A sealing ring containing an electrode for sensing electrochemical conditions within a fluid handling system, in particular, the occurrence of crevice corrosion, has a body formed of a continuous loop of an electrically insulating fluid-impervious material having a surface which can form a fluid-tight seal with elements of a fluid handling apparatus, an electrode embedded within the body and electrically insulated from electronic conductive contact with those portions of the surface of the body that contact the fluid handling apparatus, and channels extending between the electrode and the surface of the body of the sealing ring to permit electrochemical contact between the electrode and the fluid within the system. The sealing ring also includes electronically conductive wires to connect the embedded electrode to external electrical devices, e.g., electronic measuring equipment.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to sealing rings for fluid conduits and more particularly to leasing rings incorporating electrochemical sensing electrodes.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Electrochemical measurements relating to fluids contained inside sealed containers or piping systems would be of value to determine the properties of the fluids and to detect changes in the properties of the fluid that might indicate corrosion of the container or pipes. Such measurements require an electrochemical sensing electrode in contact with the solution within the sealed system. Such contacts could be provided by a simple through-wall fitting that supports an electrochemical electrode in contact with the fluid and provides an insulated electrical conductor extending through the wall of the fluid containment vessel.
In most circumstances, however, the use of conventional through-wall fittings is disadvantageous and ineffective. In the case of fluid handling systems that must be of the highest integrity, e.g., in nuclear reactor facilities or in naval vessels such as submarines, it is preferred to have as few apertures as possible in the fluid handling systems because each such aperture is considered a weak point that may compromise the integrity of the system. Furthermore, special elements with electrochemical fittings introduce complexity into the system because, e.g., a special pipe segment incorporating such a fitting must be installed, and inventories of such special pipe segments must be maintained.
Another situation in which a conventional through-wall electrode fitting is disadvantageous is in the sensing of crevice corrosion that may be occurring within the fluid handling system. Crevice corrosion occurs in liquid-filled small cracks in the metallic components of the fluid handling system or in the fluid-filed interstices that occur in the couplings between parts of the system, e.g., at flanged pipe joints. Such corrosion afflicts even alloys that are highly resistant to corrosion in bulk, e.g., stainless steel or the Inconel.RTM. series alloys. Furthermore, because the crevice corrosion phenomenon is not well understood, it is difficult to predict when and where it will occur. At present, the only reliable method of detecting crevice corrosion is periodic inspection of the fluid handling system, which ordinarily requires draining and disassembly. In view of the great expense entailed by such inspection, alternative methods of detecting crevice corrosion have been sought. It has been found that corrosion at the surface of a metallic member immersed in a fluid can be detected electrochemically by monitoring the complex electrical impedance between the surface of the article to be inspected and a test electrode located in the fluid close to that surface. Such measurements have become conventional for monitoring corrosion in research. They can also be used to detect crevice corrosion, but the electrode must be located close to the location at which the crevice corrosion is occurring. Accordingly, to detect crevice corrosion occurring at flanged joints incorporating a sealing ring (O-ring) where the corrosion may be occurring in the narrow regions where the sealing ring is compressed against the face of the flange, it would be necessary to provide special flanges with fittings for mounting an electrode in contact with the thin layer of fluid found between the flanges. The design and implementation of such fittings adds considerable complexity and expense to the fluid handling system. The extra fitting is also a potential place for leakage, and, in fact, introduces another discontinuity in the wall of the system which may itself be a location for crevice corrosion.
Accordingly, a need has continued to exist for a simple means of inserting an electrode into a sealed fluid handling system, e.g., a piping system, in close proximity to locations in the piping system that are subject to crevice corrosion.

Sealing ring with electrochemical sensing electrode


An x-ray image detector monitors the intensity of incident x-rays to detect an end of radiation from an x-ray source when the x-ray intensity decreases to a threshold level or less. The x-ray intensity gets down to zero with a variable time lag from the start of decreasing, called radiation wave tail. Depending on the gradient of declivity in time curve of the decreasing x-ray intensity, calculated at the time when the end of radiation is detected, the x-ray image detector decides a delay time from the end-of-radiation detection time to a reading start time to start reading signal charges from the image detector. Thus, the reading start time may be adjusted to the point when the x-ray intensity gets down to zero, which will improve S/N ratio and prevent shading artifacts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiographic image detector and a control method for the radiographic image detector.
2. Description of the Related Art
In medical field, radiography systems utilizing radioactive rays such as x-rays for imaging are known. An x-ray radiography system includes an x-ray projector having an x-ray source for projecting x-rays toward a subject, an object to be imaged, and a radiographic image detector that receives x-rays from the x-ray projector after penetrating the subject, thereby to acquire a radiograph or x-ray image that represents information on the subject. The x-ray source will project x-rays under given image acquisition settings. The image acquisition settings include tube current that decides the amount of x-ray dose per unit time, and tube voltage that decides the quality of x-rays, i.e. the energy spectrum of the x-rays. These image acquisition settings are determined for each test subject according to demands and conditions of the subject to be imaged, such as the target site to be inspected, the age of the subject when it is a patient, etc.
As the radiographic image detector, those using a flat panel detector (FPD) in place of conventional x-ray film or a radiographic imaging plate (IP) have been adopted in practice. As described for example in JPA 2010-264181, the FPD includes a detection panel having a large number of pixels arranged in a matrix in an imaging area. The pixels accumulate signal charges corresponding to the amounts of x-rays incident on the respective pixels, and a signal processing circuit of the FPD reads out the signal charges from the pixels to output the signal charges as an analog voltage signal.
The detection panel includes numbers of pixels or detection elements in an imaging area, each pixel including a photodiode and a thin film transistor (TFT), and a scintillator (a phosphorous member) for converting x-rays to visible light is provided on the imaging area. The TFT is a switching element for switching an electric connection between the photodiode and a signal line on and off to change over operation modes of the pixel. When the TFT is turned off, the photodiode is electrically disconnected from the signal line, so that the photodiode begins to accumulate signal charges. When the TFT is turned on, the photodiode is electrically connected to the signal line, so that the signal charges generated in the photodiode are read out through the TFT and the signal line.
Unlike the conventional x-ray film or imaging plate, the TFTs of the FPD must be turned on or off to start accumulating or reading the signal charges in synchronism with the radiation timing from the x-ray source. To control the FPD synchronously with the x-ray source, a synchronizing signal may be transmitted from the x-ray source to the FPD. Alternatively, as disclosed in JPA 2010-264181, the FPD may automatically detect the start and stop of x-ray radiation based on the intensity of x-rays incident on the FPD, radiation doses per unit time. As the timing of radiation from the x-ray source being detected by the FPD without any communication between the x-ray source and the FPD, the FPD does not need to mount any communication interface for the x-ray source, which allows simplifying the structure of the FPD. Subsequently, any hardware relating to the communication interface, such as cables, terminals, and substrates, may also be omitted. Therefore, the FPD that can detect the radiation timing by itself may also save the cost of the radiographic image detector as the whole.
As illustrated in FIG. 12 of the above prior art, the x-ray intensity begins to increase gradually upon a start command received on the x-ray source, and reaches a peak level that is determined by the tube current. Thereafter, the x-ray intensity is kept at a substantially constant level around the peak level till the x-ray source receives a stop command. Upon the stop command, the x-ray intensity begins to decrease gradually. Therefore, the intensity of x-rays dosed for one image acquisition changes along an approximately trapezoidal time curve.
According to the above prior art, the FPD measures the x-ray intensity as a voltage signal and detects the end of radiation when the voltage gets below a certain threshold level, or when the time derivative of the voltage gets above a certain negative threshold level, i.e. when the gradient of a declivity in a time curve that represents the decreasing x-ray intensity with time gets greater than a predetermined value. Immediately after the end of radiation is detected, the TFTs are turned on to terminate the charge accumulating operation and start the charge reading operation.
However, starting the reading operation at a constant timing from the time of detection of the end of radiation, like in the above prior art, has a problem as set forth below.
Generally the response of the x-ray source to the stop command is so slow that there is a certain time lag between the start of declination of x-ray intensity upon the stop command and the complete stop of radiation, i.e. when the x-ray intensity becomes zero. Hereinafter, the time lag from when the x-ray intensity begins to decrease till it gets down to zero may be referred to as the duration of a radiation wave tail in a time curve representing the course of x-ray intensity along time. The duration of radiation wave tail varies depending upon the tube voltage applied for activating the x-ray source. When the tube voltage is low, the x-ray intensity will decrease more rapidly after the stop command; the radiation wave tail will have a steeper declivity and hence the duration of the radiation wave tail is relatively short. On the other hand, when the tube voltage is high, the x-ray intensity will decrease more slowly after the stop command; the radiation wave tail will have a gentler declivity and hence the duration of the radiation wave tail is relatively long.
As the tube voltage differs from one imaging session to another, the duration of radiation wave tail may vary correspondingly. If the reading operation is predetermined to start in a constant time after an end of radiation detected, the reading start time tends to unexpectedly deviate from the time when the radiation completely stops. For instance, if the time from the detection of end-of-radiation to the start of reading operation is fixedly adjusted to a short radiation wave tail at a low tube voltage, the reading operation will start before the complete end of radiation when the tube voltage is higher and the radiation wave tail lasts longer. To the contrast, if the time from the detection of end-of-radiation to the start of reading operation is fixedly adjusted to a long radiation wave tail at a high tube voltage, the reading operation will start with a certain delay from the complete end of radiation when the tube voltage is lower and the radiation wave tail ends shorter.
Since the pixels are still irradiated with x-rays during the radiation wave tail, indeed the x-ray intensity gradually decreases, if the accumulating operation is terminated to start the reading operation before the complete end of radiation, those x-rays radiated after the end of accumulating operation will not be utilized for image signal acquisition. The waste of radiation may lower the S/N ratio of the image.
Moreover, starting the reading operation before the end of radiation wave tail may cause shading artifact. Shading artifact appears as density gradations increasing in one direction within the image. Since the signal charges are read out from the pixels line after line to get a frame of image, there is a time lag from the reading operation of the first pixel line to the reading operation of the last pixel line. Accordingly, the pixels of the last line can accumulate charges for a longer time than the pixels of the first line. As a result, if the pixels are irradiated with x-rays during the reading operation, the accumulated charges will increase in ascending order of pixel lines, so will the image density distribute. Thus, shading artifact appears in the image, increasing image density gradually in the charge reading direction, i.e. in one column direction orthogonal to the line direction of the pixels.
On the other hand, the photodiodes generate dark currents even while they are not irradiated with x-rays. Therefore, if the accumulating operation is continued after the complete end of radiation, i.e. without any x-ray irradiation, the dark current noise will increase in the image signal, which may also lower the S/N ratio of the consequent image.
For the reasons as above, for the benefit of image S/N ratio improvement, the reading start time should ideally be coincident with the end of radiation wave tail when the x-ray intensity gets down to zero. In order to start the reading operation at the end of radiation wave tail, the threshold level of the x-ray intensity used for detecting the end of radiation may be set as low as substantially zero. However, as described above, because of the risk of detection error due to dark current from the photodiodes, it is hard to adopt such a low threshold level for detecting the end of radiation. The above-mentioned prior art does not disclose nor imply the above problems and solutions therefor.

Radiographic image detector and control method therefor


An embodiment of the current invention includes computer-implemented method for image processing. The method includes receiving a first medical image from a data storage device, the first medical image comprising a plurality of image voxels and representing a plurality of tissue regions of a subject; automatically determining a reference value based on the first medical image, the reference value capable of providing a range of background level of voxel intensity values within at least one non-disease tissue region of the subject; generating a disease threshold based on the reference value; identifying portions of the medical image corresponding to disease-tissue regions according to the disease threshold, each of the portions comprising a plurality of connected image voxels in the medical image; and entering data encoding the disease-tissue regions into a database for subsequent comparisons.

1. Field of Invention
The current patent application generally relates to medical image processing.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The ultimate goal of new cancer therapies is cure. A good cancer treatment should ideally prolong survival while preserving a high quality of life cost-effectively. To demonstrate prolonged survival in a clinical trial in some more slowly progressing cancers can take 5-10 years or longer. Such trials are expensive, not only in cost but in time.
The typical development pathway for cancer therapeutic drugs includes an evolution from phase I to phase II and to phase III clinical trials. In phase I trials, toxicity of the agent is typically assessed to determine what dose is appropriate for subsequent trials. Typically, the statistical power of phase I drug trials is inadequate to assess antitumor efficacy. In phase II trials, evidence of antitumor activity is obtained. Phase II trials can be done in several ways. One approach is to examine tumor response rate versus a historical control population treated with an established drug. New drugs with a low response rate are typically not moved forward to advanced clinical testing under such a paradigm. In such trials, tumor response has nearly always been determined anatomically. An alternative approach is to use a typically larger sample size and have a randomized phase II trial, in which the new treatment is given in one treatment arm and compared with a standard treatment. Once drug activity is shown—or suggested—in phase II, phase III trials are typically performed. Phase III trials are larger and typically have a control arm treated with a standard therapy. Not all phase III trials are successful, but all are costly.
Determining which innovative cancer therapeutics should be advanced to pivotal large phase III trials can be unacceptably delayed if survival is the sole endpoint for efficacy. Survival trials can also be complicated by deaths due to nonmalignant causes, especially in older patients in whom comorbidities are common. Additional complexities can include patients who progress on a clinical trial but who go on to have one of several nonrandomly distributed follow-up therapies—which can confound survival outcomes.
Therefore, there is great interest in surrogate metrics for survival after investigational cancer treatments, such as response rate, time to tumor progression, or progression-free survival. Changes in tumor size after treatment are often, but not invariably, related to duration of survival. To this end, a variety of approaches to measuring response rate have been developed, beginning with the original reports by Moertel on physical examination in 1976 and continuing to the subsequent World Health Organization (WHO) criteria (1979), Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) (2000), and RECIST 1.1 (2009). These approaches typically focus on how often a tumor shrinks anatomically and defined such response in several ways, including, for example. complete response, partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease. This type of classification divides intrinsically continuous data (tumor size) into 4 bins, losing statistical power for ease of nomenclature and convenience.
Thus, intrinsic limitations of currently applied anatomic tumor response metrics, including WHO, RECIST, and the new RECIST 1.1 criteria, led to on-going pursuit for quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate surrogate endpoints based on functional imaging such as Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT). In particular, a framework for PET Response Criteria in Solid Tumors (PERCIST, version 1.0) has been recently proposed. These functional surrogate endpoints may be useful in future multicenter trials and may serve as a starting point for further refinements of quantitative PET response. They may also provide some guidance for clinical quantitative structured reporting on individual patients. Thus, there is a need in the art for a method that can be objectively implemented by different users in a multi-center environment to monitor a patient's condition over time (i.e., in a longitudinal manner).

Computer-aided detection (CAD) system for personalized disease detection, assessment, and tracking, in medical imaging based on user selectable criteria


An optical receiver circuit that effectively suppresses ambient light. A photodiode receives both desired higher frequency modulated optical signals, as well as the lower frequency or even DC ambient light optical signals. The optical receiver circuit includes a trans-impedance amplifier as do conventional optical receiver circuits. However, the optical receiver circuit also includes an ambient light suppression circuit in a feedback loop between the output terminal of the trans-impedance amplifier and the input terminal of the trans-impedance amplifier. The transfer function of the ambient light suppression circuit may be selected such that the transfer function of the optical receiver circuit filters out DC and lower frequency components contributed by the unwanted ambient light, and passes the higher frequency components that correspond to the wanted optical signal that actually contains the information of interest.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to analog circuitry. More specifically, the present application relates to circuitry and methods for performing ambient light suppression in a photodiode receiver application.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Optical systems are used for a wide-variety of applications in order to communicate information and detect environmental conditions. Optical systems typically include a transmitter that sends out a modulated optical signal, and a receiver that may receive at least a distorted version of the modulated optical signal.
In one application, optical system may be used to detect the presence of an object in a given volume. The transmitter transmits the modulated optical signal into the given volume. If an object is present in the volume, a portion of the optical signal is reflected back into the receiver. The receiver may thus detect, based on the reflected light, whether there is an object in the volume. Conventional obstacle detection mechanisms often employ this technology. If an obstacle is introduced into the path of the optical signal, an attenuate form of the signal is reflected to a photodiode receiver. The receiver then processes the received signal allowing the system to detect the obstacle and effect some appropriate control.
As previously mentioned, optical systems are used to detect the presence of an object in a given volume. In many cases, the volume under examination is not only subject to the modulated optical signal, but is also exposed to ambient light optical signals. The ambient light optical signals include Direct Current (DC) components. In addition, the ambient light optical signals also include relatively low frequency components compared to the higher frequencies of the modulated optical signal. The ambient light optical signals received by the photodiode receiver can cause a false positive detection of an object within the volume, thereby frustrating the purpose of the object detection mechanism.
Therefore, what would be advantageous are photodiode receiver circuits that effectively suppress ambient light while allowing higher frequency modulated optical signals to be detected.

Ambient light suppression circuit for photodiode receiver applications

Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC


One embodiment provides a network node of a metro optical network that includes first and second optical filters. The first optical filter is configured to pass wavelength channels in a first wavelength band and block wavelength channels in a non-overlapping second wavelength band. The second optical filter is configured to block wavelength channels of the first wavelength band and pass wavelength channels of the second wavelength band. An optical splitter is configured to split a received optical signal into first and second signal portions and to direct the first signal portion to the first optical filter. An optical combiner is configured to combine output of the second optical filter with the second signal portion from the optical splitter. An optical transceiver is configured to recover data from a first wavelength channel passed by the first optical filter, and to output a second wavelength channel passed by the second optical filter.

This section introduces aspects that may be helpful to facilitating a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
To drop just a single wavelength of a multi-channel optical signal at a receiver, current metro architectures sometimes use a fixed or reconfigurable drop optical filter. Dropping a channel is typically required for non-coherent receivers, which cannot accept more than one wavelength. The use of fixed filters in the drop direction results in a static coloring arrangement, which does not provide sufficient flexibility for some applications. This can be resolved by the use of reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) node architectures based on wavelength blockers or wavelength selective switches (WSSs). However, these components can add considerable infrastructure cost and loss.
Alternatively, the receiver of a coherent optical transponder (OT) can accept multiple wavelength channels and tune to a specific desired channel. However, most optical solutions are still based on either ROADM or simple passive splitter technology. Architectures based on passive splitters are viable for small networks, but are usually too limited in the number of services they can support, depending on the specifications of the coherent OTs. In the drop direction, there may be a limit to the number of wavelengths that can be dropped to each receiver, due to front-end common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) and dynamic range restrictions, especially in a low cost network without spectral equalization capabilities for ripple reduction. In the add direction, many of the newer generation of coherent optical transponders contain transmit amplifiers that result in broadband noise that can get added to all other add wavelengths and through-path wavelengths, whether or not they originate at the node in question. This broadband amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise can be prefiltered, either on a per-transponder basis or for a small set of transponders, while keeping coloring flexibility, by either the use of tunable optical filters or an add path wavelength-selective switch (WSS), but this may be incompatible with the goal of a low-cost architecture.

Flexible ROADM-less optical hub and spoke node architecture for coherent transponders


An interleaved bi-directional magnetic tape head for contact recording can have a poletip enhanced by providing a thin film of a soft magnetic material deposited onto a magnetic ferrite substrate. The second pole piece is a thin film of the soft magnetic material. A closure block of a non-magnetic ceramic encloses the layers together with leveling insulation layers and a deposited activating conductor turns. The stripe poletip deposited onto the magnetic ferrite extends for a distance just short of the first conductor turn and provides a balancing of the saturation moment of the pole pieces and provides for better recording capability, especially when operating in a trailing magnetic ferrite mode.

In high speed data processing systems, magnetic recording has been employed for large memory capacity requirements. Data is read from and written onto the magnetic recordings using magnetic transducers commonly called magnetic heads which are positioned adjacent to the magnetic recording medium. For a contact recording, wherein the magnetic recording medium comes in contact with the magnetic head, the pole pieces are generally made of a magnetic ferrite material because of its wearing characteristics. The magnetic ferrite pole pieces, while having good wearing characteristics for the contact recording particularly with magnetic tape, however, lack the efficiency to record on high coercivity recording medium in the higher data density requirements for present day data recording. Magnetic heads having thin film pole pieces were developed to increase the saturation moment of the pole pieces and to increase the operating efficiency of the transducers, especially in the write or data recording procedure.
Thin film pole pieces, however, while providing the required efficiency to write the higher data density requirements, could not withstand the abrasion of the magnetic recording medium, especially in the contact recording situation. A first order requirement for high density recording is the minimizing of spacing between the surface of the media and the functional recording gap between the pole pieces. With the soft magnetic material thin film poletips of nickel-iron, for instance, the functional recording gap and the poletips are susceptible to wear by the media. Increasing the spacing between the recording gap and the media deteriorates the recording performance.
The write saturation performance characteristics of an interleaved, bi-directional, magnetic head operating in ferrite-trailing mode are not as good as those during operation in poletip-trailing mode. The mode of operation depends on the direction of tape travel: during ferrite-trailing mode, the tape travels across the gap towards the deposited poletip; in poletip-trailing mode, the tape travels towards the ferrite poletip. Regardless of write mode, a head experiences amplitude loss at high write currents. However, because of the lower saturation moment of the ferrite poletip compared to that of the deposited poletip, the amplitude loss is significantly more severe in ferrite-trailing mode. The problem thus presented is how to better balance the saturation moments of the poletips.
FIG. 1A shows a typical conventional thin film magnetic head for use in contact recording on flexible magnetic media, such as magnetic tape. The prior art thin film magnetic head of FIG 1A includes a non-magnetic substrate 1, generally made of a non-magnetic ceramic. A first thin film pole piece 2, generally made of a Permalloy; i.e., a nickel-iron material, is deposited onto the substrate 1. A second thin film pole piece 3 of the same nickel-iron material is deposited onto an insulating layer 4 which encompasses the coil conductors 5 and forms a magnetic gap 6. A support and leveling material 7, generally non-magnetic, is deposited onto the second pole piece 3. The support material 7 is then covered by a non-magnetic closure piece 8. A magnetic tape media moves in a direction as shown by arrow 9 operating in a motion transverse to the pole pieces 2 and 3 over a bearing surface (BS) where the contact recording takes place.
FIG. 1B depicts a likely gap erosion profile on the BS of a standard thin film recording head after wear as a result of the magnetic tape coming in contact at the BS. Referring to FIG 1B, the thin film pole pieces 2 and 3 are soft compared to the ceramic substrate 1 and the ceramic closure 8. The greatest erosion caused by the contact recording is in the functional gap region 6 and is identified as gap erosion. The erosion is generally also great in the support material 7, but generally this area is far enough away from the functional gap region 6 as not to be a primary concern. The effective gap spacing from the bearing surface can easily be several microinches. At a recording density of 2300 flux changes per micrometer, the signal loss for each microinch of spacing is 1.58 decibels. It is, therefore, essential to minimize effective gap erosion to achieve high density recording objectives.
Based on write saturation characteristics, it is best to use a thin film pole piece as the trailing pole piece for the write mode of magnetic heads. The write saturation characteristics in the use of a trailing pole piece of a block of magnetic ferrite material are not as good at short wavelengths, see FIG 1C. In FIG 1D, a curve shows the output amplitude of magnetic transitions when the write current is increased in a thin film trailing pole piece, such as the head of FIG 1A. In FIG 1D, the output amplitude is higher at its peak with approximately 60 milliamperes of write current and has a good output when 100 milliamperes of write current is applied to the head. The ferrite block amplitude output of FIG. 1C is lower at its peak and is essentially zero at a high write current of 100 milliamperes. The degradation of the amplitude output is attributed to the lower saturation moment of the ferrite material as compared to the nickel-iron material normally used for thin film pole pieces. What is needed is a magnetic head that has the wear characteristics of a ferrite block trailing pole piece and the amplitude output of a thin film trailing pole piece.
Prior attempts to lessen the gap erosion include the use of a magnetic ferrite substrate as the first pole piece and a thin film magnetic layer as the second pole piece. This would have the affect of lowering the gap erosion, but balancing the saturation moment of the completely different pole piece materials caused insurmountable problems, especially with the flexible magnetic media that must be operational in both directions and, therefore, must operate in a trailing magnetic ferrite mode.
The present invention, therefore, provides for an improved magnetic head for contact recording that lowers the erosion as a result of the contact at the functional magnetic gap region, while providing pole pieces that have a balanced saturation moment.

Magnetic head with magnetic substrate and an enhanced poletip thereon

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides novel antisense oligonucleotides that target the genes and mRNAs encoding mammalian Estrogen Receptors (ER) alpha and/or beta and modulate the receptors' responses. These antisense oligonucleotides may be used alone or in combination with 17 Beta estradiol or a related compound (genistein, estradiol derivatives . . . ) to improve plaque stabilization, vascular healing and endothelial recovery after vascular injury. Also provided are methods for designing and testing the antisense oligonucleotides. Such oligonucleotides may be used to modulate the beneficial effects mediated by the ER on vascular healing, for example, restenosis or plaque stabilisation, in mammals. The present invention further pertains to pharmaceutical compositions and formulations comprising the novel antisense oligonucleotides of the present invention for use in the treatment of mammals having a disease or disorder characterised by atherosclerosis, plaque vulnerability or destabilisation or pathological plaque rupture or erosion including spontaneous or induced injury.

Atherosclerosis is a process by which new lesions can progress or become vulnerable from pre-existing ones, and can be summarised as the culmination of i) increased endothelial cell dysfonction; ii) migration of inflammatory cells into extracellular matrix; iii) synthesis and release of degrading matrix molecules; iv) fibrous cap thinning, erosion and/or rupture; v) release of growth factors; vi) prothrombotic, proinflammatory, proapoptotic and/or proatherosclerotic status. Physiological vascular healing and regeneration are highly coordinated processes that occur in individuals under specific conditions, such as during spontaneous plaque rupture and/or destabilisation, or induced by percutaneous or surgical revascularization.
Estrogens play an important role in bone maintenance, in the cardiovascular system, in the growth, differentiation and biological activity of various tissues1. The protective effects of 17-beta-estradiol (17βE) are related to favourable changes in plasma lipid profile2, to inhibition of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation3 and migration4, to relaxation of coronary vessels through endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity5, to reduction of platelets and monocyte aggregation6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) release7 and extracellular matrix synthesis8. We have shown that local delivery of 17βE reduces neointimal thickness after coronary balloon injury in a porcine model8.
Estrogen can bind to two estrogen receptors (ER), alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ), which are expressed in all vascular cells types10. The classical genomic mechanism, or long-term effect of estrogen on vascular tissues, is dependent on change in gene expression in the vascular tissues. Most recently, a second mechanism with direct (or nongenomic) estrogen effect has been identified11. Administration of estrogen can induce a rapid effect suggesting that its activities are linked to the induction of other intracellular pathways such as the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs)11. The MAPKs, which are involved in the proliferation, migration and differentiation of VSMC, are stimulated in rat carotid arteries after endothelial injury12. Treatment with estrogen may influence the MAPK pathway in a variety of cell types and may provide protection against vascular injury.
As indicated above, the major effects of estrogens are mediated through the two distinct estrogen receptors, ERα and ERβ. Each of these ER is encoded by a unique gene19 with some degree of homology between each other, and the genes are organized into six domains (A to F)10. The amino-terminal A-B domain represents the ligand-independent transcriptional-activation function 1 (TAF-1). The ER have only 18% of homology in this amino-terminus domain. The C domain, which represents the DNA binding domain, is extremely conserved in all steroid receptors and domain D contains the hinge region of the ER. The hormones bind the E domain which also contains a ligand-dependent transcriptional-activation function 2 (TAF-2). The two ER have 97% and 60% homology in domains C and E, respectively. The carboxy-terminal F domain is a variable region and it has been proposed that the F domain may play an important role in the different responses of ER to 17-beta-estradiol or selective ER modulators20. The expression pattern of the two ER are very different in many tissues and may suggest distinct responses in the presence of 17-beta-estradiol. Three studies with transgenic knock-out (KO) mice were done and the treatment with 17-beta-estradiol, in the absence of one of two ER (αERKO and βERKO) or both ER (αβERKO) prevented the hyperplasia formation after carotid injury.

Antisense strategy to modulate estrogen receptor response (ER α and/or ER β )


An improved and simplified catheter construction is provided to enhance the steerability of the catheter. The catheter(s) includes an elongate flexible relatively torsionally rigid core wire attached securely at each of the proximal and distal ends of the catheter. The core wire adds sufficient torsional rigidity to the catheter to enhance the steerability of the catheter when the catheter is manipulated from its proximal end by the physician. The catheter avoids the need for incorporating helically braided tubes in the wall of the catheter. The invention may be used to make a catheter having a reduced outer diameter or an increased inner luminal diameter.

Of the wide variety of catheters used in the treatment and diagnosis of the human body, many require considerable manipulation and steering in order that the distal end of the catheter can reach the treatment site within the patient's body and perform its intended function. A few examples of such catheters include dilating catheters, electroprobes, angiographic catheters and flow directed catheters. Typically such catheters are provided with a curved distal end and have a shaft that is sufficiently torsionally rigid so that the distal end of the catheter can be caused to rotate by the physician rotating the catheter at its proximal end. In order to achieve such torsional rigidity, it often is the practice to build the tubular catheter in a plurality of sequential layers, one or more of which may be adapted to increase the torque transmission of the catheter from its proximal to its distal end. For example, in order to increase the torque transmission capability of a catheter it is common practice to incorporate a tubular braid of strong material such as stainless steel or a high strength polymer into the wall of the catheter, as one of its layers. Additionally, the configuration of the layers often is varied so as to vary the stiffness of the catheter along its length, particularly to make the catheter more flexible toward its distal end. Among the disadvantages of the layer by layer construction and of incorporating the braided tube into the wall of the catheter is that they are time consuming, labor intensive and expensive procedures. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a less complex and less expensive construction for such catheters and it is among the principal objects of the present invention to provide such a construction.


An apparatus is for use in a vascular space in a body. A catheter has a lumen adapted for communicating fluid between a distal end for insertion in the vascular space and a proximal end. A transducer is adapted for removably connecting to the catheter for contacting the fluid and transmitting energy through the fluid in the lumen for dissolving an obstruction therein. A suction is provided for removing any debris from the obstruction in the lumen of the catheter. The wave guide may be tubular, and may have a length corresponding to the length of the lumen. A catheter or an implantable port including an embedded ultrasonic transducer is also provided.

Various therapies involve the installation of certain types of catheters for prolonged use. Examples include "PICC" catheters (peripherally inserted central catheters) for installation in the peripheral vascular space, hemodialysis catheters (sometimes simply referred to as "dialysis" catheters), and implantable ports associated with catheters. In view of the extended use of these devices for circulating blood to or from a patient undergoing a particular therapy, clots may form that impede flow, which can lead to complications. Manual cleaning of the catheters is possible, but challenging, and may also deleteriously require removing the device from the patient, which can be a complicated process.
Accordingly, a need is identified for devices and related methods for removing obstructions, such as clots, from specific types of indwelling catheters. The devices and method should be easy and inexpensive to implement on a variety of indwelling catheters, and would be able to remove any obstructions without considerable effort to allow the therapy to continue unabated.

Ultrasound devices for removing clots from catheters and related methods


A new and distinct variety, of Cornus kousa, called "Tsukuba-No-Mine" of white dogwood plant substantially as herein shown and described, characterized particularly as to novelty by the unique combination of (1) upright growth habit with thin branches and high branching characteristics; (2) small leaves; (3) flowering in a period from early to late June, over approximately 20 days; (4) blossoms being yellowish white; and (5) blossoms having thin patulous of narrow substantially lanceolate-shape of approximately 0.9 to 1.2 cm in width, and small diameter of approximately 6 to 7 cm.

The present disclosure is drawn to a highly unusual member of the Cornus kousa family. In 1978, 20 liters of seeds were harvested from dogwood trees growing in the area around Numata-shi, Gunma-ken, Japan. Such seeds were sown, en masse, the following spring and a large number of saplings resulted. The seedlings were allowed to grow, and among the population, one plant was distinctly different, having thinner branches and smaller leaves. Based on these unusual traits, the plant was selected for further observation and testing, labeled and transplanted in March, 1982.
Following transplanting, the observation of the selection, which grew to height of 2.0 m by 1984, was continued. In June of 1984, three blossoms were presented. In observing the blossoms, it was immediately noticed that the blossoms were uniquely distinct from those of normal plants of the species, and were characterized by narrower bracts, which tapered to points, blossoms of smaller diameter, and by having a differing flowering period.
The new variety "Tsukuba-No-Mine" expresses the following distinct characteristics:
(1) an upright growth habit with thin branches and high branching characteristics; PA0 (2) small leaves; PA0 (3) flowering in a period from early to late June, over approximately 20 days; PA0 (4) blossoms being yellowish white, No. 2901 in the Japanese Color Code; PA0 (5) blossoms having four thin bracts of substantially lanceolate-shape, of 0.9 to 1.2 cm in width, and having a small diameter, of approximately 6 to 7 cm; PA0 (6) leaves being strong green, No. 4306 in the Japanese Color Code, and No. 132B in The Royal Horticultural Society Color Chart; and PA0 (7) fruit are small, of about 1.5 cm in diameter, and yield 3 to 5 seeds. Fruit mature to a red color.


A franking machine has an ink jet printing device with exchangeable ink cartridges. The lower housing shell of a security housing of the franking machine has a sealable, shaft-shaped opening in the base and is designed to accommodate assemblies that can be contaminated with ink. These assemblies are situated in a non-secure region of the franking machine and are accessible via the aforementioned opening when a cover of the shaft-shaped opening is opened. A servicing procedure allows the franking machine to be retrofitted to print with a different ink color. After moving the print carriage in one direction and opening a cartridge flap, the ink cartridges can be removed. A displacement of the print carriage takes place after closing the cartridge flap, wherein the print carriage is moved in the opposite direction so that the print carriage arrives in the sealing position for ink cartridges. A box-shaped mod can now be removed from the franking machine. Servicing of the ink-contaminated modules subsequently takes place via the aforementioned opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a franking machine of the type having a printing device to print on a flat item (for example a mail piece or a franking tape) with a predetermined franking color. Such franking machine is used in connection with peripheral and other mail processing apparatuses in a franking system that is purchased, or rented wholly or in part, by a customer. The invention also concerns a method for servicing such a franking machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The color of the imprint produced by a franking machine is predetermined in a nation-specific manner by respective national postal authorities. Franking machines of various types are known in which a modification is made only if a mail piece is to be sent from one country to another country in which a different color of imprint is mandated. For example, when franking machines have been leased in the one country and are replaced by other franking machines in that country, the franking machines that are no longer leased can be retrofitted, shipped to another country and offered for sale there. In the case of currently available franking systems from Francotyp Postalia GmbH and other companies, a retrofitting of the franking color is possible only after opening the security housing. The parts and/or assemblies contaminated with ink can be cleaned or exchanged after opening the security housing.
High retrofitting and servicing costs are especially disadvantageous in a lease transaction. Moreover, there is no simple servicing of the franking machines.
It has been proposed to allow an operator to implement an exchange of an assembly at an apparatus without having to arrange for, and be charged by, a service technician for this task. For this purpose, a locking device for a tray into which a pluggable assembly is inserted is known from German Utility Patent DE 202010015352 U1. The tray is accessible only when the apparatus is unpowered. A power-free contacting of the assembly is then possible. By contrast, an additional access to a low power connector is only accessible when the first cited access is locked. The operator can advantageously implement an exchange of an assembly after the power cable has been pulled out of the low power connector.
A device to lower, position, and raise contact pressure elements of a printer apparatus is known from the German Utility Patent DE 202010015351 U1. A box-shaped module is described therein that is equipped with a feed table that has at its top side an opening for the contact pressure elements of a contact pressure device, and the contact pressure elements are arranged to be removable to facilitate their servicing. In an operating position, the box-shaped module is arranged below the printing device of the franking machine and can be removed from this position for the purpose of servicing. A mechanical connection element and an ink reservoir are arranged at the back side of the box-shaped module. As soon as an internal lock is released, the box-shaped unit slides forward like a drawer on two guide rails and can be completely removed. After concluding the servicing, it can be brought completely back into the operating position by means of the two guide rails and be used further. For example, the box-shaped module can be removed to correct a jam. However, after a jam it has been shown in practice that the servicing of the contact pressure elements of the box-shaped module and a cleaning of light sensors of the photoelectric barriers of the franking machine takes place much more often than a servicing of the ink reservoir. Moreover, the ink reservoir is contaminated by an ink cloud that permeates the franking machine through all openings that are not completely sealed during the operation of the printing device. Naturally, a cleaning of the surface of the lower housing part of the franking machine that is contaminated by an ink cloud is time-consuming. Such a franking machine thus cannot be resold in another country without further measures.

Franking machine and method for servicing thereof


An object of the invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe, an ultrasonic diagnostic device, and a manufacturing method of the ultrasonic probe, which are capable of reducing a product defect rate. An ultrasonic probe according to one embodiment includes a plurality of channels. Each of the plurality of channels includes a vibrator that outputs an ultrasonic wave, and a transmission circuit unit that changes an output in response to an input transmission signal and causes the vibrator to output the ultrasonic wave by driving the vibrator with the output. Here, the transmission circuit unit includes a stop signal holding circuit that holds a stop signal when the stop signal is input in advance, and selects whether to change the output in response to the transmission signal based on whether the stop signal is held.

PTL 1 discloses an ultrasonic probe in which a vibrator, a pulser that supplies a pulse signal to the vibrator, and a signal reception unit that receives an ultrasonic echo via the vibrator are provided for each channel, and a test control unit is provided. The test control unit generates a sine wave that is a test signal, and transmits the test signal to the signal reception unit via an FET in the pulser. By causing a device body to perform image processing based on the test signal received by the signal reception unit, it is possible to test a transmission path of the test signal.

Ultrasonic probe, ultrasonic diagnostic device, and manufacturing method of ultrasonic probe


A waveguide grating. The waveguide grating includes a rib composed of a first material. A first portion of the waveguide has a first layer on the rib, the first layer being composed of a second material; and a second layer on the first layer, the second layer being composed of a third material, the third material having a higher index of refraction than the first material.

Waveguide gratings find multiple applications in silicon photonics devices, including as components of filters, or wavelength-selective reflectors. Certain methods of fabricating waveguide gratings form structures that exhibit poor fabrication yields, for example because they include features that are fragile and easily damaged during the fabrication process.
Thus, there is a need for an improved waveguide grating.

Silicon grating with amorphous silicon perturbation


A system (1) for preparing a predetermined amount of beverage suitable for consumption, provided with an exchangeable holder (2, 102), and an apparatus (4) provided with a fluid dispensing device (6) which is detachably connected to the holder (2, 102) for dispensing at least one amount of at least a first fluid, such as water, under pressure to the exchangeable holder (2, 102), wherein the exchangeable holder (2, 102) is provided with at least one storage space (8, 108) which is filled with a second fluid, such as a concentrate, the holder (2, 102) further being provided with at least one first mixing chamber (10, 110), the exchangeable holder (2, 102) comprising a first holder part (198) and a second holder part (199), the first holder part (198) comprising a substantially flat contacting surface (166), and the at least one storage space (8, 108) and the first mixing chamber (10, 110) each comprising a wall (167, 168) offset relative to the contacting surface (166), which, each, form part of the first holder part (198), while the second holder part i(199) s of substantially flat design.

The invention relates to a system according to the preamble of claim 1. The invention also relates to an exchangeable holder for use in such a system. The invention further relates to an apparatus for use in such a system and a method for manufacturing an exchangeable holder.
Such a system is known from WO 2006/043808.
As the holder may be an exchangeable holder which, after being used once for preparing a predetermined amount of beverage suitable for consumption, such as a cup of coffee, is removed from the system by a user and ends up in the waste circuit, it is of importance that the holder can be manufactured so as to be compact and in an inexpensive manner.

System for preparing a beverage suitable for consumption, and exchangeable holder for such system and method for manufacturing the exchangeable holder


A passive part includes a filter unit having first resonance electrode to a third resonance electrode and an impedance matching circuit unit electrically connected to the third resonance electrode of the filter unit arranged on a dielectric substrate. The entire passive part has a configuration including a circuit unit equivalent to characteristic containing the second impedance matching circuit by an impedance component of the third resonance electrode. For example, by modifying the width of the third resonance electrode, it is possible to adjust the impedance in the same way as when a capacitance as the impedance matching circuit unit is connected, without connecting any capacitance.

Recently, semiconductor components such as ICs have been highly integrated and have quickly become smaller in size. High-frequency components such as filters for use with semiconductor devices have also become smaller in size. Dielectric substrates made up of a plurality of dielectric layers are effective in making high-frequency components smaller in size (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Generally, it has been proposed to integrally combine a filter and an unbalanced-to-balanced converter in a dielectric substrate (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-280805
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-159512
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-056745


A data bus has a bit length of 2 words, and is divided into two bit groups, each of which corresponds to one word. Therefore, the data bus can simultaneously transfer data of two words. A register, a data operation part of a CPU, a RAM and a ROM is connected to the data bus. Even if there is generated data of two words to be transferred in these registers, the data operation part, the RAM and the ROM, the data bus can simultaneously transfer the data. In order to prevent conflict of data on the data bus, there are provided a bus driver, a multiplexer and a bus selector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transfer system, and particularly to a data transfer system capable of simultaneously transferring data of multiple words.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional data transfer system. In FIG. 13, a data bus 1 having a bit width of 16 bits performs data transfer between registers 2a and 2b, a data memory 4 and a data operation part 5. Each of the registers 2a and 2b can store data of one word (i.e., 16 bits in the example). The registers 2a and 2b directly receive write data transmitted through the data bus 1. Data read from the registers 2a and 2b is sent to the data bus 1 through bus drivers 3a and 3b, respectively. The bus drivers 3a and 3b are controlled by control signals C9 and C10, respectively. To the data bus 1 is connected a data operation part 5. The data operation part 5 forms, for example, a part of a CPU (central processing unit), and can store the data of one word. To the data bus 1 is also connected a data memory 4. The data memory 4 includes memory areas M(0)-M(n) which are n+1 in number, and the data of one word can be stored in each memory area. Therefore, the data memory 4 can store data of n+1 words. In the prior art shown in FIG. 13, the data memory 4 is formed of a RAM (random access memory) which allows read and write.
FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram showing a specific construction of the bus driver 3a in FIG. 13. In the figure, the bus driver 3a includes n-channel MOS transistors 31 and 32 which are connected in series between the data bus 1 and the ground. The transistor 31 has a gate receiving the control signal C9. The transistor 32 has a gate receiving an inverted signal of a read output of the register 2a sent from an inverter IN.
In a bus driver 3a shown in FIG. 14, when the read data of the register 2a is at an H-level, a signal at an L-level, which is an inverted signal of the above read data is applied from the inverter IN to the gate of the transistor 32. Therefore, the transistor 32 is turned on. In this state, when the register 2a is selected and the control signal C9 is activated to be at the H-level, the transistor 31 is turned on. Therefore, a potential of the precharged data bus 1 is pulled down to the ground level through the transistors 31 and 32. That means that the potential of the data bus 1 is brought to the ground level, i.e., the L-level, and the output data of the register 2a is read to the data bus 1. Conversely, when the read data of the register 2a is at the H-level, the signal at the L-level which is an inverted signal thereof is supplied to the gate of the transistor 32. Therefore, the transistor 32 is turned on. In this state, even when the register 2a is selected and the control signal C9 is activated (i.e., brought to the H-level) to turn on the transistor 31, the potential of the precharged data bus 1 is not pulled down to the ground potential through the transistor 32. Therefore, the potential of the data bus 1 remains at the potential set by the precharging, i.e., at the H-level, which means that the output of the register 2a is read to the data bus 1. On the other hand, when the control signal C9 is active (i.e., at the L-level), the transistor 31 is in the OFF state. Therefore, the potential change of the output of the register 2a is not sent to the data bus 1. When the register 2a is not selected and the control signal C9 is inactive, the output data of the register 2a is not read to the data bus 1.
The bus driver 3b in FIG. 13 has the same construction as the bus driver 3a in FIG. 14, and operates in the same manner.
A data transfer operation in the conventional data transfer system shown in FIG. 13 will be described below.
(1) A data transfer operation from the register 2a or 2b to the data memory 4:
It is assumed that the data memory 4 is writable, and arbitrary addresses are selected in this operation. Since the bit width of the data bus 1 and the bit width of one memory area of the data memory 4 are equal to the bit widths of the respective registers 2a and 2b, the output data of the register 2a or 2b is transferred through the bus driver 3a or 3b and the data bus 1 to the data memory 4. In this operation, if the control signal C9 has been activated by a data transfer instruction from the register 2a to the data memory 4, the data read from the register 2a is transferred to the data memory 4 through the bus driver 3a and the data bus 1. On the other hand, if the control signal C10 has been activated by a data transfer instruction from the register 2b to the data memory 4, the data read from the register 2b is transferred to the data memory 4 through the bus driver 3b and the data bus 1.
(2) A data transfer operation from the data memory 4 to the register 2a or 2b:
It is assumed that the data memory 4 is readable, and arbitrary addresses, e.g., of memory areas M(0) and M(1) are selected in this operation. Data of one word read from the memory area M(0) in the data memory 4 is transferred to the register 2a through the data bus 1. Then, data read from the memory area M(1) in the data memory 4 is transferred to the register 2b through the data bus 1.
(3) A data transfer operation to the data operation part 5:
In this operation, data read from an arbitrary memory area in the data memory, data read from the register 2a, or data read from the register 2b is transferred to the data operation part 5 through the data bus 1.
As described above, since each register, the data operation part, the data bus and one memory area in the data memory have the same bit width in the conventional data transfer system, data of only one word can be transferred between each of the registers, the data operation part and the data memory in one operation. Therefore, if there is generated data of multiple words to be transferred, the transfer operation for one word must be repeated, resulting in a disadvantage that the data transfer requires a long time.


We explore techniques for designing nonblocking algorithms that do not require advance knowledge of the number of processes that participate, whose time complexity and space consumption both adapt to various measures, rather than being based on predefined worst-case scenarios, and that cannot be prevented from future memory reclamation by process failures. These techniques can be implemented using widely available hardware synchronization primitives. We present our techniques in the context of solutions to the well-known Collect problem. We also explain how our techniques can be exploited to achieve other results with similar properties; these include long-lived renaming and dynamic memory management for nonblocking data structures.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coordination amongst execution sequences in a multiprocessor computer, and more particularly, to structures and techniques for facilitating non-blocking implementations of dynamically sizable shared data structures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most existing nonblocking algorithms (including lock-free and wait-free algorithms) require a priori knowledge of N, the number of processes (or threads) that will potentially participate. Many such algorithms also have space consumption and/or time complexity that depend on N, and will behave incorrectly if N is underestimated. In practice, this dependence results in overly conservative estimates of N and, as a result, in wasted time and space. Some researchers have addressed the time complexity part of this problem by designing algorithms whose time complexity "adapts" to the number of processes that actually participate. See e.g., M. Moir and J. Anderson, Wait-Free Algorithms for Fast, Long-Lived Renaming, Science of Computer Programming, 25:1-39 (1995); Y. Afek, D. Dauber, and D. Touitou, Wait-free Made Fast, In Proceedings of the 27th Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, pp. 538-547 (1995); and Y. Afek, H. Attiya, A. Fouren, G. Stupp, and D. Touitou, Long-lived Renaming Made Adaptive, In Proceedings of the 18th Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing, pp. 91-104 (1999).
As discussed in more detail later, most of these research efforts have been based on the assumption that only read and write operations are available, which is not true in modern shared-memory multiprocessors. This restriction has led to algorithms that are ingenious and beautiful—but ultimately impractical. It has, in our view, also prevented the work from addressing either the space overhead problem or the need for a known bound on the number of processes that potentially participate.
Other results (see e.g., M. Michael and M. Scott, Simple, Fast, and Practical Non-Blocking and Blocking Concurrent Queue Algorithms, In Proceedings of the 15th Annual ACM Symposium on the Principles of Distributed Computing, pp. 267-276 (1996)) do not require knowledge of N, and can allocate space dynamically as required, but cannot reclaim space after it has been used. To our knowledge, the only algorithm that does not exhibit the aforementioned shortcomings is Treiber's link-list-based set data structure. See R. Treiber, Systems Programming: Coping with Parallelism, Technical Report RJ5118, IBM Almaden Research Center (1986). Unfortunately, Treiber's techniques can be prevented from future memory reclamation by a single process failure.
What is needed is structures and techniques that facilitate the design of nonblocking algorithms that do not require advance knowledge of the number of processes that participate, whose time complexity and space consumption are both adaptive and which are not prevented from future memory reclamation should a single process (or thread) fail.

Space- and time-adaptive nonblocking algorithms


A combined spinal epidural needle set of the present invention includes an epidural needle with an overall length, an open distal end and a proximal end with a hub. The epidural needle has a hollow bore therethrough having an inside diameter. The set of the invention includes a spinal needle with an overall length greater than the length of the epidural needle, a pointed distal end, a proximal end with a hub and a hollow passage therethrough. The spinal needle has an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of the bore of the epidural needle. The spinal needle is slidably disposed for movement within the epidural needle between a position wherein the distal point of the spinal needle is substantially coincident with the open distal end of the epidural needle and at least one position wherein the distal point of the spinal needle projects beyond the open distal end of the epidural needle. The hubs of the epidural needle and the spinal needle each include an adjustable engagement for preselecting the position of the distal point of the spinal needle with respect to the open distal end of the epidural needle.

Generally speaking, there are two basic techniques for introducing injectable medicament into the spinal area of a patient. The techniques both can be used to create spinal anesthesia, one being delivery of the medicament into the epidural space, "epidural," and the other, penetration of the dural membrane with delivery of the medicament into the subarachnoid space, "spinal" or "subarachnoid." The medicaments can be any type of liquid therapeutic material including antibiotics, steroids and the like, but generally are agents used for anesthesia and analgesia. When the liquid medicament is an anesthetic agent, a subarachnoid placement is recognized as providing a faster, more uniform distribution, but several major side effects may result from an improper subarachnoid placement. These side effects may include nerve damage, either from contact with the needle or from high local concentrations of the medicament, pooling or inadequate mixing of the medicament in the cerebrospinal fluid.
Delivery of the medicament into the subarachnoid space requires a penetration depth of several centimeters. Puncture of the dural membrane for introduction of a needle or catheter with a large gauge needle may result in postoperative leakage of cerebrospinal fluid from the puncture site, often resulting in severe postoperative headaches. Thus, when puncture of the dural membrane is made with a needle, the smaller the size of the puncture the lower the probability of post-procedural leakage of cerebrospinal fluid. Small diameter needles of the length required to enter the subarachnoid space are quite flexible and as a result, difficult to accurately position when making penetrations to a depth of several centimeters. Practitioners have recognized the need to use a needle with sufficient stiffness to make the initial penetration and the need to use a small diameter needle for penetration of the dural membrane. This recognition has evolved into the use of an eight to ten centimeters long, larger diameter (ca. 16-18 gauge) introducer needle to enter the epidural space followed by the use of the bore of the introducer needle to place a longer, i.e., twelve to sixteen centimeters long, smaller diameter (ca. 22-28 gauge) spinal needle adjacent to and then to penetrate the dural membrane. The spinal needle is then used to administer a bolus of the anesthetic agent. The bolus results in rapid onset of anesthesia, and depending upon the placement and the amount administered, the effect may last several hours.
Correct placement and delivery of a subarachnoid inedicament is recognized by practitioners as being one of the more technique sensitive procedures currently practiced. There is considerable anatomical variation between patients related to the patient's size and weight. The practitioner generally positions the introducer needle between the vertebrae into the epidural space against the dural membrane, then advances the spinal needle through the dura into the subarachnoid space. Accurately perceiving when the dura has been penetrated is often difficult for the practitioner. There are several widely practiced techniques to confirm that the needle has entered the subarachnoid space. Some practitioners depend upon feeling a "pop" as the spinal needle penetrates the dura. Other practitioners routinely place a drop of fluid on the proximal hub of the spinal needle and depend upon observing the drop being drawn into the hub when the dura is penetrated. Many practitioners also often confirm that the subarachnoid space is penetrated by using the spinal needle to withdraw a sample of cerebrospinal fluid.
A survey of previous patent literature reports in this general area is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,631. The patent discloses a method for placement of a subarachnoid catheter that utilizes a three component apparatus comprising an outer needle, an inner needle and a catheter intermediate the two needles.
A recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,389, discloses a regulating device for adjusting the length of a combined spinal epidural needle and the method of practicing its use. The disclosed invention utilizes standard commercially available spinal and epidural needles, providing a fixture for preselecting the spinal needle projection with respect to the epidural needle when the spinal needle is coaxially placed within the epidural needle. While this regulating device and method is quite useful in the practice of combine spinal epidural medication, the use of this device adds an additional item to the procedure kit, and additional manipulations.
Another recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,820, discloses a set for spinal anesthesia that has a hollow introducer needle, a spinal needle introducible through the introducer needle into the subarachnoid space, a stylet extendable through the spinal needle and an enlongate hollow sleeve. The disclosed hollow sleeve has a first hollow portion extending into the interior of the introducer needle and a second hollow portion extending longitudinally from the first hollow portion over the spinal needle only. The hollow sleeve is provided with a perpendicular screw disposed to be advanced against the cannula of the spinal needle to retain the spinal needle in a fixed position with respect to the introducer needle. The impingement of the perpendicular retaining screw directly upon the cannula of the spinal needle may result in particulate generation or damage to the small diameter spinal needle. Additionally, a gloved practitioner may have difficulty manipulating the necessarily small retention screw while holding the needles at the desired position.
Subarachnoid placement of medicaments, if done properly, is acknowledged to be desirable. Thus, a device and a method for its use that would minimize the size of the puncture of the dural membrane, allow accurate and controlled placement of a therapeutically effective amount of a medicament within the subarachnoid space, thereby reducing the potential for nerve damage, coupled with an ability to rapidly initiate and maintain a therapeutic level of the medicament for longer procedures would represent an advance to the medical arts. A method and apparatus that addresses these needs constitute the present invention.


Process and apparatus for laying fiber bands of filaments by changeably moveable weft or diagonal layers to form fiber arrangements stretched in different laying directions between two transport chains having guide hooks and retainer needles. Fiber bands are spread individually, guided by guide elements for forming a direction change fold, such that strands of each direction change fold are fixed in gaps between guide hooks. Apexes of direction change folds spread out by the guide elements execute racking and are hanged and fixed in a row of densely arranged retainer needles. Upper strands of direction change folds forming between retainer needles and guide elements of weft or diagonal layers are spread horizontally and guided under tension by a stitch spreader moved from outside inwards. The instant abstract is neither intended to define the invention disclosed in this specification nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process and apparatus for laying fiber bands of filaments by changeably moveable weft layers or diagonal layers to form fiber arrangements stretched in different laying directions between two transport devices equipped with guide hooks and retainer hooks and thus conveyed to a pretreatment station. The endless flat fiber bands are spread individually, and guided by guide elements of the weft layer or diagonal layer aligned perpendicular to the preset laying direction crosswise over both transport chains and deposited. Each of the fiber bands is guided by a guide element that crosses the row of guide hooks of the transport chain to respectively form a direction change fold having a lower strand, an upper strand and an apex, such that the fiber band is inserted into retainer elements.
2. Discussion of Background Information
A method of the type mentioned was proposed through DE 101 49 161 C2. The sheet of fiber bands is guided diagonally over the transport chains with the aid of a weft layer or a diagonal layer. The guide elements for the fiber bands are aligned perpendicular to the movement direction of the weft layer and arranged in a line next to one another parallel to the transport chains. The transport chains have two rows of hooks arranged spaced at a distance from one another. The guide hooks are located adjacent to the fiber arrangement. They have perpendicular needles closely adjacent to one another with the tip pointing upwards. Outside this row of guide hooks there is another row with retainer needles pointing upwards and outwards. These are likewise arranged very densely.
The guide elements on the weft layer or diagonal layer are vertically fixed. In the direction change phase a so-called fold tensioner is inserted behind the guide element of the weft layer, which fold tensioner guides the upper and lower strands of the direction change fold separately from one another at the apex of the same until both strands are transferred to the row of guide hooks again after racking of the upper strand is completed by a racking grid swung in from above. While racking is executed, the fibers of the direction change fold are stretched and collected by a so-called loop tensioner and transferred to the row of retainer hooks in the form of a rope.
Due to the large number of tools involved in the operation, this procedure requires a very high control expenditure. The desired effect, namely to achieve a really gap-free form of the fiber arrangement, is achieved only with reservations. The working speed remains limited and is unsatisfactory. With a change in the width of the fiber bands or with the change of alignment of the fiber band sheet between the transport chains, the work elements always have to be structurally adapted to the new conditions. The associated expense is high.
With DE 197 42 721 C1 a method and a device for laying and positioning weft thread sheets is known in which the transport chains are likewise equipped with guide hooks and needle-shaped retainer hooks. The weft thread layer is lowered in connection with a presser rail outside the retainer hooks under the tips of the same after it has executed a first racking. After completion of a further final racking under the tips of the retainer hooks, the weft thread guide is raised again and lays the weft thread sheet, which is now stretched between the retainer hooks and the weft thread guide, at a predetermined point into the row of the guide hooks of the transport chains.
However, with this mode of operation and this device only weft thread sheets, the weft threads of which are not laterally connected to one another can be reliably hooked into the transport chains. This mode of operation is not suitable for fiber bands of, e.g., carbon or glass filaments, in which the filaments are held against one another in a predetermined defined position, namely forming a band, by adhesive materials. During racking the cross sections of the fiber band are raised in an uncontrolled manner, so that a uniform hooking, in particular of the upper strand, into the row of guide hooks cannot be guaranteed. In addition, during the racking of a fiber band within a guide element on the weft layer, the band is deformed into a rope. There is no possibility of spreading out this rope again before transfer to the guide hooks. Gaps of irregular width would develop in the border area of the arrangement which would be considered to be substantial quality defects. This mode of operation is therefore not suitable for laying fiber bands of filaments.
DE 100 21 341 A1 describes a similar device. Here additional band fixing systems, the design and operating method of which remain unclear, are assigned to the weft layer instead of to the presser rails. These band fixing systems evidently avoid pushing together the thread sheet during the racking behind the retainer hooks. It is not possible to feed fiber bands of filaments with this arrangement. The swiveling of the strips carrying the guide elements would repeatedly lead to rope formation. Gap-free arrangements of fiber bands cannot be produced in this manner.
Another device was disclosed by DE 102 07 317 C1. The weft thread guide of the weft layer or diagonal layer, which weft guide is aligned parallel to the row of guide hooks, has guide elements, the guide surfaces of which are aligned parallel to the row of guide hooks. The weft thread guide does not perform any movement in the racking direction. The racking is carried out by a standard racking grid which is assigned in the known manner to the retainer needles pointing outwards and upwards.
A guided band is deformed into a rope during racking within the guide elements in the weft layer through the movement of the racking grid—independent of the weft layer. This rope is subsequently inserted into the row of guide hooks and forms the dreaded gaps.
In a further development of DE 101 49 161 C2 discussed initially, the unpublished DE 103 12 534 proposes a modified device with which, i.e., the transfer of the rope-shaped apex of the direction change fold from the fold tensioner to the retainer hooks is to be improved in that a type of fitting (retainer needles distributed on a surface) is provided instead of the row of retainer hooks.
This did not achieve the desired success, either. The device and the control thereof are similarly expensive as was shown in reference to DE 101 49 161 C2. Loose fibers from the fiber band of the direction change fold are also in part guided into the arrangement and undesirable distortions thus occur there.
In another variant of this cited document not published earlier, guide grids that can be activated in a follow-on manner are assigned to the weft layer with its guide elements, which guide grids laterally fix the position of the fiber bands of the upper strand of the direction change fold and align it vertically in a plane parallel to the tips of the guide hooks. The function of the loop holder is here taken over by the fold tensioner which can be pivoted about an axis. This fold tensioner transfers its direction change fold respectively to one individual retainer hook per fiber band. This method of operation is likewise unsatisfactory, since the direction change fold is guided in an uncontrolled manner, in particular during the transfer of the direction change fold from the fold tensioner to the individual retainer hooks. The release of this fold by the fold tensioner leads to the relaxation of fibers and fiber bands in the arrangement.
In view of these seemingly insoluble difficulties in hanging endless fiber bands of filaments into the hooks of the transport chains, attempts have been made to align previously trimmed fiber bands under tension over the two transport chains and to hang them into the rows of the guide hooks of the transport chains. The free ends of the fiber band sections were brought—directed downwards—into a further clamp on the transport chain that was opened again at each laying arrangement before new end sections were inserted. This method of operation has also proven to be very difficult to control. The fiber band filaments not directly connected to the clamp surfaces of the clamps could not be held and tensioned securely. The interaction of the clamps with different functions cannot be controlled under industrial conditions at sufficiently high speed.

Karl Mayer Malimo Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH


Multiple detection techniques are used to determine whether the individual pixels in an image are background or foreground. The outputs from the multiple techniques are combined according to a confidence metric associated with each technique, which may vary from pixel to pixel. The resulting blended value for each pixel is compared with a threshold to determine whether the pixel is foreground or background.

Background subtraction is a technique used in the fields of image processing and computer vision, wherein an image's foreground is extracted from a video sequence for further processing. This technique is sometimes used, for example, to detect a moving subject using a static camera. The detection of the moving subject is the result of a comparison between the current frame and a reference frame. The main drawback with this technique is when a background object is moving.
Chromakeying is used both in real time and in post-processed video production for the removal of a greenscreen background from a moving subject. By excluding or reducing the display of the pixels that closely match the key color, the moving subject can be isolated from the background set and rendered onto other graphics. However, the drawbacks of this technique are limitations in options for the colors of both the subject and background, and gradual or sudden illumination changes.
Image segmentation or scene segmentation is used to create a partition of an image into several coherent parts. Every part, or even every pixel is classified and labelled into one of the pre-determined classes of foreground or background. The problems associated with this technique are contour detection, bottom-up grouping and the inefficiency of labeling each pixel in real time.
The technique of 3D reconstruction captures the shape of real subjects and generates a computer model of the three-dimensional appearance of the subject from a set of two-dimensional images. The limitations of this method are related to the ability to run the reconstruction in real time and the difficulty of obtaining a high-quality representation.
Computer vision methods are used to process, analyse and understand highly dimensional data obtained from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

Multi-modal data fusion for scene segmentation


For machine training and application of a trained complex-valued machine learning model, an activation function of the machine learning model, such as a neural network, includes a learnable parameter that is complex or defined in a complex domain with two dimensions, such as real and imaginary or magnitude and phase dimensions. The complex learnable parameter is trained for any of various applications, such as MR fingerprinting, other medical imaging, or non-medical uses.

The present embodiments relate to machine learning in a complex value domain. Machine learning, such as deep learning using neural networks, is used for image processing and analysis. While most natural and medical images are real-valued images, the nature of the magnetic resonance (MR), ultrasound, and other medical imaging signals in general is described in a complex domain. The phase information from the complex value contains information and is widely used in MR applications such as phase sensitive late gadolinium-enhanced (LGE), flow imaging, or MR fingerprinting. Many neural network systems for MR are derived from applications dealing with real-valued images and operate in the real domain, ignoring the information available from complex MR signals.
Some neural networks use complex signals. Complex-valued neural networks have been utilized for audio signal processing and have gained attention for MR. The complex values are split into separate real and imaginary channels, and real-valued non-linearities are separately applied to each split, such as in a complex ReLU (CReLU) network. This split may distort the phase information. For activation functions (non-linearities), most studies try to provide specific behaviors like preserving the phase through the activation, but there is little proof that the behavior preservation fits the data better.

Complex-valued neural network with learnable non-linearities in medical imaging


There is provided a window screen configured in such a manner that first and second screens are wound around a winding shaft together with a number of dimming slats attached therebetween in which bottom bars of lower ends of both screens come into stable contact with a lower frame of a screen frame. The first and second screens and the slats attached therebetween at regular intervals so as to be freely tiltable are wound around the winding shaft, both side ends of the first screen engage guide rails so as to be freely slidable, and bottom bars guided individually by side frames are attached to lower ends of both screens. Both screens are set so that either one of the bottom bars at the lower ends thereof comes into contact with the lower frame of the screen frame in an arbitrary inclined orientation that the above-described slats may have in a state in which both screens are extended in the screen frame in a tensed manner.

For example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-110462, a window screen configured to be installed at a building opening and provided with a function of a blind capable of varying an angle of inclination of slats is already known.
A screen apparatus including the window screen includes a net or a sheet-type screen to be wound by a winding shaft, a number of slats configured to be attached to one surface side of the screen substantially at regular intervals so as to be freely tiltable, and being coupled at free end sides thereof to a flexible coupling member such as the net at substantially same intervals as intervals of attachment to the screen, and a winding shaft configured to wind the screen by rotation thereof together with the slats, the flexible coupling member and the like attached thereto, and the above-described slats are configured to be tiltable at the free end sides thereof with respect to the screen in a state in which the above-described screen is fed out from the winding shaft and extended in a tensed manner at the building opening.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-88469also discloses the same type.
In the screen apparatus of this type, when extending the flexible coupling member or the like such as the screen, and the slats and the net wound around the winding shaft at the building opening in a tensed manner by rewinding from the winding shaft, the respective slats needs to be capable of retaining a light-shielding state by lying along the screen until a bottom bar provided at a lower end of the screen or the like reaches a lower frame of a screen frame for achieving light-shielding with the slats, and the slats needs to be capable of tilting at the free end sides thereof to a suitable angle of inclination with respect to the screen at least by some operation after the above-described bottom bar reaches the lower frame of the screen frame. In addition, when tilting the slats to a suitable angle of inclination at free end sides thereof in a state in which the above-described bottom bar reaches the lower frame of the screen frame, it is desired that the operation thereof can be performed easily and stably to achieve adjust the angle of inclination of the slats freely while keeping the above-described bottom bar constantly not to separate from the lower frame of the screen frame for preventing rattling due to wind the like or entry of insects.
When a configuration of the screen apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-110462 is considered from such a point of view, in the screen apparatus, a single bottom bar 8 is attached between a lower end of a screen 4 to which one end of each of a number of slats 5 is attached, which is wound around a freely rotatable winding shaft 2 and a lower end of a flexible coupling member 6 to which the other end of each of a number of the slats 5 is attached. Therefore, it is superior in terms of simple configuration, but there are following problems caused by this configuration.
In other words, as described above, when a configuration in which the single bottom bar 8 is attached between the lower end of the screen 4 and the lower end of the flexible coupling member 6 is employed, it becomes difficult to adjust lengths of the screen and the flexible coupling member easily in accordance with an opening length of the building opening in a vertical direction to which the screen apparatus is installed. For example, it is difficult to keep the bottom bar attached to the lower end of the screen in stable contact with the lower frame of the screen frame irrespective of an inclined posture of the above-described slats and suppress occurrence of rattling due to wind or the like or significant disfigurement due to formation of a gap between the bottom bar and the above-described lower frame. In the case where an insect preventing net is used as the above-described screen, and the screen apparatus is used as a window screen for a protection from insects, if the gap is formed between the above-described lower frame and the bottom bar, it works as an insect entrance route. In the case where the screen and the flexible coupling member are longer than an opening length of the building opening in the vertical direction, the inclined posture of the slats becomes unstable due to a sagging generated thereby.
As described above, the reason why the gap tends to be formed between the above-described lower frame and the bottom bar is that the posture of the bottom bar 8 is unstable due to wind or the like as a result that the configuration is simplified by attaching the single bottom bar 8 between the lower ends of the screen 4 and the flexible coupling member 6 wound around the winding shaft 2. Therefore, as illustrated in FIGS. 20(A) and (B), an attempt is made to stabilize the posture of the bottom bar 8 by forming a contact surface 8a of the bottom bar 8 with respect to the lower frame 9 into an arcuate shape. However, in this case as well, there are disadvantages such that a gap is formed between the bottom bar 8 and the lower frame 9 unless the screen apparatus is installed in site with the lengths of a pair of the screen 4 and the flexible coupling member 6 adapted to a vertical dimension of an inside of the screen frame and, in addition, rattling of the bottom bar 8 due to wind or the like cannot be prevented by a guide or the like.


A method of transmitting data includes synchronizing a system clock with a real time clock. Digital data is collected from multiple sources at a system clock time. A sample counter provides a count for each system clock time. The digital data for each source is associated with the count. A data cell is composed from the digital data associated with at least one count and a source identifier. A data frame is created from the data cells from every source. A cell frame is created from a plurality of data frames, and a time frame is composed from a plurality of cell frames. A heads-up cell including the count is transmitted before the time frame. A time/count cell including the count and the real time is transmitted with the associated time frame.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for putting a time code in asynchronously transmitted data. More specifically the invention relates to a method for providing a time code for multiple streams of simultaneously received data in order to allow reconstruction of the data after asynchronous transfer.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
It is often desirable to transmit data collected from a plurality of sensors. When the data is received, it is desirable that the original signal be reconstructed to have the same timing as the originally received data. Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) utilizes a shared, high bandwidth transmission line. In ATM, data is packaged into 53 Byte cells having a 5 Byte header and a 48 Byte data region. When data is transmitted via ATM, other data is inserted in the transmission stream and the timing of the transmitted data is not preserved. Additionally, data cells can be lost during transmission. If detected, various well known error correction techniques can be applied to make up for the lost data.
The prior art discloses numerous means for capturing the time that a single data stream is received. Typically, these methods involve adding a time stamp to each cell transmitted over an ATM network. These methods do not allow time reconstruction of data received simultaneously from a plurality of data sources because they do not include a means for synchronizing data among the sources to indicate both the time received and the source.

Method for time coding of asynchronous data transmissions

The United States of America represented by the Secretary of the Navy.