variable shutter. Thus, curing the polymer takes place by means of a temporal control of the transmission function of the irradiation optics containing a radiation source and a variable shutter. An essential advantage here is that irradiation does not take place, like in other methods, using flood lighting over the entire wafer at the same time, but using a shutter variable in its diameter, such as, for example, a mechanical iris shutter or an LCD display. In spite of the larger contour fidelity of the lenses formed in this way, this process does not allow progress of the process to be watched directly, nor judging whether an active intervention in the process is necessitated. There is no further optical adjustment of the curing radiation in the process described.
EP 0 322 353 A2 describes a concept of manufacturing a plastics element by means of a shaping tool including a cavity and a feed channel communicating with the cavity.
Consequently, a concept allowing controllable curing and molding and, thus, a reduction in manufacturing rejects would be desirable.

Device and method of manufacturing a structure made of a curable material by means of molding

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to systems and methods for drone-based systems and methods for capturing a multi-media representation of an entity. In some embodiments, the multi-media representation is digital, or multi-view, or interactive, and/or the combinations thereof. According to particular embodiments, a drone having a camera is controlled or operated to obtain a plurality of images having location information. The plurality of images, including at least a portion of overlapping subject matter, are fused to form multi-view interactive digital media representations.

Drones are very useful tools for operations and tasks remotely or in an environment that is too costly or dangerous or even impossible for human beings to be deployed within a reasonable vicinity in order to perform the operations or tasks.
On the other hand, with modern computing platforms and technologies shifting towards mobile and wearable devices that include camera sensors as native acquisition input streams, the desire to record and preserve moments digitally in a different form than more traditional two-dimensional (2D) flat images and videos has become more apparent. Traditional digital media formats typically limit their viewers to a passive experience. For instance, a 2D flat image can be viewed from one angle and is limited to zooming in and out. Accordingly, traditional digital media formats, such as 2D flat images, do not easily lend themselves to reproducing memories and events with high fidelity.
Current predictions indicate that every several years the quantity of visual data that is being captured digitally online will double. As this quantity of visual data increases, so does the need for much more comprehensive search and indexing mechanisms than ones currently available. Unfortunately, neither 2D images nor 2D videos have been designed for these purposes. Accordingly, improved mechanisms that allow users to capture, view and digitally reproduce visual data, as well as query and quickly receive meaningful results from visual data are desirable. Therefore, there is a need for better and more efficient multi-view media capture systems that takes advantage of the capability and availability of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones or the like.

Drone based capture of a multi-view interactive digital media


A composite with high energy storage capacity for use in energy storage devices includes graphene and mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mc@g-C3N4). The graphitic carbon nitride is coated on mesoporous carbon (mc@g-C3N4) at a concentration ranging from 3% to 33%. The graphitic carbon nitride is obtained from condensation of mesoporous carbon and urea or a precursor thereof. Electrodes may be prepared from the composite. High energy high power storage devices such as the Electric Double Layer Capacitor (EDLC) may be fabricated with these electrodes.

As one of the important solutions to global warming and environmental pollution problems, practical use of high-efficiency and pollution-free energy storage devices has been attracting much attention. EDLCs are energy storage systems which are able to store and deliver energy at relatively high rate which is far beyond many batteries. They have intrinsic long cycle life owing to their method of storing energy, unlike batteries which store chemical energy, electrostatically.
EDLCs have attracted attention as energy storage devices because they bridge the gap between conventional capacitors and batteries, offering higher energy density than conventional capacitors and higher power density than batteries. Despite these advantages, however, EDLC energy density is quite low, when compared to batteries and increasing energy density poses a key challenge in EDLC research.
An EDLC can be used in a wide range of applications including energy capture and storage and are used as a primary power source or in combination with batteries. They are able to operate in a wide thermal window allowing their use in extreme applications. This ability enable EDLCs very useful in cases where reliability and long life is a concern. One possible application is to bridge the gap between power failure and backup power generator start-up. Another application would be use in data centres as an on demand extremely fast and reliant UPS. Another application is in powering of Electric Vehicles as a secondary high power output torque generator or as a complete primary power source addressing the high amount of time required to charge the current conventional lithium ion based batteries.
Activated Carbon has been utilized as a high surface area electrode material ever since the development of the EDLC. Today, it is the most prominent material used in EDLC owing to its low cost, availability, and long history of use. However, high surface area alone does not guarantee high specific capacitance. If it is possible to get very high specific capacitance with an electrode material, it means that the entire surface area is accessible to the electrolyte. This is called pore accessibility. In the past, activated carbon, carbon black, aerogels, carbon fibers and glassy carbon have been used as electrode material for EDLCs. The use of CNTs as Supercapacitor electrodes has been reported in prior art.
Graphene is a one atom-thick planar sheet of sp2 hybridized carbon atom that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. This material in particular is remarkably strong for its very low weight and it conducts heat(about 5 KW/m·K) and electricity (electron mobility of 200,000 cm2·V/s) with great efficiency. Graphene ideally has a surface area of 2630 m2/g. Its important advantage is high conductivity >17000 S/m compared to activated carbon. The intrinsic capacitance of SLG was reported to be ˜21 uF/cm2 [J. Xia, F. Chen, J. Li, N. Tao, Nat. Nanotechnol. 4, 505 (2009)]. This sets the upper limit for EDLCs based on graphene, in principle, at as high as ˜550 F/g if their entire surface area could be used.
Graphene initially is a two-dimensional carbon material. The 2D structure of graphene improves charging and discharging. Charge carriers in vertically oriented sheets can quickly migrate into or out of the deeper structures of the electrode, thus increasing current capability.
Although these graphene based materials have shown excellent power density and life cycle stability, their specific capacitance still falls far below the theoretical values of 550 F/g calculated for SLG.
A variety of other graphene based materials derived from Graphene oxide (GO) have also been used, yet the values of specific capacitance, energy density, and power density have remained lower than expected. It is attributed to the restacking of graphene sheets during its processing as a result of the strong sheet to sheet Van Der Waals interaction. This reduction in the specific surface area of graphene accounts for the overall low capacitance. In addition, these EDLC exhibit relatively low charge/discharge rates, this precludes their use for high-power applications.
In particular, the production of mechanically robust graphene electrodes with large thickness and high surface to volume ratio in a binder-free process would result in a high power and high energy density EDLC [D. Pech et al, Nat. Nanotechnol. 5, 651 (2010)].
Another article titled "Catalyst-Free Growth of Three-Dimensional Graphene Flakes and Graphene/g/C3N4 Composite for Hydrocarbon Oxidation", (DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b00113) reports a quartz powder derived CVD growth of 3D high quality graphene flakes. The article also demonstrates the fabrication and application of graphene/g-C3N4 composites.
Some of the patent documents disclose the use of graphene in the EDLCs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,437,369 describe a capacitor device that includes graphene material on the conductive substrate; charge-storage material amid the graphene material; and an electrolyte. The conductive substrate, the graphene material, and the charge-storage material are separated into more than two electrodes, with gaps between respective pairs of adjacent of the electrodes.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 9,734,954 discloses a composite comprising a conducting polymer arranged on a graphene-based material and method thereof. The graphene based material is doped with nitrogen. With this composition, the energy storing mechanism takes place in EDLCs.
Review article titled 'Graphitic Carbon Nitride/Graphene Hybrids as New Active Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage' by Yang Zhao et. al published in Chem NanoMat 2015, 1, 298-318 reviews advances in the fabrication and application of g-C3N4/graphene hybrids as electro- or photocatalysts and electrode materials. g-C3N4 has been proposed as a replacement for graphite in lithium batteries wherein g-C3N4 can act as graphite with the highest N-doping possible. The article does not indicate the use of g-C3N4 alone as a material that could potentially be used in a Supercapacitor. The mention of capacitance in the article is only in context of "hydrogen evolution reaction" and the capacitance of "g-C3N4 nanoribbon-G" [where G represents graphene] has been tested only to the extent of finding out the quantum of active surface area for hydrogen evolution.
In order to improve the energy storage capacity in energy storage devices, the present invention describes a novel composition as described hereinafter.


An induction system for an outboard motor of the type having a water propulsion device powered by an internal combustion engine positioned within an engine compartment defined by a cowling, is disclosed. The induction system includes a cover extending over a top end of the engine. The cover defines an air duct leading from an intake chamber defined by the cowling to an intake pipe of the air intake system of the engine. The cover also defines an air duct in communication with the engine compartment and leading to an exhaust chamber defined by the cowling. A pair of intake ports lead through a cover of the cowling from the intake chamber, and an exhaust port leads through the cover from the exhaust chamber. The intake ports are positioned forward of the exhaust port when considering the forward movement of a watercraft which is powered by the motor.

Outboard motors are often powered by internal combustion engines. The engine is typically positioned within an enclosed cowling. The engine is generally vertically arranged, so that a crankshaft thereof may extend downwardly in driving relation with a water propulsion device of the motor, such as a propeller. In order to balance the motor and because of space considerations, the engine is arranged with a crankcase of the engine facing in the direction of a watercraft to which the motor is mounted, and with the cylinder head and intake system positioned on an end of the engine facing away from the watercraft.
Air must be supplied to the engine through the cowling for combustion. An air vent is provided in the cowling. Due to the orientation of the engine, a surge tank of the engine's intake system is positioned on the end of the engine facing the watercraft.
In order to prevent the direct entry of water through the vent into the intake system, the vent must be positioned away from the intake system. Thus, the vent is typically positioned in the portion of the cowling above the cylinder head of the engine (i.e., above the end of the engine opposite the surge tank). Air is drawn through the vent along the top of the engine to its front end and into the intake system.
A problem arises in that air within the cowling is heated by the engine and rises upwardly and mixes with the incoming fresh air. The engine thus draws a mixture of fresh and heated engine air, resulting in poor engine performance.
A cowling arrangement for an outboard motor which permits the engine therein to draw fresh air and which is arranged to reduce the introduction of water into the engine through the induction system, is desired.


A MEMS microphone includes a substrate having a cavity, a back plate being disposed over the substrate and having a plurality of acoustic holes, a diaphragm disposed between the substrate and the back plate, the diaphragm being spaced apart from the substrate and the back plate, covering the cavity to form an air gap between the back plate, and being configured to generate a displacement with responding to an acoustic pressure and a plurality of anchors extending from an end portion of the diaphragm to be integrally formed with the diaphragm, the anchors being arranged along a circumference of the diaphragm to be spaced apart from each other, and having lower surfaces making contact with an upper surface of the substrate to support the diaphragm. Thus, the MEMS microphone may have improved rigidity and flexibility.

Generally, a capacitive microphone utilizes a capacitance between a pair of electrodes which are facing each other to generate an acoustic signal. A MEMS microphone may be manufactured by a semiconductor MEMS process to have an ultra-small size.
The MEMS microphone may include a substrate including a cavity, a bendable diaphragm and a back plate which is facing the diaphragm. The diaphragm can be a membrane structure to generate a displacement due to the acoustic pressure. In particular, when the acoustic pressure is applied to the diaphragm, the diaphragm may be bent toward the back plate due to the acoustic pressure. The displacement of the diaphragm can be sensed through a change of capacitance between the diaphragm and the back plate. As a result, an acoustic wave can be converted into an electrical signal for output.
The MEMS microphone has a first insulation layer for spacing the diaphragm from the substrate, and a second insulation layer for spacing the diaphragm from the back plate. Portions of the first insulation layer and the second insulation layer, which are corresponding to the cavity, are removed so that the diaphragm can be freely bent with responding to the acoustic pressure. The diaphragm is supported by the first insulation layer, whereas the back plate is supported by the second insulation layer. The diaphragm may have a plurality of slits for providing a passage through which etchant flows to remove the portion of the second insulation layer, which is positioned between the back plate and the diaphragm during a manufacturing process of the MEMS microphone.
As described above, the conventional MEMS microphone may have a structure in which the diaphragm, the back plate, and the first and second insulation layer are flat in a thin film form. Therefore, a rigidity of the diaphragm may be relatively high, and it is easy to maintain the diaphragm flat. On the other hand, a flexibility of the diaphragm may be relatively low to lower a sensitivity of the diaphragm. In order to improve the flexibility of the diaphragm, when the diaphragm has a relatively large number of slits, the rigidity of the diaphragm may become deteriorated, and the diaphragm can be bent downwardly even in a standby state without an acoustic pressure applied to the diaphragm.

MEMS microphone and method of manufacturing the same


A water-soluble polymer and a process for using the polymer for applications in a subterranean formation are provided. The polymer comprises repeat units derived from a nitrogen-containing olefinic monomer and optionally an olefinic comonomer. The polymer can be used in drilling fluids, workover fluids, completion fluids, permeability corrections, water or gas coning prevention, fluid loss prevention, matrix acidizing, fracture acidizing, and combinations of any two or more thereof.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that polymers and gelled or crosslinked water-soluble polymers are useful in enhanced oil recovery and other oil field operations. They have been used to alter the permeability of underground formations in order to enhance the effectiveness of water flooding operations. Generally, polymers or polymers along with a gelling agent such as an appropriate crosslinking agent in a liquid are injected into the formation. The polymers then permeate into and gel, in the cases when a polymer and a crosslinking agent are used, in the regions having the highest water permeability.
Polymers have also been used in subterranean formation treatments such as "matrix acidizing" and "fracture acidizing". Because such treatments are well known to one skilled in the art, description of which is omitted herein and can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,582, description of which is herein incorporated by reference.
Because of environmental concerns as well as cost for disposing of a produced brine which is defined as the brine co-produced with oil and gas and is generally contaminated with some oil, or gas, or both, it is desirable to utilize the produced brine as the liquid used for the polymers and appropriate crosslinking systems. Use of produced brines eliminates not only the cost associated with acquiring and pre-treating fresh water for use as the liquid but also the disposal cost for the produced brine. Most produced brines are known to be hard brines, i.e., those having a divalent cation concentration greater than 1000 ppm.
Many polymers have been developed and used in processes for the recovery of hydrocarbons. Generally a desirable property is that such polymers impart to a liquid an increased viscosity when a relatively small quantity of the polymer is added, and preferably at a minimal cost. Another desirable property is that such polymers form gels, in the presence of a suitable gelling agent such as a crosslinking agent. However, a number of such polymers are not capable of forming gels having high thermal stability, i.e., the gels formed show high syneresis after a short period, such as for example a few days, at high temperature, such as for example, 120.degree. C. in a harsh environment such as sea water.
Various polymers may be used in the process for recovery of hydrocarbons. For example, metallic ions crosslink gellable polymers through the interaction with the oxygen atoms of the polymer molecules. Therefore, the gellable polymers generally contain some carboxylate groups. Generally, the gellable polymers used such as, for example, polyacrylamide are of high molecular weight and contain high degrees of hydrolysis, i.e., contain 10-30 mole % carboxylate groups. However, these high molecular weight and/or high mole % carboxylate group-containing polymers gel almost instantly in the presence of the above-described multivalent metallic compounds. Such fast gelation rate renders the application of gelling compositions containing these polymers and multivalent metallic compounds not useful in many oil-field applications such as, for example, water shut-offs and permeability reductions.
Many processes have been developed to delay the gelation of gelling compositions by adding a gelation delaying agent to the gelling compositions. However, a gelation delaying agent is not inexpensive and a gelation delaying agent often adds appreciable costs to oil field operation. Furthermore, many gellable polymers cannot withstand a hostile environment as described above.
There is therefore an increasing demand for water-soluble polymers that can be used to prepare gels which withstand hostile environments. A hostile environment includes, but is not limited to, high temperatures, high salinity and/or high content of multivalent metal cations, commonly known as "hardness ions", as well as the high acidity, temperature and shear conditions encountered in processes such as acid fracturing.
In the art of drilling wells to tap subterranean deposits of natural resources, such as gas, geothermal steam or oil, it is well known to use a drilling fluid. In addition to having the desirably rheological properties such as viscosity and gel strength, it is very important that such drilling fluids exhibit a low rate of filtration or water loss, that is, the drilling fluid must prevent excessive amounts of fluid, or "filtrate", from flowing from the bore hole into the surrounding formation. The loss of water or other fluid from the drilling hole is prevented by the formation of a filter cake which deposits from the drilling fluid and seals the wall of the bore hole. Numerous formulations, compositions and additives to optimize the performance of drilling fluids for various applications have been developed. For instance, compositions comprising mixtures of carboxylic acid polymers and soluble metal salts with the object of increasing the "yield" (defined as the number of barrels of 15 centipoise mud which can be prepared from one ton of clay) of relatively low-grade clays have been used.
Excessive fluid loss from the drilling fluid may contaminate the producing formation, permanently displacing oil and blocking production. The adverse consequences of excessive fluid loss in the drilling of very deep wells are more severe due to the high temperatures and pressures encountered in such drilling operations. The viscosity of a fluid normally decreases with an increase in temperature, but certain polymer additive or deflocculating agents may reduce, or even reverse, this tendency. However, the polymers which are most effective in achieving this effect are the most vulnerably to breakdown through oxidation, shear and thermal effects, i.e., the duration of exposure to high temperature drilling operations. Also, many such polymers tend to precipitate and/or lose viscosity as well as effectiveness as water loss additives when exposed to dissolved electrolytes, particularly when divalent metal cations such as Ca.sup.+2 and Mg.sup.+2 are present. In drilling fluids, the resulting vulnerability to breakdown is exacerbated by the density of drilling mud, which is directly related to weighting agents required for a given formation pressure.
Breakdown of polymers causes a large increase in the fluid loss accompanied by an increase in filter cake thickness. These conditions often result in differential sticking of the drill string. It is, therefore, desirable to develop additives which enable drilling fluids to retain their proper viscosity and fluid content over a broader range of conditions.
Drilling fluids are used in the drilling of various types of wells. Workover and completion fluids, in contrast, are those fluids used in the completion and servicing of such wells. Completion fluids are those fluids used after drilling is complete and during the steps of completion, or recompletion, of the well. Completion can include cementing the casing, perforating the casing, setting the tubing and pump, etc.
Workover fluids are those fluids used during remedial work in the well. This can include removing tubing, replacing a pump, cleaning out sand or other deposits, logging, reperforating, etc. Workover also broadly includes steps used in preparing an existing well for secondary or tertiary oil recovery such as polymer additions, micellar flooding, steam injection, etc.
Both workover and completion fluids are used in part to control well pressure, to prevent the collapse of casing from overpressure, and to prevent or reduce corrosion of casing. A drilling fluid may be suitable for completion or workover applications in some cases, but not in all cases.
Although there has been considerable progress in the field of workover and completion fluids, there is significant room for further improvement. For example, wells are being completed and serviced in increasingly hostile environments involving, e.g., high temperatures and high levels of salinity and/or hardness in the formation water. Thus, new additives for workover and completion fluids which retain their properties at elevated temperatures and high concentrations of dissolved electrolytes are in demand.
Therefore, a composition which can be used to prepare a more hostile environment-withstanding polymer as well as a hostile environment-withstanding gelling composition, containing the hostile environment-withstanding polymer, that can form stable gels in a liquid such as, for example, produced brines, for near-wellbore as well as in-depth treatments, and preferably that does not require a gelation delaying agent, is highly desirable.

Compositions and processes for treating subterranean formations


A method of taking messages for a DVD player is provided. The DVD player includes input device, memory, a DVD play module, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) module. Firstly, recording the message in the memory of the DVD layer. Thereafter, waiting for a predetermined event. Finally, outputting and displaying the message. The DVD player records and outputs messages according to the DVD player in order to take messages in the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a DVD player, and more particularly to a DVD player having message-taking feature and method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
As technology proceeds, Digital Video Disc (i.e. DVD) gradually substitutes conventional audio/video apparatus, such as Video Home System (VHS) player and Video Compact Disc (VCD) player, as DVD is progressively popular in each family. However, DVD player is known for playing multimedia formats, such as movies, music, and images.
In additional, as modern life gets substantially busy, message-taking feature is more and more desired. Moreover, a plain message-taking feature does not fulfill modern and fashionable needs. Providing extra diversity is added to message-taking function, it is as well one of the methods to add DVD player's value.

Method for taking messages in a DVD player


An electroplated magnetic thin film consisting of an electroplated film of Fe—Co alloy containing Fe by an amount of 52–86 wt % and having a highly packed fine crystal grain structure, a flat and glossy surface, a high saturation magnetic flux density not less than 2.1 T, a low coercive force of 5–10 Oe, and being particularly suitable as a pole portion of a thin film magnetic head is proposed. The electroplated magnetic thin film is deposited on a substrate by an electroplating process with a pulsatory current or direct current having a current density of 3–120 mA/cm2 while using an electroplating bath containing one or both of sulfate salt and hydrochloric salt serving as supply sources of Fe ions and Co ions, saccharin sodium serving as a stress relaxation agent by an amount not less than 1 g/l, boric acid as a pH buffer agent, ammonium chloride as an electrically conductivity salt, and sodium lauryl sulfate as a surfactant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electroplated magnetic thin film made of Fe—Co alloy, a method of manufacturing such an electroplated magnetic thin film, an electroplating bath for in such a method, and a thin film magnetic head comprising such an electroplated magnetic thin film constituting at least a pole portion.
2. Related Art Statements
In a hard disk device using a thin film magnetic head, a surface recording density has been increased for attaining a large storage capacity. To this end, a width of a pole portion of an inductive type writing thin film magnetic head (said width determing a width of a record track) has been reduced and there has been proposed a pole portion having a width of sub-micron order. In such a miniaturized thin film magnetic head comprising a pole portion having such a narraw width, magnetic thin films are made of magnetic materials having a very high saturation magnetic flux density.
In a known thin film magnetic head, a permalloy consisting of Fe—Ni alloy is typically utilized. A permalloy having a very high saturation magnetic flux density of 1.5 T (Tesla) has been developed by adjusting a composition such that a content of Fe is set to 50–60 weight %. However, this value of the saturation magnetic flux density is not sufficiently high as a magnetic material for the above mentioned pole portion having a width of sub-micron order.
There has been also proposed a magnetic thin film made of a magnetic material having Fe and Co as main components. Richard M. Bozorth reported in "Ferromagnetism" that a bulk magnetic material made of Fe—Co magnetic alloy containing Fe by an amount of 49–69 weight % has a very high saturation magnetic flux density of about 2.4 T. It should be noted that a magnetic material for use in a thin film magnetic head has to be formed as a thin film, but it is difficult to form a magnetic thin film having a composition identical with a magnetic bulk.
The above mentioned Fe49–69 wt %—Co electroplated alloy has poor surface flatness and gloss and has a clouded outer appearance. Furthermore, since this alloy is liable to produce coarse crystal grains, its coercive force is extremely high. In order realize a high surface recording density, a magnetic record medium having a high coercive force is used, and therefore a pole portion of a thin film magnetic head should be made of a magnetic material having not only a high saturation magnetic flux density, but also a low coercive force in an axis of hard magnetization. Moreover, a thin film magnetic head is formed by a stack of a plurality of magnetic thin films, and therefore a magnetic thin film should have a flat and glossy surface from a view of manufacturing process.
Techniques for forming a magnetic thin film made of Fe—Co alloy have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publications, Kokai Hei 3-283013, 5-190327, 5-29172, 6-5423 and 6-36929.
In the above mentioned Kokai Hei 3-283013, an electroplated magnetic thin film made of Fe—Co alloy is described. In this electroplated magnetic thin film of Fe—Co, in order to reduce a magnetostriction to substantially zero, a content of Fe is set to about 10 wt %. Such an electroplated magnetic thin film made of Fe10 wt %—Co alloy has a saturation magnetic flux density of about 1.9 T. Although this value of a saturation magnetic flux density is higher than that of conventional magnetic thin films made of permalloys, it is still insufficient for realizing the above mentioned high surface recording density.
The above mentioned Kokai Hei 5-190327 discloses an electroplated magnetic thin film made of Fe—Co containing Rh, Kokai Hei 5-29172 shows electroplated magnetic thin films made of Fe—Co containing Pd, Cu, Pt, Au, Ag, Ir, Rh and Ru, Kokai Hei 6-5423 discloses a magnetic thin film made of Fe—Co including Cu as addition, and Kokai Hei 6-36929 describes an electroplated magnetic thin film made of Fe—Co containing Sn. These magnetic thin films made of alloys containing Fe—Co as a main component have been developed to realize control of magnetostriction, miniaturization of crystal grain, and low coercive force with laminate structure. However, since a deposition potential of Fe and Co differs from a deposition potential of a third element, an amount of a third element could not be controlled easily as compared with a binary alloy of Fe—Co, and thus it is extremely difficult to obtain an electroplated magnetic thin film having desired characteristics.
As explained above, in accordance with the increase in a storage capacity and a surface recording density of a hard disk device, improvement of performance of a thin film magnetic head is required. To this end, there has been proposed a combination type thin film magnetic head instead of an inductive thin film magnetic head performing both recoding and reading. Such a combination type thin film magnetic head comprises a stack of a recording thin film head consisting of an inductive type thin film magnetic head element for recording magnetic information and a reproducing thin film head including a magnetoresistive type element for reading magnetic information (the later element is simply called MR element).
As stated above, a magnetic material constituting a pole portion of a head core of an inductive type thin film magnetic head is required to have lower coercive force, high permeability, and high saturation magnetic flux density. Furthermore, a magnetic material having a small magnetostriction is preferably used. The most important factor of the inductive type magnetic converting element in the combination type thin film magnetic head is to increase a surface recording density. To this end, various characteristics of known magnetic materials for the inductive type magnetic converting element should be checked again and suitable magnetic materials which can realize a much higher surface recording density should be proposed, while considering a special structure of the combination type thin film magnetic head.

Electroplated magnetic thin film, method of manufacturing the same, electroplating bath and thin film magnetic head


An eyebolt for releasably connecting a carrying, lashing or traction member with an object includes a threaded bolt and an eyelet. The threaded bolt has an inner bearing part and the eyelet is connected to an outer bearing part which with the incorporation of rolling elements is supported on the inner bearing part. The rolling elements are disposed above one another in a ring around the inner bearing part in at least two planes extending spaced apart and parallel to one another. Rolling elements disposed in a first plane have a radius and rolling elements disposed in a second plane have a radius. The sum of the radius of one of the rolling elements disposed in the first plane and the radius of one of the rolling elements disposed in the second plane is greater than the spacing between the planes extending parallel to one another.

The invention relates to an eyebolt for releasable connection of a carrying, lashing or traction member to an object.
Eyebolts serve to easily and at least temporarily connect an object to a carrying, lashing or traction member. As a result, they form a stop member which can be affixed or is already affixed to the respective object as a releasable anchor point.
The eyebolt, also known as a ring bolt, gets its name because it has an annular eyelet in place of an ordinary screw head. The carrying, lashing or traction member oftentimes involves cables or wires as well as belts or chains, which are either guided through the eyelet on the eyebolt or, for example, affixed using a shackle.
Aside from simple arrangements that provide a one-piece connection of the eyelet with an externally threaded bolt, eyelets are also known that are rotatably mounted on the bolt. The purpose of a rotatable implementation is to also allow the position of the eyelet to be aligned relative to the object, when assuming the fixed state. Through the independence gained relative to the otherwise unchangeable position of the threadably engaged eyebolt, the eyelet can be best suited to the course of the carrying, lashing or traction member.
An eyebolt that includes a threaded bolt on which an eyelet is rotatably fastened is disclosed in DE 201 21 118 U1. The threaded bolt has an inner bearing part, whereas the eyelet is connected to a corresponding outer bearing part. The outer bearing part is supported on the inner part through interposition of rolling bodies. The rolling bodies in turn are arranged behind one another about the inner bearing part so as to run in rings on at least two spaced-apart parallel planes above one another.
The eyelet, which is also swingably arranged on the outer bearing part is hereby arranged above the inner bearing part so that a pulling force perpendicular to the threaded bolt produces a respectively great moment between the inner bearing part and the outer bearing part. By the ring-shaped arrangement of the rolling bodies on spaced-apart planes, a respectively great inner leverage is made possible there between so as to reduce the stress transmitted by the moment load via the rolling bodies. At the same time, as there is little tendency to tilt, the outer bearing part can be rotatably secured with substantially no clearance to the threaded bolt that has the inner bearing part.
The disclosed construction results in a durable as well as flexible possibility for the design of such an eyebolt. However, the design results in a great structural height of the outer bearing part, causing problems especially when tight spaces are involved. Moreover, the outer bearing part exhibits a high degree of freedom in terms of its rotation about the inner bearing part, causing an undesirable twisting between the carrying, lashing or traction member and the object connected thereto.
Against this background, there still remains room for improvement in terms of construction of such eyebolts.


Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods and systems for implementing a function for an application using a middleware on a computer. An exemplary method may include initializing an application node in the middleware corresponding to the application, the initializing comprising binding the function to the application node and associating the application node with a cryptor, connecting the middleware to a remote device through a transport layer using the cryptor, publishing a message to invoke the function from the application node, through the middleware, to the cryptor, and communicating with the remote device to invoke the function, using the cryptor, based on the message.

Middleware, or a message exchange system, is an abstraction layer that resides between an operating system and distributed software applications. Some goals of a middleware's design are to manage the heterogeneity of the hardware and network interfaces, improve software application quality, and simplify software architecture to reduce development costs. Because the inputs and outputs of such a system are fixed, developers only need to build the algorithms of their own applications rather than modifying the whole system, therefore version controllability is also increased. In addition, programming abstractions offered by middleware can provide transparency with respect to applications' distribution in location, concurrency, replication, failures, and mobility, thus enabling features that individual packages cannot provide.
As an example of robotic middleware, Robot Operating System (ROS) is an open-source message exchange system that is suitable for fast prototyping but not for production. ROS is popularly used as it is compatible across Linux® and Windows®, and it supports multiple programming languages such as C/C++, Python®, Octave and Lisp. ROS also provides tools, libraries, and conventions so that ROS has a huge user community. Many useful simulators, visualizers (Gazebo, RViz, rqt_plot, etc.), and open-source packages (e.g., navigation, canopen_master, rosserial, rosbridge_suite, MoveIt!, etc.) have already been integrated into ROS.
However, ROS has its limitations. For example, ROS offers no security protection over eavesdropping or adversarial attack. Anyone who has installed ROS can monitor internal messages or even feed fake messages into the system. Also, ROS is not designed for real-time message exchange. Additionally, ROS is also unstable because its configurations and services are based on XMLRPC and its transmissions are mainly based on transmission control protocol (TCP). The above aspects are problematic when using ROS.

Methods and systems for implementing a function for an application using a middleware


The invention relates to a topical pharmaceutical composition for burn treatment and microbial infections on human beings or animals. The pharmaceutical composition comprises 0.1% w/w to 1.0% w/w of an antimicrobial drug, i.e., silver sulfadiazine and 0.2% w/w antiseptic, i.e., chlorhexidine gluconate, wherein silver sulfadiazine is in nanonized form.

Silver sulfadiazine was first described in 1943 by Wruble and was found to be mildly antiseptic. U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,590 describes a process for preparing a thick cream ointment containing silver sulfadiazine, which rejuvenated the compound for the topical treatment of burns. The 1% w/w of this active drug, in the form of a cream, has been in clinical use in the USA since 1973.
Chlorhexidine is a bisbiguanide antiseptic and disinfectant effective against a wide variety of bacteria, some fungi, and some viruses. It is used clinically in various preparations for disinfecting purposes.
The antimicrobial effect of silver sulfadiazine and chlorhexidine compounds has been clinically established. It has been well known that silver sulfadiazine is effective against a wide variety of gram-positive and gram-negative organisms, including Pseudomonas and Candida.
The prior art discloses a number of formulations of silver sulfadiazine for treatment of burns.
European Publication No. 0 326 145 discloses a composition for the topical treatment of herpes infections, varicella, eczema, and burns (2nd and 3rd degree) comprising 0.01% w/w to 10% w/w silver sulfadiazine, 0.01% w/w to 10% w/w polyhydric alcohol, and optionally a local anesthetic.
Belgian Patent No. 892,421 relates to stable ointments and lotions containing silver sulfadiazine and a hydrophilic excipient for the treatment of mucosal infections without causing irritation.
French Patent No. 2,424,740 describes lotions, ointments, and powders containing finely divided silver sulfadiazine or zinc sulfadiazine. These salts were prepared in situ from sodium sulfadiazine. A lotion was prepared by dissolving sodium sulfadiazine in water, homogenizing with Tween® 80, paraffin, isopropyl palmitate, sorbitan monooleate, Myrj® 52, and stearyl alcohol. The mixture was homogenized with silver nitrate in water at 3000 rpm to form finely divided silver sulfadiazine with a particle size of <5 μm, and with 90% of particles <0.7 μm.
Indian Patent Application No. 1038/KOL/2005 relates to a therapeutic composition for treating burn injury and lesions, comprising the following active ingredients in the amounts given below (a) sucralfate—1% w/w to 8% w/w; (b) silver sulfadiazine—0.5% w/w to 2% w/w; and (c) chlorhexidine gluconate—0.1% w/w to 0.3% w/w, in admixture with pharmaceutically acceptable excipients, adjuvants, fillers, humectants and/or stabilizers. It also relates to a process for preparing the above-mentioned therapeutic composition for burn wound management.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,987,133 discloses a topical spray preparation for burn treatment comprising silver sulfadiazine dispersed or solubilized in the cream or lotion base matrix, which can be sprayed directly from a common trigger spray device.
Commercial formulations containing chlorhexidine gluconate 0.2% w/w, and silver sulfadiazine 1% w/w, e.g., Silvazine®, Nisburn®, or Silverex® cream, are available in the market; however, the particle size range of silver sulfadiazine in these formulations is in the micronized range.
The activity of silver sulfadiazine, in the cream form, may be influenced by the following factors:                (a) the release rate of the active ingredient from the cream matrix into the wound environment;        (b) particle size and solubility of the active ingredient in the fluids of the wound; and        (c) stability of the active ingredient in the cream matrix.
Among these factors, particle size is one of the most critical parameters which affects the solubility and release of the active ingredient from the pharmaceutical composition at the wound site. Smaller particle size will lead to increased antimicrobial effectiveness. Therefore, further size reduction of silver sulfadiazine particles as compared to the marketed micronized product may result in greater antimicrobial effectiveness based on enhanced solubility of silver sulfadiazine. However, this size reduction may lead to stability concerns as well.
Particle size reduction to improve the drug performance has long been known and used in the pharmaceutical industry. Nanonization, i.e., particle size reduction to the nano-size range is a known technique for improving the solubility of the active ingredient, thereby leading to improved absorption and better therapeutic efficacy. However, the selection of the optimum particle size range as well as the selection of the method for particle size reduction remains critical for the chosen active drug. Further, achieving the desired stability throughout the shelf life is equally important.
Nesamony et al, in their article entitled "IPM/DOSS/Water Microemulsions as Reactors for Silver Sulfadiazine Nanocrystal Synthesis", published in Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Volume 94, No. 6, pp. 1330-1320 (2005), have disclosed a method of preparing silver sulfadiazine nanocrystals in situ by mixing sodium sulfadiazine and silver nitrate using a microemulsion technique. The silver sulfadiazine nanocrystals so prepared have a particle size of ˜670 nm, as measured by laser diffraction technique. Preparation of nanocrystals using microemulsion technique is a complex process.
There still remains a need for a topical pharmaceutical composition comprising nanonized silver sulfadiazine demonstrating improved efficacy over the already marketed product.
The object of the present invention is to provide a topical pharmaceutical composition comprising an antimicrobial drug, i.e., silver sulfadiazine in a weight ratio of 0.1% w/w to 1.0% w/w and an antiseptic, i.e., chlorhexidine gluconate in a weight ratio of 0.2% w/w, wherein silver sulfadiazine is in nano-size range. The pharmaceutical composition of the present invention is advantageous over the currently available micronized products in having improved efficacy, thereby leading to dose reduction as well as faster wound healing due to quicker absorption of nanonized particles having increased surface area. Also, no significant increase in toxicity was observed as a result of size reduction. The inventors were able to obtain a stable pharmaceutical composition of silver sulfadiazine having nanonized particles of silver sulfadiazine. The compositions of the invention comprising 0.5% w/w and 0.75% w/w nanonized silver sulfadiazine have comparable efficacy to the 1.0% w/w marketed product (micronized silver sulfadiazine) in patients with partial thickness thermal burns. Comparable efficacy provides significant dose reduction to a patient in need of silver sulfadiazine for burn treatment. The composition containing 1.0% w/w nanonized silver sulfadiazine shows greater efficacy than the 1.0% w/w marketed product (micronized silver sulfadiazine).

Topical pharmaceutical composition comprising nanonized silver sulfadiazine


In a method for imaging a container holding a sample, the container is illuminated with a laser sheet that impinges upon the container in a first direction corresponding to a first axis. A plane of the laser sheet is defined by the first axis and a second axis orthogonal to the first axis. The method also includes capturing, by a camera having an imaging axis that is substantially orthogonal to at least the first axis, an image of the container. The method further includes analyzing, by one or more processors, the image of the container to detect particles within, and/or on an exterior surface of, the container.

Foreign particles in drug product containers pose a serious health and safety risk for patients, particularly with respect to injected drug products. While automated visual inspection equipment can in some cases detect particles in containers holding liquid products with acceptable accuracy, there can be a large number of false rejects, e.g., due to small particles and blemishes on the exterior of the container wall, defects on the interior of the container wall or in the bulk of the container wall (e.g., cracks), and/or small bubbles on the inside of the container wall.
A conventional imaging system 100 is shown in FIG. 1. As seen in FIG. 1, a container 102 filled with a sample (e.g., liquid drug product) is illuminated by two angled lights 104A and 104B, which are positioned so as to generally oppose a camera 106 on the other side of container 102. Lights 104A and 104B are directional, with most of the emitted light propagating in a direction orthogonal to the planar surfaces shown in FIG. 1 (i.e., as shown by the arrows in FIG. 1). This requires that each of lights 104A, 104B be large enough to evenly illuminate the entire container. Since most of the emitted light is not directed at the lens of camera 106, the resulting image is a dark background against bright particles, if any particles exist. FIG. 2 depicts another conventional imaging system 200 that is typically used for larger, opaque particles (over 500 um), or fibers that might be stuck to the inside wall of the container. As seen in FIG. 2, container 202 is illuminated by a back light 204, opposite camera 206. In this case, camera 206 images the shadow cast by a particle, and the particle appears as a black object against a relatively bright background.
A problem with both of these conventional illumination approaches is that the entire container is flooded with light, such that particles and surface blemishes on both the inside and the outside of the container are illuminated. As a result, it can be difficult to distinguish particles inside the container from particles outside the container. Because particles outside the container may not be relevant to a quality control procedure, this difficulty heightens the risk of false positives. For rear, angled light arrangements such as imaging system 100, a technique known as "image subtraction," or "minimum intensity projection" (MIP), is commonly used to distinguish smaller particles (˜100-500 um) inside the container from particles outside the container. This technique involves spinning the container about its central axis at high speed (˜600-5000 RPM), stopping the spinning abruptly, acquiring a series of images of the stopped container at approximately 10 to 50 ms intervals, and then subtracting subsequent images such that only those objects that moved between images appear in the resulting difference image. This effectively cancels out the small particles and surface blemishes that may be on the outside of the container, while highlighting objects that are suspended in, and carried by the momentum of, the liquid in the container. However, this technique may be inadequate for highly viscous drug products, as there may be very little or no motion of the fluid and particles after the container stops spinning. Back-lit arrangements such as imaging system 200 also have drawbacks, as they can "bleach out" small particles, or particles that are not opaque, and generally depend on particles inside the container being large enough to be distinguished from the smaller particles that typically reside on the exterior surface of containers.
Some manufacturers of automated inspection equipment for pharmaceutical products have proposed, and implemented, techniques that attempt to address these problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,036,444 (Nielsen), entitled "Method and System for Irradiating and Inspecting Liquid-Carrying Containers," describes an imaging system in which two line scan cameras generate flattened images of a spinning container. One camera is aligned with the central axis of the container, while the other camera is offset from the central axis. The technique leverages the basic principle that, when the container is rotated, particles on the outside of a container will move a longer distance horizontally (i.e., in a direction orthogonal to the container central axis) than particles inside the container. Images from the two line scan cameras are compared after multiple images have been acquired at different rotations, and the distances between particles are computed. This distance can in some cases be used to distinguish particles on the inside and outside of the container.
As another example, European Patent No. 3,062,292 (Kwoka), entitled "Inspection Method and Inspection Device for Monitoring Production Processes," describes an imaging system that uses a single area scan camera. When a particle is detected at a position along the central axis of the container, the position is digitally shifted to a point where it would be if it were on the outside of the container and the container were precisely rotated about its central axis a preset angle (˜45°). The container is then rotated and a new image is taken. If the particle is in fact on the outside of the container, it should overlap with the digitally shifted image. If the particle is instead inside the container, it will be offset from the digitally shifted particle by some amount.
While the techniques of U.S. Pat. No. 8,036,444 (Nielsen) and European Patent No. 3,062,292 (Kwoka) may improve upon the conventional image subtraction method described above in some respects, both approaches have significant drawbacks of their own. One difficulty is that, with both approaches, any slight vibration of the container between images can cause significant errors. Moreover, if a particle on the inside of the container "slips" while the container is rotated, it may not be in the expected position to be properly detected. Furthermore, limitations on the spatial resolution of imagers may make the techniques insufficient to distinguish small blemishes inside the glass, which can be a large source of false rejects.
Further, while promising 3D imaging techniques are being developed and offer the ability to determine particle size and morphology from images, they are very computationally expensive, and may not work at typical manufacturing line rates (e.g., 300 to 600 containers per minute). Accordingly, there remains a need for improved methods to detect particles inside liquid-filled drug product containers, particularly (but not only) for containers holding highly viscous samples/products.

Sheet lighting for particle detection in drug product containers


An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method using a computing device to initiate play of media within a medical examination or treatment room. The method may include: capturing a plurality of images by a one or more image capturers; determining whether any persons are within a predefined boundary area in one or more of the images using a face detector or person detector; determining whether any persons are outside of the boundary area in one or more of the images using the person detector; and initiating play of media when a first person is determined to be within the predefined boundary area and no persons are determined to be outside of the boundary area in the images.

Continuing innovations in display technology combined with declining display costs have facilitated massive deployments of digital signage in the retail sector. Traditional signage has been replaced with digital signage indoors at stores, restaurants, hotels, and public places like airports; and outdoors in locations ranging from bus stops to billboards and stadiums. More recently digital signage is being deployed at points of care in the healthcare sector; principally in medical waiting and exam rooms.
Companies are constantly looking for ways to increase the effectiveness of their advertising. Two metrics that apply to exam rooms are the number of patients that viewed an ad, and the average amount of time they spent viewing it. Engagement can be improved through use of (a) video instead of static images, (b) audio with video, and (c) larger screen sizes. Average viewing time can be improved through (c) initiation of media play automatically without requiring any action by the viewer, and (d) automatic resumption of play if it is paused during temporary staff member presence. Currently available digital wallboards represent a fairly straightforward content delivery approach in which pre-selected image playlists cause content to be displayed in accordance with a preset schedule or plan. This digital signage technique can readily be implemented using off the shelf digital signage content management systems, displays, and media players. Since this content delivery approach does not normally provide audio, it is minimally disruptive to patient/staff interaction and can continue operating during treatment; but falls short because it does not engage the viewer through a full motion video with audio experience. Current exam room video programming that includes audio relies on the patient to start, pause, and restart, video play. This opt in video programming must have controls convenient to the patient, be extremely intuitive to operate, and not interfere with medical activities. These requirements are generally met with digital tablets that are held by the patient, or mounted on a nearby stand. While this approach provides full motion video with audio it fails to meet the other criteria set forth in (b)-(d) above because it (i) delivers content through a small screen, (ii) relies on patient "opt in" to initiate the play of media, and (iii) doesn't automatically restart if play is stopped due to temporary staff member presence in the exam room.

Method and system for roles based selection and control of video content


A blowout preventer includes a housing having a flow path therethrough in fluid communication with a wellbore penetrating a subsurface formation and a sealing assembly positionable in the housing about the flow path. The sealing assembly includes a piston slidably positionable in the housing and a packer element. The packer element includes a plurality of fingers and a packer seal. The fingers include a housing portion and a piston portion. The housing portion is slidably movable along the housing and the piston portion is slidingly movable along the piston. The fingers are engageable by the piston and movable to a sealed position about the flow path, and the packer seal is energized to form a seal about the blowout preventer to seal the wellbore in the subsurface formation.

The present disclosure relates generally to techniques for performing wellsite operations. More specifically, the present invention relates to techniques, such as sealing and/or severing a tubular at the wellsite, for preventing blowouts.
Oilfield operations may be performed to locate and gather valuable downhole fluids. Oil rigs are positioned at wellsites, and downhole tools, such as drilling tools, are deployed into the ground to reach subsurface reservoirs. Once the downhole tools form a wellbore (or borehole) to reach a desired reservoir, casings may be cemented into place within the wellbore, and the wellbore completed to initiate production of fluids from the reservoir. Tubulars may be positioned in the wellbore to enable the passage of subsurface fluids to the surface.
Leakage of subsurface fluids may pose an environmental threat if released from the wellbore. Equipment, such as blow out preventers (BOPs), may be positioned about the wellbore to form a seal about a wellbore to prevent leakage of fluid therefrom. Various types of BOPs, such as ram, spherical, annular, etc., may be used. For example, BOPs may have rams with blades to sever and/or seal the wellbore, or employ a spherical configuration. Some examples of BOPs are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,588,491 and 5,662,171, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Spherical blowout preventer with energizeable packer seal and method of using same


The invention provides ethanol-free liquid oral care compositions comprising cetyl pyridinium chloride which do not have an unacceptably bitter taste, e.g. mouthwashes, toothpastes, throat sprays, and breath sprays that are substantially free of ethanol, e.g., comprising (i) an antimicrobially effective amount of cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC), (ii) one or more flavoring oils which are substantially insoluble in water at room temperature, and (iii) water, wherein the ratio of the CPC to the one or more flavoring oils is from 1:1.5 to 1:2.5, as well as methods of making and using the same.

Conventional mouthwash compositions frequently contain ethanol, up to 27% volume, as a preservative and antimicrobial agent. In some individuals, alcohol may exacerbate xerostomia (dry mouth), which in turn can cause halitosis and significant tooth decay, as the protective effect of saliva's remineralizing the enamel is reduced. Xerostomia also makes the mucosa and periodontal tissue of the mouth more vulnerable to infection and increases the risk of gingivitis. Mouthwash comprising high levels of alcohol also may be undesirable for use by alcoholics, children, and members of certain religious faiths, and some consumers may object to the burning sensation of relatively high alcohol compositions.
Cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) is a cationic quaternary ammonium compound frequently used in addition to or in place of ethanol as an antiseptic and preservative in mouthwashes, toothpastes, lozenges, throat sprays, breath sprays, and nasal sprays. At effective concentrations, e.g. ca. 0.07%, CPC kills bacteria and other microorganisms and has been shown to be effective in preventing dental plaque and reducing gingivitis. It is believed to kill bacteria by binding to the negatively charged phosphates of the bacterial cell membrane. Formulating CPC presents challenges, however, because of its bitter taste and its incompatibility with many composition excipients. Ethanol can be helpful in such compositions as it acts as a solubilizer for many ingredients and is a flavor enhancer, but a noted above, there are disadvantages to oral care products comprising ethanol.
There is a need for ethanol-free liquid oral care compositions having an acceptable taste.


A method for making an efficient light emitting diode (LED) assembly by providing a thermally conductive base having a surface cavity, disposing a reflective paste in the surface cavity, and shaping the reflective paste to form a reflective cavity. The reflective cavity is shaped such that there is a mounting region and at least one reflective side wall at least partially surrounding the mounting region. Once shaped, the reflective paste is fired to set the reflective cavity in its shaped form. Next, one or more LED die may be mounted on the mounting region of the reflective cavity such that the emitted light is reflected by the side walls, thus increasing the light output of the LED assembly.

An advantageous approach to fabricating assemblies including one or more light emitting diode (LED) die involves providing a thermally conductive base and mounting the one or more LED die on the base or within one or more cavities formed in an insulating layer overlying the metal base. The LED dice are thermally coupled to the metal base and heat from the dice is rapidly conducted through the metal base to one or more heat sinks. This approach may use as the thermally conductive base a substrate made using low temperature cofired ceramic-on-metal technology (LTCC-M), which is described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,930 issued to Ponnuswamy et al. on Sep. 24, 2002 which is incorporated herein by reference. The resulting LED assemblies are particularly useful for high temperature operation. Alternatively, this approach may be used with any LED packaging technique that uses a thermally conductive base, such as metal base. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the base may be an LTCC-M substrate.
When using LTCC-M technology, mounting the LED die in close thermal coupling with the metal base is highly advantageous, but the die are peripherally circumscribed by ceramic cavity side walls. These side walls, unfortunately, absorb a significant amount of the light emitted from the LED die positioned within the cavity, thus reducing the amount of light emitted by the assembly.
One approach to increasing the light output is to attach a miniature metal reflector into each cavity of the ceramic-on-metal substrate. However this approach adds component costs (the reflector) and assembly costs (the depositing of adhesive, the placing of the reflector into the cavity and the curing of the adhesive). Accordingly there is a need for an improved method of increasing the light output of LED assemblies.

Light efficient LED assembly including a shaped reflective cavity and method for making same


A metal separator 10 for a fuel cell is configured such that, after forming through-holes 11b and 12b on a first separator member 11 and a second separator member 12, rising wall sections 11c and 12c are provided so as to be spaced apart from formed sections 11a and 12a for introducing a gas by a predetermined distance L, the rising wall section 11c of the first separator member 11 is fittingly inserted into the rising wall section 12c of the second separator member 12 for performing a positional alignment therebeween, and then, the rising wall sections 11c and 12c are folded to be caulked, whereby the first separator member 11 and the second separator member 12 are bonded to each other. A positional alignment between the first separator member 11 and the second separator member 12 become facilitative.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal separator for a fuel cell and a bonding method there of.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Recently, a metallic separator has been developed in addition to a carbonate one as a separator for a fuel cell. The metallic separator has low-thermal capacity to thereby be capable of rapidly raising a temperature in a fuel cell stack to a suitable temperature upon its starting-up. The metallic separator is comprised of two plate-like separator members bonded to each other via an electrolyte film, an anode electrode and a cathode electrode to form introducing sections of hydrogen gas and oxidant gas. A plurality of spaces formed between a pair of the metallic separators are used as cooling water paths for cooling the fuel cell stack.
There are several types of methods for bonding two plate-like members, among which a method using a binder, a method by a brazing and a method utilizing a diffusion of a metallic material are mainly adopted. Incidentally, the electric power generation efficiency of the fuel cell is reduced when there is a deviation between the introducing sections of hydrogen gas and oxidant gas. Therefore, the deviation amount between two separator members is strictly placed to an amount not more than a predetermined amount upon bonding two separator members to each other. However, in any one of the above-mentioned methods, both of two separator members have to be left to stand for a long period with both of them brought into intimate contact upon bonding two separator members to each other, resulting in involving difficulty to perform a positional alignment for preventing the deviation between them. Therefore, a positioning member or the like is required to be provided upon bonding the separators.
Further, the method for bonding with a binder performs a positional alignment between two separators having the binder applied thereon, and requires to leave two separators for several hours that are brought into intimate contact with each other for curing the binder, thus causing poor productivity. Moreover, it is necessary to select a binder tolerable to a tough temperature condition, since the fuel cell stack is under a high temperature. Additionally, the method by a brazing and the method utilizing a diffusion of the metallic material makes a production in a lot, thereby causing poor productivity and moreover, being likely to cause a separation, deviation, falling or the like at the bonding section by the deformation of the separator due to the temperature change of the fuel cell stack.

Metal separator for fuel cell and bonding method there of


A quick-connect coupling for interconnecting only matching fluid delivery and supply lines while preventing the inadvertent connection of mismatched lines where there are matched and mismatched delivery and supply lines. The coupling includes first and second coupling members that are releasably slidably, axially interfitted with their passageways in fluid communication. In the disclosed embodiment of a coupling for use in a chemical extraction system, one coupling member is a male member connected to the supply lines in the typical fifty gallon drum and the other coupling member is a female coupling member connected to the delivery lines. Key coding elements on the coupling members are movable into matched interengagement when the supply and delivery lines are matched but are precluded from moving into matched interengagement when the lines are mismatched. If a match exists, the coding elements interfit without relative rotation of the coupling members and irrespective of the relative rotational positions of the coupling members prior to such interengagement. Latches in the coupling are allowed by the key coding to move into latching positions when the key coding elements match, but are precluded by the key coding from moving into latching positions when there is a mismatch. The coupling members are coupled by axially thrusting the members together whereupon the latches move out to allow interfitting and then return to latching positions. The coupling members are uncoupled by simultaneously pressing inwardly on the latches on the outside of the coupling and pulling the coupling members apart.

In various industries, it is necessary to use many chemicals in the manufacturing process. For example, in the semiconductor industry, some fifteen to twenty liquid chemicals are typically stored in adjacent fifty-gallon drums from which they are dispensed during the manufacture of the semiconductors. In the usual installation, sets of umbilical delivery lines for various chemicals are suspended above the drums with a particular set dedicated to a particular chemical. Each set of delivery lines is connected to its associated drum by a coupling which has one coupling member on the delivery lines and a second coupling on the drum.
As each drum is emptied during the manufacturing process, a full drum is brought in to replace the empty one. Accordingly, the coupling members must be repeatedly connected and disconnected. Because of the incompatibility of the chemicals, it is critical that each set of delivery lines be connected only to its intended drum to avoid unsafe mixing and undesired contamination. Moreover, to maintain productivity, such connections and disconnections must be made quickly and routinely by production personnel.
To insure correct connection of delivery lines to their intended drums, the known chemical extraction apparatus uses fluid couplings that incorporate matching coding elements on the coupling members. Examples of such fluid couplings and their coding devices are shown and described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,298 to Grant et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,015 Rauworth et al. A significant disadvantage of these known couplings, however, is that they cannot be as quickly connected and disconnected as is desired. Although referred to as quick-connect couplings, they use threads to establish the connection. Repeated threading and unthreading of couplings over a production run consumes a significant amount of valuable time and also can produce additional delays if the threads become fouled and otherwise fail to mesh properly. Moreover, the coding devices of these known couplings require relative rotation of the coded parts to test for a match and then to make the match or to realize that the coupling members are mismatched.
Fluid couplings that can be connected and disconnected without threading are of course available and are truly quick-connect and -disconnect couplings. Examples of known quick-connect couplings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,125 to Blenkush and U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,725 to Meyer et al. Such known couplings of this type, however, are not suitable for the chemical extraction industry or other industries where matched connections are mandatory since they make no provision for coding. Moreover, the latching mechanisms used in such known quick-connect couplings do not lend themselves to balanced and dependable two-handed operation by personnel in production processes such as described above.

Fluid coupling for matching delivery and supply lines irrespective of the relative rotational positions of the coupling members


A semiconductor processing device is provided. The device includes a reaction chamber, a first gas inlet mechanism, and a second gas inlet mechanism that includes a gas inlet, a uniform-flow chamber, at least one gas outlet, and at least one switch element. The gas inlet communicates with the uniform-flow chamber and arranged to deliver a process gas into the uniform-flow chamber. The at least one gas outlet is between the reaction chamber and the uniflow-flow chamber. The at least one switch element is disposed in each gas outlet and arranged to enable the uniform-flow chamber to communicate with the reaction chamber when the process gas is being delivered into the uniform-flow chamber through the gas inlet, and to isolate the uniform-flow chamber from the reaction chamber when no process gas is being delivered into the uniform-flow chamber.

Plasma processing devices are widely used in fabrication processes of integrated circuits (IC) or MEMS devices. A plasma processing device utilizes a large number of active particles such as electrons, ions, excited atoms, etc., to react physically and chemically with a surface of a substrate, so as to change performance of the surface of the substrate. In a fabrication process of an integrated circuit, a gas inlet mechanism is generally responsible for providing a corresponding working gas for plasma generation.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional plasma processing device. Referring to FIG. 1, the plasma processing device includes a reaction chamber 100 and a gas inlet device, and a chuck 101 disposed within the reaction chamber 100 for carrying a substrate. The gas inlet device includes a central nozzle 102 disposed at a center of a top of the reaction chamber 100, an edge gas inlet mechanism including a gas inlet 106, a chamber 105 and a plurality of gas outlets 107. The chamber 105 is formed by two cover plates 103, 104 arranged around a top of a side wall of the reaction chamber 100, and the two cover plates 103, 104 are assembled with each other to form the chamber 105. The gas inlet 106 is arranged to deliver a process gas into the chamber 105. The plurality of gas outlets 107 are distributed along a circumferential direction of the chamber 105 to deliver the process gas in the chamber 105 into the reaction chamber 100.
The above plasma processing device may be applied to a process in which two different process gases are required to be alternately introduced into the reaction chamber, such as a BOSCH process in which a deposition gas and an etching gas need to be alternately introduced into the reaction chamber. Specifically, in an alternate manner, a first process gas is delivered into the reaction chamber 100 through the central nozzle 102, and a second process gas is delivered into the reaction chamber 100 sequentially through the gas inlet 106, the chamber 105, and the gas outlets 107.
However, as for the edge gas inlet mechanism, after the delivery of the second process gas, part of the process gas may remain inside the chamber 105, and when the edge gas inlet mechanism is not in use, the second process gas remaining inside the chamber 105 may enter the reaction chamber 100 and mix with the first process gas because the chamber 105 is always in communication with the reaction chamber 100 through the gas outlets 107, which results in changes in gas composition within the reaction chamber 100, thereby affecting process uniformity.

BEIJING NAURA MICROELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


A method for increasing the effective aperture of radar switch/MIMO antenna array, using a low number of transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) army elements, according to which an array of radar physical receive (Rx)/Transmit (Tx) elements are arranged in at least two opposing Rx rows and at least two opposing Tx columns, such that each row includes a plurality of receive (Rx) elements uniformly spaced from each other and each column includes a plurality of transmit (Tx) elements uniformly spaced from each other, the array forming a rectangular physical aperture. Used as a switch array, a first Tx element from one column is activated to transmit a radar pulse during a predetermined time slot. Reflections of the first transmission are received in all Rx elements, thereby virtually replicating the two opposing Rx rows about an origin determined by the location of the first Tx element within the rectangular physical aperture. This process is repeated for all remaining Tx elements during different time slots, thereby virtually replicating the two opposing Rx rows about an origin determined by the location of each activated Tx element within the rectangular physical aperture, while each time, receiving reflections of the transmission from each Tx element in all Rx elements. This way, a rectangular virtual aperture having dimensions which are twice the dimensions of the rectangular physical aperture is paved with replicated two opposing Rx rows. This virtual aperture determines the radar beam widths and side-lobes.

In recent years many industries are moving to autonomous solutions such as the automotive industry, deliveries etc. These autonomous platforms should operate in the environment while interacting with both the stationary and moving objects. For this purpose these systems require a sensor suite which allows them to sense their surrounding in a reliable and efficient manner. For example, in order for an autonomous car to plan its route on a road with other cars on it, the trajectory planner must have a 3D map of the environment with indication of moving objects. Visual sensors are also degraded by bad weather and poor visibility (e.g. fog, smoke, sand, storm etc.). They are also limited in estimating radial velocities. Light Detection And Ranging devices (LIDARs—used to measure distance to a target by illuminating that target with a laser light) are expensive, most have moving parts and very limited range. Radar is an augmenting (not replacing) technology.
Due to natural limitations of visual sensors in range accuracy and reliability problems with optical (laser) technologies, the best solution to generate this 3D map is via a radar technology. This imposes a new set of requirements which modern radars does not comply with.
Generally, larger aperture of the receiving antenna allows receiving more radiation and provides larger sensitivity, or equivalently, allowing a narrower main lobe. Hence, the receiving antenna can receive weaker signals and provide a relatively accurate indication regarding their direction.
On the other hand, vehicular radars (including automotive imaging radars) require less sensitivity (since the range is relatively short and the signals that are reflected from a target are relatively strong). However, vehicular radars are not required to detect point targets (such as an aircraft of a missile) but do require high accuracy, in order to provide an image of the environment information which is used an input to a Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) algorithm which should detect the location of obstacles, such as other cars or pedestrians in the close vicinity. A narrow lobe with high accuracy will be able to provide sharper contour lines of the target image. The lobe width is determined solely by the equivalent aperture, normalized to the wavelength of the transmitted radar signal (and not by the number of receiving antenna elements within the aperture, which affects the sensitivity, i.e., the ability to detect weak reflected signals, and ambiguity resolution and the side lobes level).
Another critical performance parameter of imaging radars is the antenna array's side lobes level. In case when there is a large object (such as a wall) located in a direction of a side lobe, an attenuated version reflections from said object appears to be in the direction of the main lobe, and may mask reflections that originate from an obstacle, such as a pedestrian, or create a phantom obstacle which may cause the vehicle to stop. Therefore, in automotive imaging radars, it is critical to reduce the side lobes as much as possible.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a compact radar switch array antenna with high azimuth and elevation angular accuracy (resolution), and increased effective aperture, while using a low number of transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) elements, in order to meet cost, space, power and reliability requirements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a compact radar antenna array with high azimuth and elevation angular accuracy (resolution), and increased effective aperture, while reducing unwanted side-lobes.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Compact radar switch/MIMO array antenna with high azimuth and elevation angular resolution


A reformer that produces reformed gas from a hydrocarbon material includes a reforming chamber having an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder; a reforming catalyst filled in the reforming chamber; a burner that heats the reforming catalyst and fuel of reformed gas; a combustion gas outer flow channel through which combustion gas of the burner flows along an outer side surface of the reforming chamber; a combustion gas inner flow channel through which the combustion gas of the burner flows along an inner side surface of the reforming chamber; and a plurality of return pipes as a reformed gas flow channel.

In a fuel cell system, reverse to the electrolysis of water, oxygen is electro-chemically reacted with hydrogen gas produced from hydrocarbon material in order to generate electricity and heat (warm water) during the chemical reaction.
The above fuel cell system uses oil-based fuel such as naphtha, kerosene and so on, or gas-based fuel such as city gas, etc. as the hydrocarbon material, and this hydrocarbon material is mixed with steam to produce gaseous fuel for reformed gas, and then this fuel for reformed gas is heated together with reforming catalyst, thereby hydrogen gas is produced.
Therefore, for the fuel cell system, the most important challenge is how to efficiently produce hydrogen gas from the hydrocarbon material, and various techniques have been disclosed for fuel reforming apparatuses and reformers which produce hydrogen gas.
For example, Patent document 1 discloses a technique for a fuel reforming apparatus in which a reformer and its associated devices are integrated as one unit. This fuel reforming apparatus comprises a vacuum thermally insulating chamber, and an inner space of the vacuum thermally insulating chamber is used as a flow channel of combustion gas in the reformer. The fuel reforming apparatus comprises a plurality of reforming tubes. The reforming tubes are arranged in parallel in the flow channel of the combustion gas and filled inside with reforming catalyst, and raw gas (fuel for reformed gas ) flows through the reforming tubes, thereby the raw gas is reformed.
By this technique, insulation can be provided by the vacuum thermally insulating chamber without using a heat insulating material such as ceramic fibers, etc. and it is therefore possible to reduce the size of the fuel reforming apparatus and improve thermal efficiency.
Furthermore, Patent document 2 discloses a technique for a single-tube cylindrical reformer which comprises a cylindrical reforming chamber provided with a preheating layer having a filler at a front stage of reforming catalyst layer, wherein exhaust gas flows along the inner side surface of the reforming chamber to heat the reforming chamber, and hydrogen gas produced in the reforming chamber flows along a flow channel formed in the outer side surface of the reforming chamber.
By this technique, since the preheating layer is provided, a pre-heater for material becomes unnecessary, raw material can be efficiently stirred, and the amount of heat consumption can be reduced. Moreover, the inner parts of passages, etc. are helically formed with, for example, blades, and the like, thereby uniform temperature distribution can be obtained, and it is possible to set outlet temperature at predetermined temperature by improving efficiency of heat recovery.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. 2003-327405 (claims 1, 2, 3 and 4, FIG. 1)
Patent document 2: Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. 2002-187705 (claim 1, FIG. 1)


A machine-aided method for selecting roofing systems to match particular building roof design features. Logic branches are employed to guide a machine to the determination of an appropriate roofing system on the basis of design feature data entered by a user. Apparatus for specification generation are also disclosed wherein a roofing specification may be generated which corresponds to the selected roofing system. An illustrative example is also described.

The present invention relates to a machine-aided method for selecting commercial roofing systems based on data representative of the design features of a building to be roofed. The invention also relates to the machine generation of roofing specifications which correspond to both the selected roofing system and the user provided design features.
Roofing Design Requirement Selection
For a commercial roofing system to perform satisfactorily, the design features of the building to be roofed must match those of the selected roofing system. Such design features include information representative of desired roofing requirements such as: the desired roof slope, the desired length of "roof guarantee", and the desired number of insulation layers. The design features also include certain user selected attributes such as roof color, and tapered insulation. In all, the design features represent the set of design requirements and desired attributes that a selected roofing system must contain and fulfil.
In the past, the selection of roofing systems was accomplished through the use of published roofing system manuals. These manuals contained voluminous amounts of information concerning each roofing specification available to the user. Selection of the roofing system was made by the user referring to various sections of the manual in an attempt to discover a system capable of providing the desired design features. There was no systematic method for the use of these manuals.
The roofing selection manuals allowed the user to prioritize the desired roofing design features in any order desired. This often resulted in the user making several decisions, deciding on several design features, only to discover that the selected features were incompatible and could not be combined in a single roofing specification. The results of selecting an incompatible system could vary from added delay in the reelection of an appropriate system to the installation of an unacceptable roofing system. Thus, the selection of roofing systems in the past has been tedious at best and improper at worst.
Generation of Specification for Selected Roofing Features
In addition to making the roofing system selection, the design professional is also faced with the task of generating system specifications corresponding to the roofing system selected.
In the past, these specifications were generated through the use of the information contained in the roofing system manual. The user of the manual, as in the case of system selection, was referred to various sections in the manual. This process was prone to error as exceptions to the general requirements were often neglected, and various specification details ignored.
Disadvantages associated with the manual method of selection and specification generation are the necessary amount of time that must be expended in the selection of a system and the generation of the corresponding specification. Also, there exist no non-user limitations in this method to prevent the design professional from selecting an improper option. Further, in the event the user has selected an improper system, the manual method provides no means to inform the user of their improper choice.

Machine-aided method for the selection of roofing systems and the generation of specifications thereof


An annular culture vessel for growing mammalian cells is constructed in a one piece integral and annular configuration with an open end which is closed by an endcap. The culture vessel is rotatable about a horizontal axis by use of conventional roller systems commonly used in culture laboratories. The end wall of the endcap has tapered access ports to frictionally and sealingly receive the ends of hypodermic syringes. The syringes permit the introduction of fresh nutrient and withdrawal of spent nutrients. The walls are made of conventional polymeric cell culture material and are subjected to neutron bombardment to form minute gas permeable perforations in the walls.

Bacterial cell culture processes have been developed for the growth of single cell bacteria, yeast and molds which can be characterized as encased with a tough cell wall. Mammalian cell culture, however, is much more complex because such cells are more delicate and have a more complex nutrient requirement for development. Large scale culture of bacterial type cells is highly developed and such culture techniques are less demanding and are not as difficult to cultivate as mammalian cells. Bacterial cells can be grown in large volumes of liquid medium and can be vigorously agitated without any significant damage. Mammalian cells, on the other hand, cannot withstand excessive turbulent action without damage to the cells and must be provided with a complex nutrient medium to support growth.
In addition, some mammalian cells have a special requirement and must attach themselves to some surface in order to duplicate. Recent technology has been established to grow mammalian cells in horizontally rotating bio-reactors where forced oxygenation is over a sufficient surface area to successfully grow mammalian cells on a large scale. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,650, entitled "Horizontally Rotated Cell Culture System with a Coaxial Tubular Oxygenator", and U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,131, entitled "High Aspect Ratio Vessel and Method of Use". These systems function admirably but they are self-contained units and do not adapt for use with existing laboratory equipment and require specific rotational equipment and air pumps.

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration