A motor vehicle in which a floor of the body is reinforced by reinforcing struts arranged in V shapes, in which a body with a high rigidity is achieved by mounting the rear end-area ends of rear reinforcing struts arranged in a V-shape on a connecting area on the bottom of the vehicle rear end, where the ends of two other rear end-area reinforcing struts that run in a V shape are arranged, and by mounting the rear end area of the two other reinforcing struts so they run obliquely to the rear in the direction of a rear end of the vehicle and obliquely toward the outside in the direction of rear chassis beam members, with the rear ends of the other reinforcing struts being mounted on the rear chassis beam members.

This invention relates to a motor vehicle body, and in particular arrangements of body reinforcing members.
German Patent DE 39 05 650 has already disclosed a motor vehicle having a self-supporting body, whereby reinforcing struts arranged in a V pattern are provided on the underside of the floor to reinforce the body, converging in the direction of the rear end and the front end of a vehicle. Due to the V-shaped arrangement of the reinforcing struts on the floor pan of the body, the torsion amplitudes on the body are reduced due to the increased torsional rigidity of the body.
European Patent EP 603 536 B1 discloses another motor vehicle with which a first V-shaped reinforcing strut runs in a horizontal plane on the floor pan. A second V-shaped reinforcing strut is arranged in a vertical transverse plane. The first V-shaped reinforcing strut is connected directly to the second V-shaped reinforcing strut at the converging ends of the reinforcing strut in the area of the rear end. The free ends of the two V-shaped reinforcing struts are attached to chassis beam members which run beneath the passenger compartment as well as beneath the rear end. The reinforcing struts also serve to increase the torsional rigidity of the body.
The object of this invention is to create a motor vehicle having a body with a high rigidity.
This object is achieved through the features of the present invention, wherein the rear end-area ends of rear reinforcing struts are mounted on a connecting area on the bottom of the vehicle rear end, the ends of two other rear end-area reinforcing struts that run in a V shape also are arranged on the connecting area and the two other reinforcing struts run obliquely toward the rear and obliquely toward the outside in the direction of rear chassis beam members, and with the rear ends of the other reinforcing struts being mounted on the rear chassis beam members.
Due to the inventive reinforcement of the body on the floor pan of the present invention, the torsional rigidity and the flexural rigidity are both increased. The inventive reinforcement can be used to advantage in an open vehicle such as a convertible or a roadster as well as in closed vehicles, in particular station wagons and vehicles without a B pillar.
The inventive reinforcement of two reinforcing struts running in a V shape, attached to the vehicle body at their converging ends, has five points of connection to the vehicle. In an advantageous embodiment, a component suitable for introducing and distributing force is mounted on the bottom of the vehicle body. The inventive reinforcement yields an increase in the torsional rigidity as well as the flexural rigidity of the body by a simple method.
In an advantageous embodiment, the rear chassis beam members on the rear end of the vehicle run at an offset height with respect to the lower outer chassis beam members situated beneath the passenger compartment. The joint connection area of the two reinforcing struts is below the rear chassis beam members. In an advantageous embodiment, the common connecting area is located at the spare tire well or some other lower body part in the rear end. Due to this arrangement, the inventive reinforcement has a three-dimensional X shape. This design has the advantage that a space for arranging components, e.g., the rear axle, is still available in front of the spare tire well and/or the floor in the rear end.
In one embodiment, in addition to the rear X-shaped reinforcement in the rear end of the vehicle, a front vehicle reinforcement is advantageously provided, in which two reinforcing struts run in a V shape in the direction of the front end of the vehicle. The front end of the body is also reinforced due to the additional front reinforcing struts which lie approximately in a horizontal plane.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A method and device for heart murmur extraction and classification is disclosed. Data corresponding to a heart sound/signal is acquired from a patient through a data acquirer. The heart sound data is processed to isolate systole and diastole periods. Features to discriminate between the defects types associated with different heart murmurs are extracted, and the heart murmurs are detected and identified based on the extracted features using a fuzzy controller.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method and system of heart murmur extraction and identification of heart impairments through signal processing techniques.
2. Discussion
Functions of a human body may be transduced and/or detected in many ways to provide signals that may be interpreted to form an assessment of the human condition. Conventional transduction methods can be used to collect data via different instruments, such as stethoscopes, Ultrasound machines, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines.
However, one limitation on relying on conventional specialized instruments to perform transduction methods is the lack of specialized medical professionals (who know how to operate the specialized instruments and/or understand data produced by the specialized instruments) in rural and urban clinics/hospitals in, for example, various developing countries. Accordingly, there is a need for providing a simplified transduction method and system that may be used by lay men. Furthermore, specialized instruments, such as MRI and Ultrasound machines, may be very expensive and unaffordable for many medical professionals.
In addition, information obtained by medical instruments may not always be clear. For example, information related to a heartbeat or signal may be acquired using a stethoscope. However, the signal may be weak and/or masked by surrounding noises thereby leading to a false diagnosis. The signal processing techniques can be employed in order to enhance the quality of the information acquired which can then be used to predict different pathological conditions.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is provided to enhance understanding of the background of the disclosed subject matter and therefore may contain information that does not form any part of the prior art nor what the prior art may suggest to a person of ordinary skill in the art

Heart murmur extraction and heart impairments identification using fuzzy controller

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology


The disclosure describes pattern recognition detectors and software used to detect patterns in image streams. The detectors operate on streams of image data, making them suitable for detecting certain types of patterns in documents and images passed between processes and devices. For instance, the streaming mode detectors operate in printer drivers on streams of image data being passed to a printer. Also, the streaming mode detectors operate in scanner drivers on streams of image data being passed from a scanner. The disclosure describes pattern detectors for shapes with complex features as well as objects comprised of many smaller shapes. The disclosure also describes novel raster line and edge tracing pattern techniques.

Image pattern recognition refers to the study of automated systems and processes designed to recognize patterns in image data. Pattern recognition detectors are useful for a variety of applications, including automated inspection of objects and controlling the operation of machines.
One important application of pattern recognition is in imaging devices to detect documents or images of a particular type and controlling the operation of the imaging device based on detection of a particular pattern. Preferably, a pattern recognition detector in these applications must be efficient and use minimal memory so as to not interfere with the normal flow of image processing in the imaging device.
This document describes methods and related software for recognizing image patterns in images. These methods are particularly adapted for efficiently detecting object patterns in image data streams received from an image scanner or sent to a printer from an application program in a personal computing system. These detector methods are also adapted for implementation in software drivers for printers and scanners. The detector is used to detect an image pattern associated with a particular type of document, such as a secure document including identification documents and bank notes. For these types of documents, the detector may be used to inhibit scanning or printing of the document, and/or trigger other usage control operations. The detector operates effectively on low resolution images, and minimizes the use of memory by temporally storing and operating on only small groups of scan line bands at a time. This enables the detector to operate on a stream of image data being sent to printer or intercepted from a scanner as the image is being printed or scanned. As such, the detector does not add significant processing complexity or memory requirements to the printing or scanning process. Also, by acting on an image stream during image capture or printing, actions taken in response to detecting a target object pattern can be taken before printing or scanning of an entire document is complete. In addition, the detector can be implemented as part of an operating system, device driver or other program, and can be used to scan digital image files, e.g., when a file is opened. While the methods are adapted for device control within printing and scanning environments, they may be used for other applications as well.
One aspect of the invention is a method for image pattern recognition for detecting an object in an image stream. The method temporarily stores a group of scan lines in the image stream, and transforms image pixels in the scan lines to a space in which the target object is detected. This transforming of the image includes, but is not limited to a color space transformation. The method detects a candidate pattern in the space of the transformed pixels, analyzes the candidate pattern to determine whether the candidate pattern satisfies predetermined criteria associated with the target object being sought, and controls use of the image stream based on a result of analyzing the candidate patterns.
Another aspect of the invention is a method for image pattern recognition for detecting an object in an image. This method detects a candidate size relevant shape in the image, and performs edge tracing of the candidate size relevant shape to determine whether the candidate satisfies predetermined shape criteria. The edge tracing includes performing a water spreading method to trace a boundary of the candidate size relevant shape. This water spreading may include water filling or water draining to trace the boundary of the object.
Further features of the invention will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawing.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Pattern recognition of objects in image streams


A system for signal processing is provided. A sampling delay system generates a plurality of sampling delay values. A plurality of programmable delays each receives one of the sample delay values. A plurality of sample and hold units, each coupled to one of the programmable delays, generates a sample of a received signal in response to an input from the programmable delay.

Sampling of analog signals to form digital data can be complicated by blocking signals, noise, or other undesired signals in the analog signal. While such signals can be filtered, filtering increases the cost of the analog to digital converter and reduces the strength of a received signal. As a result, it is often necessary to also amplify a signal prior to or after filtering, further increasing the cost of the analog to digital converter.

Method and apparatus for delay and combining circuitry


A flutter control system for a turbine includes a processor. The processor is configured to detect blade flutter of a turbine. The blade flutter indicates that blades of the turbine are in a deflected position different from a nominal operating position. The processor is configured to control operational parameters of the turbine that reduce or eliminate the blade flutter to improve the reliability and efficiency of the turbine.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to turbines, and more particularly, to monitoring and/or controlling blade flutter.
Frequently, turbines are used to generate rotational energy from combustion of a fuel. For example, a gas turbine engine combusts a mixture of fuel and air to generate hot combustion gases, which in turn drive one or more turbine stages. The hot combustion gases force turbine blades to rotate, thereby driving a shaft to rotate one or more loads, such as a vehicle or an electrical generator. The electrical generator may be coupled to a power grid to provide power that is used for residential, industrial, or any other suitable purpose.
As the gas turbine rotates, it is desirable for the blades to be located at a desired operating positions at points in time as the blades rotate. However, depending on various operating parameters of the gas turbine, at certain frequencies the blades may be deflected from a respective operating position into a foul position, such as blade flutter. Blade flutter can cause a variety of problems which may have one or more adverse effects on the speed, efficiency, components, and lifetime of the system. It constrains the design and operation of turbines, particularly for design cost reduction and efficiency improvement. For the foregoing reasons, there is a need to address blade flutter in gas turbine systems.

Gas turbine blade flutter monitoring and control system


A method and a system for presenting Internet information to a user including providing to a user a visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink, and at least partially concurrently providing a visual image of another web page of at least one web site which is represented by the at least one hyperlink.

The following U.S. patents are believed to represent the current state of the art: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,101,510; 6,016,494; 6,011,537; 5,973,692.
The following disclosures are also believed to be relevant to the subject matter of the present invention:
R. J. Yarger, G. Reese, and T. King "MySQL & mSQL," O'REILLY & Associates Inc, 1999, ISBN 1-56592-434-7;
B. Laurie, and P. Laurie "Apache the Definitive Guide, 2nd edition," O'REILLY & Associates Inc, 1999, ISBN 1-56592-528-9;
C. Musciano, and B. Kennedy "HTML the Definitive Guide, 3rd edition," O'REILLY & Associates Inc, 1998, ISBN 1-56592-492-4;
Libwww http://www.w3.org/Library;
T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, and L. Masinter "Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax", RFC 2396, August 1998.

Framework for providing visual context to WWW hyperlinks


A method of manufacturing inversion ICs includes the steps of connecting a first electrode pad group of a semiconductor chip to a second lead group via wires, connecting a second electrode pad group of the semiconductor chip to a first lead group via wires, sealing the semiconductor chip, the first and second lead groups, and the wires in a resin so that the outer lead portions of the leads are exposed, and bending the outer lead portions of the leads toward the bottom surface of the semiconductor chip. An IC module includes a mounting substrate, a standard IC mounted on the top surface of the mounting substrate, an inversion IC mounted on the bottom surface of the mounting substrate so that the leads providing connections to the same functions in the standard and inversion ICs are at the same point on opposite sides of the mounting substrate, and a plurality of connecting members on the mounting substrate, electrically connecting the opposed leads of the standard IC and the leads of the inversion IC together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing inversion type ICs for high-density mounting and to an IC module in which inversion ICs are mounted.
2. Description of the Related Art
The construction of a conventional resin seal type IC 8 is shown in FIG. 18. A semiconductor chip 1 is mounted on a die pad. An electrode pad 2 on a surface 1a of the semiconductor chip 1 is electrically connected to an inner lead portion of a corresponding lead 4 by a wire 3. The semiconductor chip 1, the wire 3, the inner lead portion of the lead 4 and the die pad 11 are sealed by a main body of a package 5 made of a resin so that an outer lead portion 6 of the lead 4 is exposed. The outer lead portion 6 of each lead 4 is usually bent toward the bottom surface 1b of the semiconductor chip 1 in order to mount the IC.
When a plurality of ICs constructed as described above are mounted on a single mounting substrate and, for example, when a large-capacity storage device is formed, leads of the same pin numbers of a plurality of leads having the same functions must be connected to each other. When, for example, a plurality of ICs are mounted on both sides of a mounting substrate, since the pin arrangement of ICs mounted on the top surface of the mounting substrate does not match the IC pin arrangement mounted on the bottom surface, leads having the same functions do not match each other. Also, when a plurality of ICs are mounted on a single surface of a mounting substrate, leads having the same functions do not meet each other in adjacent ICs. As a consequence, there is a problem in that, since leads having the same functions are connected to each other, wiring on a mounting substrate becomes complex.
A method shown in FIG. 19 for solving such a problem is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-168652. In this method, ICs, such as ICs 9, have inverted pin connections formed by bending the outer lead portion 6 toward the top surface 1a of the semiconductor chip 1, in contrast with standard ICs, such as ICs 8, in which the outer lead portion 6 is bent toward the bottom surface 1b of the semiconductor chip 1. A standard IC 8 is mounted on a top surface 7a of a mounting substrate 7, and an inversion IC 9 is mounted on a bottom surface 7b thereof. With this construction, leads corresponding to each other can be connected easily by merely providing a through hole 10 on the mounting substrate 7 because the leads of the same pin numbers of both ICs 8 and 9 are at the same point with the mounting substrate 7 in between.
However, if an ultra-thin package, such as a TSOP (Thin Small Outline Package) having a thickness of approximately 1 mm, is mounted as shown in FIG. 19, the following problem occurs. Since the package is thin, the outer lead portion 6 exposed to the outside from the main body 5 of the package is short. If heat stress, such as heat cycling, is applied thereto, the solder connection portion between the outer lead portion 6 and the mounting substrate 7 is destroyed by a short cycle. For this reason, although it may seem that, to absorb heat stress, for example, a lead guide surface of the IC 8 should be made higher and the length L1 from the lead guide surface to the mounting substrate 7 made longer, in the inversion type ICs 9, on the contrary, the length L2 from the lead guide surface to the mounting substrate 7 becomes shorter, and the performance deteriorates.
In addition, there is another problem in that, productivity is reduced since the shapes of the bent leads are different for ICs 8 and 9 and two types of dies for bending operations are required to manufacture standard and inversion type ICs.

Method of manufacturing inversion type IC's and IC module using same


An air cycle machine for producing a supply of cooled air and including a compressor rotor fixed to a shaft which is driven by a turbine rotor, the turbine serving to expand air which is pressurized by the compressor. Magnetic bearings support the shaft radially in a housing for rotation about a precisely established axis while a magnetic thrust bearing keeps the shaft in a precisely fixed axial position. The housing and the bearings are constructed as two split sections to permit the housing and the bearings to be separated radially and facilitate repair and/or replacement of the shaft and other internal components.

Environmental control systems for aircraft typically employ air cycle machines to cool and condition pressurized air supplied by the engines or by an auxiliary power unit. In an air cycle machine, a shaft is rotatably supported in a housing and serves to connect a compressor and a turbine. The pressurized supply air passes first to the compressor where it is compressed and is heated as a result of the compression. After being cooled by a heat exchanger, the compressed air is expanded in the turbine and is chilled to a very low temperature in order to cool the aircraft cabin and the aircraft avionics. The compressed air acting on the turbine rotates the shaft which, in turn, drives the compressor.
To support the shaft which connects the compressor and the turbine, an air cycle machine typically employs three bearings. Two of the bearings are radial bearings which prevent the shaft from shifting radially. The third bearing is a thrust bearing which holds the shaft in a fixed axial position. For optimum performance, very small clearances must be maintained between the machine housing and the tips of the compressor and turbine blades. If the bearings permit more than just slight amounts of free play, the shaft will shift when loaded and will allow the blade tips to contact the encircling housing.
In prior air cycle machines, hydrodynamic fluid film bearings (commonly called air bearings) have been used to locate the shaft radially and axially since such bearings provide minimal free play. Air bearings, however, require extremely small clearances (e.g., .+-.0.0002"), require supply air for cooling, and are slightly damaged at each start up and shut down as a result of lack of support at low speeds. Because of the small clearance in the air bearings, dirt or other combination increases the susceptibility for damage and, in addition, such clearances result in relatively high friction and heat. As a result, bearing replacement is a frequent cost item and, if failure occurs during operation, the compressor and/or turbine may be damaged. A shaft which is supported by air bearings must be removed axially from the housing for repair or replacement and this usually requires that the air cycle machine be removed from the aircraft and sent to a remote repair depot.
Magnetic bearings are used for supporting shafts in various types of machinery. In radial magnetic bearings, several electromagnets are spaced angularly around a shaft and, when energized, produce opposing magnetic forces which cause the shaft to levitate in free space within the housing. Sensors detect the actual position of the shaft and vary the energization of the electromagnets in such a manner as to keep the shaft centered precisely on a predetermined axis.
While the initial cost of a magnetic bearing system may be somewhat higher than that of an air bearing system, magnetic bearings permit more easily attainable machining tolerances (e.g., .+-.0001") and larger clearances, require no air for cooling, experience a relatively long service life, and are capable of supporting shafts either at rest or operating at speeds of 100,000 RPM or higher.

Air cycle machine with magnetic bearings


Defects in integrated circuit wafers (10) are often difficult to diagnose, because patterned wafer inspections can only be done after certain wafer processing steps. Defect simulation is used to understand the relation between defects in the wafer (10) and the resulting wafer profiles. Defects such as particles (50) and bubbles (22) in the photoresist (28), for example, translate into a wide variety of defective profiles. Knowledge of the relation between defects and the defect profiles can assist in yield improvement efforts, since defects may be diagnosed by comparing simulated and observed defect profiles. From the simulated defect profiles, methods can be adapted to fix or correct observed defects.

Defects are major causes of yield loss for all integrated circuit ("IC") products. The focus of yield improvement efforts is to identify and eliminate major yield limiters. This is done, in part, by scanning a sample of IC wafers with in-line scanners and classifying defects. The most common defect types are identified, after which an effort is made to find the source of these common defects and fix the problem.
Identifying a cause of a defect is usually the most time consuming and costly component of yield improvement efforts. Some defect types are not too difficult to diagnose. Easy to diagnose defects include those caused by particles. Such defects are often still present during in-line inspection. Consequently, the particle composition can be determined by known techniques, such as energy dispersion spectroscopy analysis.
On the other hand, some defect types are difficult to diagnose because they leave their imprint by distorting the physical topography of the water surface. These defects may also no longer be present at a step where inspection can be performed, which makes identification difficult. Examples of such defects can include bubbles and particles in the photoresist layer of the IC. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, diagnosis of defects in the photoresist layer is difficult because photoresist can only be inspected after it is developed. Moreover, bubble and particle defects in the photoresist often do not appear as bubbles or particles after the photoresist is developed, but may take on some other distorted shape or appearance, which further complicates diagnosis.
Because defect diagnosis is difficult if the defects causing a distorted wafer profile are no longer present during inspection, yield learning typically involves running pre-designed experiments. Such experiments commonly involve processing sets of wafers with different fabrication recipes. Often, the number of wafers used in such experiments is limited, however, in order to save material costs. But if too few wafers are used, experimental results may turn out to be inconclusive thus frustrating defect diagnosis and yield improvement. Defect simulation can thus provide guidance for such experimental work by eliminating some of the competing theories about the causes of certain defects.
In addition, submicron lithography defect simulation has been known to provide insight about how defects of different sizes and types can distort expected wafer profiles. Through the use of lithography simulation, defect causes can be identified and verified by comparing the simulation results with observed wafer profiles. Both the insight and data gained from lithography simulation, such as when and how defects cause shorts or opens, and the nature of the distorted patterns the defects cause, can assist in yield improvement efforts.
Topography simulations of photoresist bubbles have been performed using the Metropole lithography simulator developed at Carnegie Mellon University. Among the capabilities of this simulator is a two-dimensional modeling of in-line aerial imaging, exposure of photoresist, and development of photoresist. The quantitative accuracy of the defect simulations was verified by simulating particles of various sizes in the photoresist. Experiments were then performed to recreate the photoresist defects in actual IC wafers. These experimental results were found to correlate and match those from the simulations.
Once the simulator is tuned to the experimental data, it can be used to run further experiments to observe how a wide variety of defects are likely to impact photoresist profiles. The results from simulations of various defects, such as the impact of bubbles and particles in the photoresist and on top of the photoresist layer, can then be employed to determine and correlate simulated defects with observed defects. This has been done for individual defects and for similar groupings of related defect types.
What is needed is a method or technique for cataloging or storing a host of defect simulations that can then be used to diagnose the wide variety of defects encountered in a production environment. The catalog would include entries for known defects, and a profile of the simulated effect of such defect in IC processing. Observed defects could then be matched with the simulated defect effects. Once a match of simulated and observed effects is found, the associated cause of the defect can be readily identified. Such a catalog or library of defect profiles would help cut down the time required to identify the cause of a defect. Moreover, known techniques can then be applied to correct the particular defect identified.

Defect diagnosis using simulation for IC yield improvement


In an atrial pacing system, the A-PACE pulse energy, defined by the pulse width and pulse amplitude, sufficient to reliably capture the atrium without being wasteful of battery energy is periodically determined in accordance with atrial capture management (ACM) algorithms. The ACM algorithms allow a slow intrinsic atrial heart rate that is suppressed by delivered A-PACE pulses resulting in A-CAPTURE and that occurs when delivered test A-PACE pulses result in ALOC to be detected. ALOC is declared if an A-EVENT of the slow intrinsic atrial heart rate is detected either during an ACM test window timed from the last delivered test A-PACE pulse or during delivery of a sequence of test A-PACE pulses delivered within or defining the ACM test window correlated to the slow intrinsic atrial heart rate.

Atrial synchronized, dual chamber, pacing modes, particularly, the multi-programmable, VDD, VDDR, DDD and DDDR pacing modes, have been widely adopted in implantable dual chamber pacemakers for providing atrial and ventricular or AV synchronized pacing on demand. Such dual chamber pacing modes have also been incorporated into implantable cardioverter/defibrillators (ICDs) and into right and left heart pacing systems providing synchronized right and left heart pacing for enhancing left ventricular cardiac output as described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,324.
Such pacing systems are embodied in an implantable pulse generator (IPG) adapted to be subcutaneously implanted and at least atrial and ventricular pacing or cardioversion/defibrillation leads that are coupled to the IPG. The atrial and ventricular leads each incorporate one or more lead conductor that extends through the lead body to an exposed pace/sense electrode or cardioversion/defibrillation electrode disposed in operative relation to a heart chamber.
The pacing operating system comprises atrial and ventricular sense amplifiers and atrial and ventricular pace pulse generators. The atrial sense amplifier is coupled to active and indifferent atrial pace/sense electrodes to detect electrical signals of the heart associated with atrial depolarizations (P-waves) and to generate an atrial sense event (A-EVENT) signal when detection criteria are met. The ventricular sense amplifier is coupled to active and indifferent ventricular pace/sense electrodes to detect electrical signals of the heart associated with ventricular depolarizations (R-waves) and to generate a ventricular sense event (V-EVENT) signal when detection criteria are met. The atrial pace pulse generator delivers a negative-going or cathodal voltage atrial pacing (A-PACE) pulse through a pacing path comprising the active and indifferent atrial pace/sense electrode. The ventricular pace pulse generator delivers a negative-going or cathodal voltage atrial pacing (V-PACE) pulse through a pacing path comprising the active and indifferent ventricular pace/sense electrode.
The pacing operating system times out various intervals from each A-EVENT, V-EVENT, A-PACE, and V-PACE to maintain synchronous depolarizations of the atria and ventricles. Such AV synchronous pacemakers that perform this function have the capability of tracking the patient's natural sinus rhythm and preserving the hemodynamic contribution of the atrial contraction over a wide range of heart rates. Maintenance of AV mechanical synchrony is of great importance as set forth in greater detail in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,623.
Each of the A-PACE and V-PACE pulse energies is set at a programmable energy level, involving both pulse width (duration) and amplitude (strength), so as to provide sufficient energy to cause the heart chamber to depolarize and contract. The minimum pacing pulse energy which is required to capture and thus evoke a muscular depolarization within the heart is referred to as the "stimulation threshold", and generally varies in accordance with the well known strength-duration curves, wherein the amplitude of a stimulation threshold current pulse and its duration are inversely proportional. When a delivered pacing pulse is successful in so stimulating the heart into contraction, it is said to have "captured" the heart, whereas failure to stimulate the heart is described as "loss of capture" (LOC).
In order to maximize the useful life of dual chamber pacing IPGs, it is desirable that the A-PACE pulse energy and the V-PACE pulse energy be programmed to the minimal energies required to capture the atria and ventricles, respectively. As is well known, the stimulation threshold for a patient, in both the atrium and the ventricle, can fluctuate both short term and long term following implantation. The A-PACE and V-PACE pulse energies are therefore typically programmed by the physician at implantation employing an external programmer to exceed the stimulation threshold by a "safety margin" to avoid atrial loss of capture (ALOC) and ventricular loss of capture (VLOC).
As described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,310, the post-operative determination of the stimulation thresholds by the physician typically requires the patient to be connected to surface ECG equipment while a threshold routine is conducted using the pacemaker programmer. The pacemaker programmer successively reprograms the pulse width and/or amplitude on a temporary basis to ascertain the points at which capture is lost. The A-PACE and/or V-PACE pulses are observed on a display or paper tracing as spikes, and capture or LOC is observed by the presence or absence of the "evoked response" wave shape (a P-wave or an R-wave) that follows each spike. At LOC, the programmed pacing pulse may be immediately restored so that the patient does not experience syncope. A strength-duration curve may be plotted from the resulting threshold data. The resulting threshold data may then be used to permanently reprogram the pulse energy. Naturally, such periodic patient studies are time-consuming and expensive to conduct. Moreover, they do not provide an indication of stimulation threshold fluctuation over the course of a patient's day and levels of activity.
Therefore, systems and methods have been proposed to be incorporated or have been incorporated into the IPG operating system to periodically, automatically conduct stimulation threshold tests, and to readjust the pacing pulse energy in relation to any newly determined stimulation threshold. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,024, where the pacing pulse energy is initially set at a high enough energy to ensure capture, and then is reduced by successive increments until LOC is detected and a back-up pacing pulse is delivered. The evoked response characteristic of capture is intended to be sensed across a particular pace/sense electrode pair, and LOC is inferred if the evoked response is not detected within a short time window following delivery of the pacing pulse.
However, sensing of the evoked response is rendered difficult for a variety of reasons. The A-PACE and V-PACE pulses are produced by the exponential discharge of respective atrial and ventricular output capacitors through the impedance loads in the atrial and ventricular pacing paths that each include a coupling capacitor, the active and indifferent pace/sense electrodes, and the patient's heart tissue between the pace/sense electrodes. It is conventional to suppress or blank both of the atrial and ventricular sense amplifiers during A-PACE and V-PACE pulses for blanking periods to avoid overloading the sense amplifier, to allow a fast recharge function to be completed, and to prevent sensing of artifacts resulting in false declarations of A-EVENTs or V-EVENTs.
In addition, a number of sense amplifier refractory periods are timed out on atrial and ventricular sense event signals and generation of A-PACE and V-PACE pulses, whereby "refractory" A-EVENT and V-EVENTs during such refractory periods are selectively ignored or employed in a variety of ways to reset or extend time periods being timed out. The durations of the blanking and refractory periods therefore render it difficult to reliably detect an evoked response, if any, across the same pace/sense electrode pair that the A-PACE or V-PACE pulse is delivered across.
As a result of these considerations, a great deal of effort has been expended over many years to develop IPGs having the capability of automatically testing the stimulation threshold, i.e. providing an "auto-capture" detection function, and resetting the pacing pulse energy to exceed the threshold by the safety margin without the need for clinical or patient intervention.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,134,473 and 6,144,881 describe the Capture Management algorithm implemented, for example, in the Medtronic® Kappa® 700 pacemaker IPGs. The polarity of the positive or negative change in voltage with respect to time (or dv/dt) of the waveform incident on the pace/sense electrodes is monitored during a short period of time immediately following a paced event. In one embodiment, sensing of the evoked response is based upon a relationship between a maximum magnitude of a derivative of a sensed signal and a predetermined threshold reference value. The evoked response is declared when the maximum amplitude of the derivative of the sensed signal equals or exceeds the threshold reference value.
The Capture Management algorithm is periodically run, e.g., once a day at a prescribed time to perform a pacing threshold search (PTS) wherein the pacing pulse amplitudes and pulse widths of the pacing pulses delivered in each pacing channel are incrementally adjusted within a predetermined range to determine the pacing threshold, and the threshold data is stored for analysis of long term trends. When an "Adaptive" mode of the Capture Management algorithm is programmed the Capture Management algorithm automatically adjusts the pacing pulse amplitude and/or pulse width setting to ensure capture at minimum pacing energy while maintaining the programmed safety margin(s).
A wide variety of other approaches have been taken as reflected by the extensive listing of earlier patents described in the above-referenced '310 patent and in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,320,643, 5,324,310, 5,331,966, 5,601,615, 5,683,431, 5,861,012, 5,861,013, and 6,231,607, for example, and in further U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,686,988, 5,165,404, 5,165,405, 5,172,690, 5,222,493, 5,285,780, 5,564,430, and 5,683,426, for example.
The '310 patent, for example, discloses employing additional capture detection sense amplifiers and sense electrode pairs to detect the evoked response within an anticipated time following delivery of an A-PACE or V-PACE pulse. In other approaches, as exemplified by the above referenced '643 patent, one or more physiologic sensors that show a response to the mechanical action of the heart, e.g. a piezoelectric or impedance sensor, or that show changes in physical properties of the blood when the heart is captured, e.g. blood pH, temperature, impedance or blood pressure sensors on the pacing lead have also been suggested. In virtually all of these approaches, it is necessary to rely on additional components and circuitry that consume more energy and add to the bulk and cost of the system and raise reliability issues.
In one atrial auto-capture approach disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,486, for example, the amplitudes of a series of A-PACE pulses are progressively decremented, and the presence or absence of a V-EVENT within an AV delay is noted. The absence of a V-EVENT indicates ALOC.
In one embodiment of the above-referenced '615 and '012 patents particularly for use with patients having intact and regular A-V conduction and with or without an intrinsic atrial sinus rhythm, A-PACE pulses are delivered at a test escape interval (that is shorter than any intrinsic atrial interval) and a paced AV (PAV) delay is timed out. An ALOC is declared in the absence of a detected V-EVENT in the latter portion of the test PAV delay following the delivery of the A-PACE test pulse. In the ventricular threshold test regimen, a V-PACE test pulse is delivered after a shortened test PAV delay timed from the preceding A-PACE pulse. A VLOC is declared by the detection of a V-EVENT in the ventricular refractory period of the delivered V-PACE pulse.
These atrial capture detection methods depend upon normal AV conduction, which is not present in many instances where the patient is pacemaker dependent in the ventricles. Therefore, these methods cannot be used if the patient has a high degree of AV block since an A-PACE triggered atrial depolarization is not conducted reliably to the ventricles to trigger a ventricular depolarization sensed as a V-EVENT.
In a second embodiment of the '615 and '012 patents, for use in the atrium or ventricle in patients having intrinsic sinus rhythm, each test A-PACE or V-PACE pulse is delivered at a test escape interval set as a fraction, e.g., about 50%–75% of the average intrinsic escape interval timed from a preceding A-EVENT or V-EVENT, respectively. A sense test window set to be somewhat longer than the test escape interval is timed out from delivery of the test A-PACE or V-PACE pulse. ALOC or VLOC is declared if an A-EVENT or V-EVENT, respectively, is detected within the sense test window. A-CAPTURE or V-CAPTURE is declared if an A-EVENT or V-EVENT, respectively, is detected after time-out of the sense test window. The energy of the test A-PACE pulse is successively incremented or decremented until an A-EVENT is detected within the sense test window, which signifies ALOC at the test energy of the previously delivered A-PACE test pulse. Preferably, in this embodiment, the test energy in pulse width and amplitude of the A-PACE or V-PACE test pulses is increased until A-CAPTURE or V-CAPTURE is declared so that the patient's normal rhythm is not disturbed frequently during the test.
These atrial and ventricular auto-capture methods depend upon the presence of normal sinus rhythm in the atrium and ventricles, respectively, which is not present in many instances where the patient is pacemaker dependent in one or both of the atria and the ventricles. In such a case, the sense test window cannot be determined since intrinsic A-EVENTs and V-EVENTs cannot be reliably detected.
Further auto-capture methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,476,487, 5,674,254, and 6,216,037, rely upon the observation that the QT interval of the PQRST waveform varies in duration as a function of capture or LOC of the ventricles following a V-PACE or the atria following an A-PACE conducted to the ventricles. The commonly assigned '037 patent discloses an implantable DDD pacemaker incorporating a method for continually determining whether a delivered A-PACE pulse has resulted in capture of the atrium. A V-PACE is delivered after the time-out of a PAV delay, and the following QT interval is determined. An atrial depolarization that spontaneously occurs during the time-out of the PAV can affect the QT interval. The QT interval is measured on a cycle-by-cycle basis, stored, and employed in making a determination of change in QT interval, i.e., )QT=*QT−QTPREV*. The )QT variable is compared to a lower limit, e.g., 2 ms, and a higher limit, e.g., 10 ms, and when )QT is within this range there is a determination of ALOC.
Detecting the QT interval following delivery of a V-PACE using the ventricular sense amplifier is itself difficult given the ventricular blanking and refractory intervals. Moreover, this approach presumes that the atria have an intrinsic depolarization rate that is overdriven at a faster atrial pacing rate. It also assumes that there is intact AV conduction, but that the ventricles are also paced. Typically, atrial and ventricular synchronized pacing is necessary during AV block and when the intrinsic atrial heart rate is lower than is desirable to provide sufficient cardiac output to meet the patient's needs.
What is needed in the art of determining ALOC is a capability of reliably detecting when a delivered A-PACE pulse has evoked an atrial depolarization without requiring special tests or additional components or circuitry that consume energy and add to the bulk and cost of the system. Specifically, there is a substantial need in a pacing system for an atrial capture detection method and system that function simply and reliably when the patient is pacemaker dependent in the atria or in both the atria and the ventricles.

Atrial capture management during atrial and ventricular pacing


A releasable backstopping clutch is provided with a safety mechanism to prevent uncontrolled release of the clutch. A support structure is fixed against rotation and releaseably coupled to the one of the inner or outer members of the backstopping clutch. The support structure inhibits rotation of the member when coupled to the member and permits rotation of the member when uncoupled from the member to release the clutch. A sensor is configured to generate a signal indicative of a characteristic associated with movement of the member and a controller is configured to cause recoupling of the support structure and the member if the characteristic meets a predetermined condition.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to releasable backstopping clutches and, more particularly, to a backstopping clutch assembly having a safety mechanism to prevent uncontrolled release of the clutch.
2. Disclosure of Related Art
In many motor driven systems, it is desirable to prevent or limit movement of system components in one direction. For example, mining operations typically use inclined conveyors to convey material to a surface location or other outlet. It is desirable to prevent or limit reverse movement of the conveyor in the event of a loss of power or a failure of a driveline component such as the motor or motors, gearboxes or couplings in order to prevent material from moving backwards on the conveyor and causing damage to the system and significant injuries to personnel operating the system.
Backstopping clutches are typically used to prevent reverse rotation of rotating system components. A backstopping clutch includes an inner member that is mounted to a shaft driven by one or more motors for rotation with the shaft about a rotational axis. An outer member is disposed radially outward of the inner member and is generally fixed against rotation through coupling with a fixed support structure such as a torque arm or gear box (which itself may be coupled to surrounding, fixed structures). A plurality of torque transmission members (e.g., rollers, sprags, etc.) are disposed radially between the inner and outer members. The torque transmission members and/or inner or outer members are shaped such that when the motor drives the shaft and inner member in one rotational direction, the torque transmission members assume a first position permitting relative rotation of the inner and outer members (i.e., permitting the inner member to freewheel). When the driven shaft and inner member are driven in the opposite rotational direction (e.g. by the force of the load of the material on a conveyor upon failure of a motor), the torque transmission members assume a second position and forcefully engage the inner and outer members and prevent the inner member and driven shaft from rotating relative to the fixed outer member.
Some backstopping clutches are releasable to enable easier servicing of the clutch and surrounding motor driven structures and to limit torque on the clutch and structures. In a releasable backstopping clutch, the support structure is releasably coupled to the outer member of the clutch. When the support structure is uncoupled from the outer member, the engaged outer and inner members of the clutch are permitted to rotate in the direction opposite the freewheeling direction.
Releasable backstopping clutches have not obtained widespread acceptance because releasing the clutch creates significant safety issues. In particular, if the clutch is released for a long enough period of time, the accumulated kinetic energy of the load may exceed the ability of the release mechanism to reengage and prevent further movement.
The inventors herein have recognized a need for a releasable backstopping clutch assembly that will minimize and/or eliminate one or more of the above-identified deficiencies.

Safety control for releasable backstopping clutch


A light emitting diode reflector molding process, and a construction thereof includes preparation of a first and a second green sheet structures respectively provided with a first and a second open patterns with the porosity of the second open pattern smaller than that of the first open pattern; the second green sheet structure being placed on top of the first green sheet structure to such that both opening patterns being overlapped to each; a metallic layer being coated on the second green sheet structure, the second green sheet structure being molded along the opening pattern of and covering upon the first green sheet for the metallic layer to become the wall of the reflector opening.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a molding process of a light emitting diode (LED) reflector, its construction, and the reflector-applied LED loader, and more particularly, to a molding process of an LED ceramic reflector with variable LED loading angles.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Light emitting diode (LED) for compact in size, lower power consumption, low heat generation, and long service lift has gradually exited the conventional tungsten lamp of the similar function as found in Xmas light, flashlight, vehicle signal light, and traffic mark. An LED is essentially comprised of a transparent package containing conductive terminals of different polarities and a loader; a chip is disposed on the load; an electrode layer of the chip and those conductive terminals are connected to each other by means of a gold plated wire; and each conductive terminal extends out of the transparent package to become a contact to a power source.
A chemical compound semi-conductor in the LED chip essentially decides spectrum or luminance characteristics of the LED. Optical characteristics of the LED including light emitting luminance or angle of filed of view are significantly subject to package substrate of the LED.
In a construction of an LED of the prior art, a reflector operates to reflect light emitted by the LED. Generally, the reflector is provided using the drilling, punching or laminating method. However, any of these methods is blamed for higher cost, rough inclined plane being detrimental to the pattern of light reflection, opening shape being limited, and prevention from producing packed circuits. As a result, efforts for reducing packaging cost of the LED and for improving the light selection efficiency of the LED are frustrated.
Furthermore, packaging construction and performance of the LED are closely related. Whether a heat generated in the course of chip operation can be rapidly released to the ambient or to a heat dissipation mechanism becomes one of those factors in determination of the LED performance. Wherein, one of the mainstreams in the packaging development involves direct loading of the chip on a metal admixture of high heat transfer coefficient. Generally, in case of a ceramic metal package construction, a metal material and a ceramic material must be sintered together. However, if the metal admixture does not contract in the sintering process, a comparatively expensive non-contractible ceramic material must be used. Manual soldering is required in the assembly of the LED module since in multiple designs those electrodes in an LED are confined to where above a substrate to warrant improvement its workability.

LED reflector molding process, construction, and loader thereof


A wafer structure and a method of making the same, upon which semiconductor devices may be formed, comprises first and second wafers. The first wafer comprises a first substrate having a thin oxide layer formed on a bottom surface thereof, the first substrate having a characteristic thermal expansion coefficient. The second wafer comprises a second substrate having an insulation layer formed on a top surface thereof, the insulation layer having a characteristic thermal expansion coefficient substantially matched with the characteristic thermal expansion coefficient of the first substrate and further having a high thermal conductivity. The second wafer further comprises a thin oxide layer formed on a top surface of the insulation layer, wherein the first thin oxide layer of the first wafer is bonded to the second thin oxide layer of the second wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wafer structures and a method of making the same. More particularly, the invention relates to a wafer structure containing an insulation layer.
2. Description of Related Art
Wafer structures having a "buried insulation" layer are particularly useful for semiconductor devices made via a BiCMOS process. The BiCMOS process is an integrated circuit processing technology which allows bipolar transistors to be formed within substrate wells containing complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. An example of a BiCMOS semiconductor device is one in which "power-hungry" emitter coupled logic (ECL) bipolar circuits are used on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure. The ECL circuits act as logic elements and bipolar drivers. One disadvantage of these ECL circuits is that they produce sufficient heat that the generated heat becomes trapped and gives rise to temperatures unacceptable for normal device operation.
In addition to temperature sensitivity, silicon devices are sensitive to radiation (e.g., .alpha.-radiation and cosmic radiation). In order to decrease the radiation sensitivity of the silicon device, the collection volume of the device has to be reduced for hole/electron pairs generated by the radiation impact along the radiation path. The collection volume can be reduced by incorporating a "buried insulation" layer in the silicon device structure.
Recently, the technology for forming "buried insulation" layers has advanced to the stage of manufacturing quantities. In particular, thermally grown SiO.sub.2 is used as the buried insulation layer. Bonding two oxide grown wafers can be achieved at an elevated temperature (900.degree. to 1100.degree. C.) whereby the two oxide layers become a single oxide layer. The excess silicon on the device wafer is then removed, first by grinding, then by lapping, and finally by chem.-mech. polishing. On the commercial market, 2 .mu.m thick silicon above a buried 5000 .ANG. thick SiO.sub.2 oxide layer is obtainable, for example, from Shin-Etsu Handotai (S.E.H.) of Tokyo, Japan.
A buried isolation layer of thick thermal SiO.sub.2 oxide (5000 .ANG.) can also be used for reducing heat build-up of the ECL circuits on an SOI structure, if a heat conducting path is provided. The use of thermally grown SiO.sub.2, by itself, has disadvantages. For instance, the thermal resistance of the oxide is a function of thickness. The thermal resistance of the oxide layer can be minimized by making the layer thin, however, this would result in undesired increased capacitance effects. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient of SiO.sub.2 (5.times.10.sup.-7 C.sup.-1) is not well matched with the thermal expansion coefficient of silicon (32.times.10.sup.-7 C.sup.-1).
An alternative method for keeping a device cool is to incorporate a polycrystalline diamond layer within the semiconductor device structure as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,818 entitled "Polycrystalline CVD Diamond Substrate For Single Crystal Epitaxial Growth Of Semiconductors" and granted Jan. 1, 1991 to Anthony et al.. In the '818 patent, a chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond layer is formed on a single crystal of silicon. During the deposition of the diamond layer, an intermediate layer of single crystal SiC forms between the single crystal of silicon and the polycrystalline CVD diamond layer. The silicon is then completely removed, via etching, to reveal the SiC layer supported on the polycrystalline CVD diamond layer. A semiconductor layer is thereafter epitaxially grown on the exposed single crystal of SiC. A single crystal semiconductor polycrystalline CVD diamond mounted device structure is thus produced.
A device produced via the teaching of the '818 patent, however, has disadvantages. For instance, the crystal quality of the semiconductor grown epitaxially on the SiC is subject to defects, such as, lattice mismatch. In addition, the CVD diamond layer becomes the support substrate for the semiconductor device, thus, necessitating a relatively thick CVD diamond layer. Furthermore, since the diamond substrate of the '818 patent is exposed, any subsequent device fabrication steps of high temperature, high energy processes in oxygen (such as oxidation, plasma ashing, etc.) will attack the substrate. Therefore, it is very difficult to perform process steps with the '818 diamond substrate for processes, such as, isolation trench formation, field isolation, and resist stripping.
It would thus be desirable to provide a wafer structure having a buried insulation layer which is free of the above identified problems. Such a structure should also provide a substrate which is substantially free of lattice mismatch defects and further provide optimal thermal dissipation. Still further, such a structure should be suitable for isolation trench formation.

Bonded wafer structure having a buried insulation layer

International Business Machines Corporation


Systems, methods and a processor are provided for adjusting the spark timing of an internal combustion engine. The systems, methods and processor include adjusting the spark timing of an internal combustion engine configured to power a vehicle toward peak torque timing based on an output of a longitudinal acceleration sensor configured to sense a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle.

Output performance of internal combustion engines may vary significantly depending on the setting of various engine operating parameters, such as air-fuel ratio, spark timing, etc. In one particular example, spark timing, and more specifically settings for minimum timing for best torque (MBT), may affect vehicle fuel economy.
Typically, MBT spark timing is determined based on the results obtained from engine mapping. However, part variation and operating condition variations, even when extensively mapped, may still cause the spark to be set at a value providing less torque than another value closer to the actual MBT timing.
One approach to provide a feedback to control output torque and thereby address engine mapping errors is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,573. This example provides a system and associated subsystems that use a detected ionization signal to, among other things, control MBT timing.
However, the inventors herein have recognized a number of potential disadvantages with such an approach. As one example, the ionization current measuring circuit in the combustion chamber may degrade unpredictably due to part variation and differences in wear characteristics over time. Wear characteristics may be particularly difficult to predict for components located in harsh environments such as combustion chambers.
Thus, in one approach, a method is provided that includes adjusting the spark timing of an internal combustion engine configured to power a vehicle toward peak torque based on an output of a longitudinal acceleration sensor configured to sense a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle. In this way, it may be possible to reduce reliance on sensors in harsh environments, and thereby reduce the uncertainties associated with component variation, and component aging. However, it should be appreciated that such an approach may also be combined with feedback from other sensors, such as an ionization sensor located in the combustion chamber, for example.
In one particular aspect, the spark timing may be adjusted during a steady state of the vehicle while the vehicle is in operation on a driving surface. The adjustment may be made on-line (in-vehicle) in real-time without, or in addition to, engine mapping data. Another aspect may thus provide measurement and feedback adaptation, which can form a closed-loop control. The adaptation and closed-loop control may increase the robustness against piece variations, aging and other disturbances, and also may enhance fuel efficiency and performance for individual engines by allowing individual compensation. Another aspect may make automated calibration possible with initial calibration, and refinement adaptation may also be possible to significantly enhance customer observed fuel economy.

Spark timing adjustment based on vehicle acceleration


The present invention concerns methods of diagnosing and treating a malignant neoplasm of the CNS by detecting mammalian tissue expressing integrin alpha 10 subunit or a fragment or variant thereof, and administering a drug specific for integrin alpha 10 subunit.

Primary brain tumours originate within brain tissue. There are several types of primary brain tumours. The most common type of diagnosed malignant primary brain tumours belong to the group of gliomas. Gliomas can develop from several types of glial cells, for example astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and ependymal cells. The gliomas are graded from low-grade (I) to high-grade (IV) reflecting the growth potential and aggressiveness of the tumour.
Glioblastoma (also known as Glioblastoma multiforme, GBM) belongs to the group of gliomas and is graded as a high-grade glioma. It is the most common and the most aggressive type of primary brain tumour. As described by the World Health Organization classification, glioblastoma tumours are characterized by the presence of small areas of necrotizing tissue that is surrounded by anaplastic cells. This characteristic, as well as the presence of hyperplastic blood vessels, differentiates the tumour from Grade III astrocytomas, which do not have these features. Emerging classification schemes not solely based on morphology are likely to incorporate molecular differences that further distinguish these tumours. Glioblastomas can therefore additionally be characterized in four distinct subtypes depending on their molecular expression patterns (Verhaak et al, 2010; Dunn et al, 2012). Classical, mesenchymal, proneural, and neural subtypes are defined by their aberrations and gene expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), neurofibromatosis (NF1), platelet derived growth factor receptor A (PDGFRA) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1).
Glioblastoma is a highly heterogeneous tumour containing different types of cells and there is a great variation in cell content between patients. Cell types occurring are for example astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and fibroblasts. The tumour cells spread and infiltrate the adjacent tissue very quickly and they exhibit a high resistance to both radiation and chemotherapy. About 28 000 new cases of this disease are diagnosed each year in the U.S. and the EU (source: U.S. National Cancer Registry). Glioblastoma is the most lethal brain tumour. Without treatment the medium survival time is 4 months and with available treatment about 15 months. Many patients do not survive longer than 6 months from diagnosis and most die within 2 years. Only a few survive for as long as 5 years.
As of today, no specific pre-surgical laboratory studies are helpful in diagnosing GBM. Imaging studies of the brain are essential for making the diagnosis, including computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, with and without contrast, positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. To make sure of the diagnosis, a pathological exam of brain tissue has to be made. Tumour genetics are useful for predicting response to adjuvant therapy. However, today there is no difference in treatment regimens between the different types of glioblastomas.
Glioblastomas are the most common and the most aggressive malignant neoplasm of the CNS. The incidence is 2-3 cases/100 000 individuals. Treatment today involves surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Standard treatment consists of maximal surgical resection to lessen pressure on the brain, radiotherapy, and concomitant and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide. Without treatment the mean survival time is 4.5 months and with current treatments available this can be extended to 15 month. Because of the severity of the disease, it has been attempted to find new drugs to treat glioblastomas and other malignant neoplasms of the brain. However, neither these nor traditional therapies have resulted in any significant improvement for glioblastoma patients or increase in the survival rate.
There is thus an urgent need to find more effective methods for detection, diagnosis and treatment of malignant neoplasms of the CNS, including gliomas.

Detection and treatment of malignant tumours in the CNS


A network security appliance uses a switch to switch packets between cores configured for fast path processing and slow path processing. The switch duplicates packets for delivery to the slow path processing cores, eliminating the need for the fast path processing cores to expend processor resources on packet duplication. The switch can use IEEE 802.1ad Q-in-Q VLAN tags in the packet to perform the switching and packet duplication. Slow path processing cores may also broadcast packets to other slow path processing cores via the switch.

Network security devices protect networks from unwanted network traffic. These devices originally were single processor devices, but have taken advantage of multi-processor and multi-core processor technologies to allow concurrent processing of incoming packets. However, bottlenecks in such network security devices have arisen, including the high processor cost of making duplicate copies of an incoming packet for handling by the multiple processors or multiple cores. Making a copy of a packet is a computationally expensive operation and the simple solution of having a processor make the packet copies and forward the copies to the several processors or cores becomes computationally infeasible at high throughput rates. Thus network security devices have been unable to achieve desired throughput and concurrent processing levels.

Duplicating packets efficiently within a network security appliance


The kennel for mounting on a pick-up truck has left and right kennel support plates. Front and rear trusses have their ends fixed to the left and right support plates. A roof panel is attached to the front and rear trusses. A rear wall is pivotally attached to the rear truss and extends vertically downward from a horizontal pivot axis when in a closed position. The rear wall pivots about the pivot axis to a vertical position above the pivot axis and adjacent to the rear side of the rear truss to provide ingress and egress. Side openings in the kennel permit a dog to extend his nose and at least part of his head from the kennel. An adjustable bar changes the height and the size of each side opening. The support plates hold the entire weight of the kennel.

This invention relates to a dog kennel that is mounted in the box of a pick-up truck.
Dogs are occasionally transported in the box of pick-up trucks. Without some restraint there is a chance that dogs will fall out or possibly jump out while the truck is moving. Restraints such as ropes and chains are generally either too confining or they can cause injury to the dog they are intended to protect. Any restraint that encircles the neck of a dog has the potential to cause injury or even death. Such restraints are particularly hazardous to dogs when used in moving vehicles.
Containers with tops, bottoms and four sidewalls are often used when transporting dogs. Many of these containers do not provide sufficient space for a dog to stand and substantially restrict movement. They can also have ventilation problems as well as temperature problems. In the summer dogs can become overheated. In the winter they can freeze. Dogs will often resist going into containers that are too confining. Containers with four walls, a floor and a top that hold multiple dogs and provide some freedom of movement are relatively heavy. Their weight complicates the task of moving them into or out of a truck box. Their size limits or even prevents the transport of other cargo. It may be necessary to remove such containers when transporting other cargo and to leave the dog or dogs at home.
Vehicle mounted kennels have been proposed which employ a pick-up truck box to provide a floor, a portion of the side walls and a portion of the front wall. Such kennels have the advantage of providing space for a dog to stand and move around and to also see where the vehicle is going. Due to the variation in the size and dimensions of pick-up truck boxes these kennels have been custom made for specific truck models by given manufacturers. There are a large number of truck models available on the market today. To custom make a kennel to fit each size and style would be demanding in time and effort and relatively expensive. Such an effort would be complicated by the fact that some truck boxes are equipped with floor protection mats, bed liners that fit under side rails or bed liners with upper flanges that rest on the top rails of box side walls. The variable thickness of floor protection mats and the variations in bed liners complicates the problems by changing the effective inside width and depth of truck boxes. The large numbers of variations has made it very difficult to make a kennel that will fit a large number of pick-up truck boxes without substantial field modifications.
Vehicles are subjected to shaking, vibrations, wind and other forces that tend to damage vehicle mounted kennels. Many of the kennels proposed in the past have had structural problems that have reduced their ability to withstand the forces to which vehicles are subjected. These problems have in some cases endangered dogs. In other cases structural problems have merely reduced the useful life of vehicle mounted kennels.
The dog kennel has a front truss with a front bowed beam and a front horizontal beam connected to the front bowed beam. A rear truss includes a rear bowed beam and a rear horizontal beam connected to the rear bowed beam. A left support plate is fixed to a left end of the front truss and the left end of the truss. A right support plate is fixed to the right end of the front truss and to the right end of the rear truss. A roof panel is attached to the front truss and the rear truss. A rear wall is suspended from the rear truss. During use, the entire kennel is supported by the left support plate and the right support plate.


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate including a barrier region, a channel layer disposed below the barrier region and forming a heterojunction with the barrier region such that a two-dimensional charge carrier gas channel is disposed in the channel layer near the heterojunction, and a sub-channel region disposed below the channel layer, and a first interface in the semiconductor substrate between a first region of type III-V material and a second region of type III-V material that is disposed below the first region of type III-V material, wherein the first and second regions of type III-V material form polarization charges on either side of the first interface, wherein the first interface is within or formed by the sub-channel region, and wherein semiconductor substrate has a vertically varying dopant concentration of deep energy acceptor dopant atoms that is locally increased at the first interface.

Semiconductor transistors, in particular field-effect controlled switching devices such as a MISFET (Metal Insulator Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor), in the following also referred to as MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) and an HEMT (high-electron-mobility Field Effect Transistor) also known as heterostructure FET (HFET) and modulation-doped FET (MODFET) are used in a variety of applications. An HEMT is formed from type III-V semiconductor material, e.g., gallium nitride (GaN), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc. An HEMT includes a two-dimensional charge carrier gas that is created by a heterojunction between two layers of type III-V semiconductor material having different band gaps. This two-dimensional charge carrier gas provides the active device channel that accommodates the load current of the device. Due to the high mobility of carriers within the two-dimensional charge carrier gas, these devices offer very low on-resistance in comparison to other device technologies. For this reason, HEMTs are well suited for power switching applications, i.e., applications requiring the control of voltages in excess of 250V, 500V, 1000V, etc. or greater, and/or the control of current in excess of 1 A, 5 A, 10 A, etc.
Unwanted leakage currents may arise in HEMT devices during an off-state of the device. These leakage currents include lateral and vertical off-state currents caused by flow of minority carriers in a sub-channel region of the device that is below the two-dimensional charge carrier gas channel. It is desirable to reduce these off-state leakage currents to decrease unwanted power losses.

Type III-V semiconductor device with improved leakage


An automated vision inspection system detects whether a cushion of a side curtain airbag assembly system is twisted. The cushion is provided a plurality of markings arrayed along a longitudinal extent of the cushion. Each marking can be defined by a group of four distinct characters or indicia. Each indicium can be defined by polygonal shaped pixels which allow the inspection system to find clear edges of the marking and thereby determine marking orientation. By determining orientation, the inspection system can compare the inspected marking to a master image of the marking to determine if the cushion is in a twisted state or non-twisted state.

Exemplary embodiments herein generally relate to a side curtain airbag, and more particularly, to an automated vision inspection of a side curtain airbag assembly for detecting whether a cushion of the side curtain airbag assembly is in a twisted state at the time of installation.
The side curtain airbag assembly is a safety device applied to passenger vehicles and is deployed by inflation with a pressurized gas to protect the occupants of the vehicle from a side impact head injury and to resist ejection from the vehicle in the case of a rollover. Generally, the side curtain airbag assembly includes a cushion, an inflator, mounting hardware and a variety of other hardware based on the requirements of the application. When the side curtain airbag assembly is manufactured, the cushion is rolled or folded to minimize the space occupied by the device in the vehicle. In some designs, the rolled or folded cushion is covered by a tubular sleeve of material which has a sewn seam or perforated line which ruptures when the inflation of the cushion begins. The side curtain airbag assembly is installed in a manner that the device begins generally at the base of the A-pillar (front), up the A-pillar, along the length of the roof, down the rear pillar (B, C or D pillar) and ends at the rear of the passenger compartment. In the simplest arrangement, the side curtain airbag assembly is long (two to four meters), slender (30 to 120 millimeters in circumference), and quite flexible (bend and twist). Due to this flexibility characteristic, installation must be done carefully to ensure the side curtain airbag assembly is not mounted to the vehicle with a 360 degree twist imparted to the longitudinal axis of the cushion. A twisted cushion may not deploy properly and thus may not provide the desired passenger safety protection.
To ensure proper installation, various vehicle manufacturers have applied markings to the cushion and/or sleeve to make a twisted installation more easily recognized with the human eye. Other manufacturers have employed hardware added to the side curtain airbag assembly to make imparting a 360 degree twist more difficult. In some cases, the additional hardware is extensive and thus adds weight and cost to the side curtain airbag assembly. Therefore, it is desirable to eliminate such weight and cost as long as other measures are taken to ensure a proper installation of the side curtain airbag. Automated vision inspection offers the possibility of such protection, but due to the flexible and compliant nature of the side curtain airbag assembly, the technology is prone to false detections. False detections are disruptive to manufacturing operations and thus resistance to application of vision inspection technology exists.
Automated vision inspection involves the capture of digital images of the installed side curtain airbag assembly and processing those images through imaging processing software that has been programmed to look for key features previously defined and to assess the installed condition by comparison of the current image to a master image. Due to the flexible and compliant nature of the side curtain airbag assembly, each installation is unique and thus, the master image would only give a satisfactory judgment when compared to itself. Therefore, for automated inspection, it is important to provide the image processing software with feature that can be easily detected within the digital images and evaluated for presence, position and orientation and subsequently used to determine the installed condition, twisted or not twisted, of the side curtain airbag assembly.
Traditional markings on the side curtain airbag assembly such as stripes, writing (in any language) or barcodes have been used to assist the human eye in detecting twists, but these marks fail to reliably prevent misinterpretation of features in the image when utilizing an automated vision inspection system. For example, in the case of a longitudinal stripe, the two dimensional appearance of the edge of the stripe can appear similar to the edge of the side curtain airbag against the vehicle body. Likewise, the shadow cast by the side curtain airbag can appear as a stripe. Also, the edge features of the vehicle, such as a door opening, can create a line that can be misinterpreted as a cushion stripe. Further, writing on the cushion of the side curtain airbag can create different possibilities of misinterpretation. For example, and as depicted in FIG. 28, consider a cushion with a series of letters or words printed on its entire length. A twisted installation of the cushion would create a gap in the words or letter string. However, if the words are arranged into a phrase, the natural gap between words can be misinterpreted as gaps created by a twisted installation. And, many Roman letters, such as the letter "S", have rounded sides. These rounded sides can make determining the bottom and side of the mark difficult and therefore determining orientation can be difficult. Still further, if a barcode is printed over the length of the side curtain airbag assembly and the vision system is programmed to read the barcode over the entire length, a bracket or tape required for the assembly may cover part of the barcode or a pucker may create an interruption to the barcode. Such a gap in the barcode could be misinterpreted by the vision system. For the application of a marking system to be effective in conjunction with the application of an automated vision inspection system, the marking system must be robust in order to ensure successful detection and interpretation by the automated vision inspection software. A robust marking system would have the characteristics of being easily detectible and unique within the images acquired while providing the information of position and orientation necessary to inspect the entire length of the side curtain airbag assembly and properly assess the state of the installed assembly. In addition, geometric shapes provided on a length of the side airbag cushion can have issues in interpretation. First, many of these geometric shapes appear in the vehicle in other locations. For example, round, triangular, rectangular and square holes are generally stamped into the vehicle body. Bolts with hexagonal heads, hexagonal pockets or round flanges are used during assembly. If the automated vision inspection system is looking for one of these geometric shapes, the vision system may lock onto a feature in the vehicle rather than the geometric mark on the airbag. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 14, parallel edges of these shapes can be mistakenly used by the vision system to complete partial shapes. For example, if the right edge of the left hand triangle were missing due to a part covering it, the left edge of the right hand triangle could be used to complete the shape of the left hand triangle.

Automated vision inspection of a side curtain airbag assembly


In a host within a group, a method for ensuring secure communications is provided. The method involves (a) determining if a group security policy is in place for secure communication between hosts within the group, (b) if the group security policy is in place, advertising routing information to another host within the group, and (c) if the group security policy is not in place, refraining from advertising routing information to the other host. Corresponding apparatus and computer program product embodiments are also provided.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) provide a partitioning mechanism for isolating data transmitted and received between customer network nodes even though a corresponding physical network supporting propagation of the data is shared by many users. The data transmitted between such network nodes may be encrypted to protect against eavesdropping and tampering by unauthorized parties. A typical VPN may include a group, composed of network nodes in several subnets.
In one conventional system, when network nodes within the same group, but in different subnets wish to communicate, the network nodes (or their respective subnet routers) establish a point-to-point secure connection by negotiating a pairwise key for the communication. However, because establishing a pairwise key can require substantial computational resources, a Dynamic Group VPN (DGVPN) may be used instead. With a DGVPN, when network nodes which are members of the same group wish to communicate, no pairwise key is required. Instead, the two network nodes use a shared group key in order to communicate encrypted data. In this approach, a shared key server provides group security policies to nodes within particular groups. When a first network node wishes to communicate with a second node, both nodes being in a shared group, each node should have the group security policy from the shared key server. The security policy includes a group ID, a set of subnet prefixes identifying members of the group, and a group key. When the first node communicates with the second node, the first node determines if the first and the second node are in a shared group, by determining if there is a group ID in its routing table corresponding to the subnet prefix of the second node. If the two nodes are in a common group, the first node encrypts communications to the second node using the group key associated with the group ID. The two nodes may then communicate using that group key. A technique similar to this latter approach is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/867,266 (Wainner, et al.), filed Jun. 14, 2004, entitled "System and method for Dynamic Secured Group Communication."

Conditional BGP advertising for dynamic group VPN (DGVPN) clients


A multipocketed carrying case, comprises a primary shell of pliable material formed of a pair of substantially identical half shells connected together for hinging along a common side and forming a primary receptacle, each half shell formed of a rectangular back panel with a bottom panel, a top panel and two end panels secured along the periphery of the back panel forming a primary receptacle, a multi-pocket panel assembly secured to the back panel and comprising a zig zag folded panel forming overlapping front and back folds, the back folds secured to a back panel forming a plurality of pockets having spaces therebetween, and a closure panel secured along an edge to the back panel to thereby overlap and close the plurality of pockets.

The present invention relates to carrying cases and pertains particularly to an improved carrying case having an improved arrangement of multiple pockets.
Many people when traveling carry many items which are often placed loosely in a suitcase. This leaves the items disorganized and often difficult to easily locate. There are also many people who are engaged in professions or trades that require them to carry numerous different items such as samples or tools. These items or tools are often transported to a work site in a special carrying case that is specially designed for the specific tools or items required.
There is a need for a carrying case that is adaptable to carry many different related or unrelated items in an organized fashion. It would be desirable to have a case with multiple pockets for holding articles of different sizes in a secure manner and readily accessible.


An inflow conduit of a ventricular assist device configured to prevent formation of recirculation and stagnation zones as well as collapse due to external forces or pump induced suction can be rigid and have a funnel like shape with an elbow to accommodate a patient anatomy. Stiffening elements and pressure sensing devices can also be provided associated with the inflow conduit.

An estimated 4.8 million Americans suffer from congestive heart failure (CHF). Many of these persons are unresponsive to pharmacological intervention and could benefit from a heart transplant. As a result of the current shortage of donor hearts, implantable blood pumps have gradually evolved into a viable treatment option for these persons. Over the past 30 years, many devices have been developed that either replace the entire heart or assist the heart.
In a diseased state, one or both of the ventricles of the heart can become greatly weakened to an extent that mechanical intervention is needed to keep a patient alive. In some instances, the entire heart is removed and replaced with a total artificial heart while in other cases a device that assists the heart is used. A blood pump used for assist is commonly referred to as a ventricular assist device or VAD.
Although either of the ventricles of the human heart may function in a weakened state, it is the left ventricle that is primarily treated for insufficient pumping. Normally, blood enters the left ventricle through the mitral valve and, during heart systole, the blood is ejected through the aortic valve and into the aorta by the squeezing action of the left ventricle. To assist a failing left ventricle, a VAD is typically attached between the apex of the left ventricle and the thoracic aorta. In this way, blood entering the left ventricle may either be ejected through the aortic valve by the ventricle or pass through the VAD.
Ventricular assistance has been performed by a variety of blood pump designs. The majority of the early VADs pumped blood in a pulsatile manner. In this case, the VAD has an internal sac situated between two heart valves. The sac is typically allowed to passively fill with blood, then the VAD pumping mechanism squeezes the sac, ejecting the blood into the patient's aorta. Patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,599,173, 5,980,448 and 4,023,468 teach devices that move blood in this manner. These pulsatile VADs are typically large and can only be used as an implantable treatment option for patients with a large body surface area, such as a large man. In addition, reliability issues exist due to the heart valves that are required for pulsatile pumping.
More recently, continuous flow pumps are being developed to address the size and reliability requirements. VADs such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,947,892, 5,613,935, 6,074,180, 5,928,131, and 6,050,975 operate in this fashion. These pumps are smaller than their pulsatile counterparts and can be inherently more reliable. VADs having a magnetically suspended rotor, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,928,131, 6,050,975, 6,074,180, and 6,302,661, can have only one moving part, the pump rotor.
The connection of a VAD to the human anatomy typically requires two conduits or tubes: an inflow conduit to allow blood into the VAD and an outflow conduit to pass the pressurized blood exiting the VAD to the patient's aorta. Although these necessary components are required for nearly all VAD implantations, they are typically overlooked as components that affect VAD performance, in particular their propensity for inducing blood damage.
Previous work has disclosed various connection schemes, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,086,665 and 5,511,958, while others have dealt with the conduits as part of an assist device design such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,346,071 and 6,319,231. Although the amount of published literature is limited, studies examining the affect of inflow conduit tip shape have shown its importance, for example "Novel ventricular apical cannula in vitro evaluation using transparent, compliant ventricular casts", by Curtis et al. This work has clearly shown that it is possible to substantially improve the flow pattern immediately adjacent to the conduit tip through improved tip design.
For a continuous flow pump, the inflow conduit is subjected to additional pressure swings not present for pulsatile pumps. The passive filling of pulsatile pumps maintains an inflow conduit pressure that closely matches the pressure in the left ventricle. This is due to the valve that is typically positioned between the inflow conduit and the blood pump chamber For continuous flow pumps, no valve is present between the inflow conduit and blood pump. Consequently, any pressures generated upstream of the blood pump impeller blades are reflected within the inflow conduit and the left ventricle.
A low-flow and low-pressure condition is possible for continuous flow pumps if the pump continues to operate at a given speed and the left ventricle has an insufficient volume of blood available for pumping. In this instance, the pressure in the left ventricle and the inflow conduit drops quickly and both are subjected to a negative pressure. This negative pressure can cause the ventricle and/or inflow conduit to collapse. If the pump speed is not reduced, the collapse can continue and the negative pressure can cause gases to be drawn out of the blood. This phenomenon is known as cavitation and has been shown to cause blood damage.
Most of the currently available continuous flow pumps use manual control to govern the assist level of the pump. To avoid collapse and low pressures mentioned above, the pump assist level is typically set to a low level in order to avoid damaging the blood. However, this method of pump control can result in an insufficient level of assist for the patient. A preferred method for controlling a blood pump can be to measure some physiologic parameter, such as left ventricular pressure or heart size, and use that parameter to govern pump operation. Such a control scheme has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,131 for continuous flow pumps.
A pressure sensing scheme has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,253 in which geometric changes in a blood carrying conduit are sensed and used as an indication of blood pressure within the blood carrying conduit. A section of the blood carrying conduit is somewhat flattened to provide a focal point for any pressure-induced shape change of the conduit. A set of strain gauges can then be used to measure the flexure of the flattened portion when pressure changes in the conduit occur. In another embodiment, the flexure can also be measured using an optical sensor that detects how far the flattened portion has moved. Yet another embodiment uses two fluid compartments to measure changes in the geometry in the flattened region of the conduit. One of the fluid compartments is partially bounded by the flattened portion of the conduit. The second compartment is situated adjacent to the first compartment with a flexible diaphragm between the two. Monitoring the pressure in the second compartment allows indirect sensing of the pressure with in the blood carrying conduit, since changes in the blood pressure within the conduit produce pressure changes within the first fluid compartment and consequently the second fluid compartment.
Several inventions have been disclosed which obviate the need for an inflow conduit, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,944,078 and 5,507,629. This VAD is intended for placement within the left ventricular volume, thus occupying the space that is normally filled with blood. This placement negates the need for an inflow conduit, thus removing an implanted component that may cause blood damage or have other possible failure modes. However, the pump inlet is very close to the heart tissue and it is likely that negative pressure spikes could quickly develop for this VAD. The inflow conduits normally used have a portion of vascular graft incorporated within their design. Strictly speaking, collapse of an inflow conduit is undesirable, but with the VAD in U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,629 no compliant graft is positioned between the heart tissue and the pump. Consequently, any negative pressure spike will be solely imposed upon the heart tissue, making the likelihood of drawing heart tissue into the pump much greater.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,173 describes the structuring of the inflow channel of a VAD to produce beneficial flow patterns in the blood sac of a VAD. The inflow channel of the above invention is tapered to direct the blood entering the VAD toward the annular wall of the sac. This produces uniform flow that minimizes the chance of thrombus formation on the blood-contacting surface of the sac.
A custom inflow conduit is needed that conforms to the patient's anatomy, allows the blood entering the blood pump to do so in a stagnation- and recirculation-free manner, and prevents suction-induced collapse.

Inflow conduit for ventricular assist device