4125results about How to "Simple equipment" patented technology

Endocardial implantable cardiac leads are disclosed for applying electrical stimulation to and / or sensing electrical activity of the heart at one or more distal electrode positioned at a cardiac implantation site within a cardiac vessel adjacent to and at a desired orientation to the left ventricle or atrium of the heart. The distal electrode(s) is supported by a tubular electrode support having a diameter large enough to bear against the blood vessel wall and a support lumen that allows blood to flow through it. A retention stent extends proximally from a distal stent end fixed to the tubular electrode support to a proximal stent end. After advancement to the cardiac implantation site employing a lead delivery mechanism, the retention stent is expandable from a collapsed stent state in which the outer diameter of the retention stent is less than the inner diameter of the vessel to an expanded stent state. The expanded stent is lodged against the blood vessel wall and inhibits movement of the stent and distal electrode support. The expanded stent lumen is aligned with the electrode support lumen for allowing blood to flow through the aligned electrode support lumen and expanded stent lumen. The retention stent may take any of the known forms that can be introduced in the collapsed stent state within an introducer lumen or mounted to an introducer and can either self-expand upon release in the blood vessel or be mechanically expanded within the blood vessel.

A storage server comprising: a processing unit, a bus system coupled with the processing unit, including a plurality of slots, slots in the plurality of slots including interfaces to respective data stores; a communication interface; and an operating system coupled with the processing unit the operating system including: logic controlling transfers among the plurality of slots over the bus system according to an internal format, logic for translating a storage transaction received over the communication interface into the internal format, and logic for configuring the plurality of slots according to a configuration data.

A method of making a barbed suture by varying the blade geometry and / or the movement of the blade when cutting a suture. The method can also be accomplished with a cutting device to create a plurality of barbs on the exterior of surgical suture. The barbs produced using the method with the cutting device can be the same or random configurations.

A user-friendly, network-connected learning thermostat is described. The thermostat is made up of (1) a wall-mountable backplate that includes a low-power consuming microcontroller used for activities such as polling sensors and switching on and off the HVAC functions, and (2) separable head unit that includes a higher-power consuming microprocessor, color LCD backlit display, user input devices, and wireless communications modules. The thermostat also includes a rechargeable battery and power-stealing circuitry adapted to harvest power from HVAC triggering circuits. By maintaining the microprocessor in a “sleep” state often compared to the lower-power microcontroller, high-power consuming activities, such as learning computations, wireless network communications and interfacing with a user, can be temporarily performed by the microprocessor even though the activities use energy at a greater rate than is available from the power stealing circuitry.

A data encryption / decryption apparatus is disclosed which includes a controller coupled to an array of random data, an encryptor / decryptor and a plurality of encryption / decryption algorithms. The array of random data and the plurality of encryption / decryption algorithms are stored on an electronically readable media. The data encryption / decryption apparatus can encrypt and decrypt data, video, audio. The electronically readable media includes random access memory, read only memory, magnetic media, optical media, magneto-optical media, CDROM, digital video disk (DVD), hard disk, a remote computer memory storage location accessible via an electronic network such as a telephone system or a computer network, or any other electronically readable media method. The controller is responsive to a key code input to the controller. The controller determines a first computed address in the array of random data and a control data length. The controller then retrieves the control data from the first computed address in the array of random data.

The current application is directed to an intelligent-thermostat-controlled environmental-conditioning system in which computational tasks and subcomponents with associated intelligent-thermostat functionalities are distributed to one or more of concealed and visible portions of one or more intelligent thermostats and, in certain implementations, to one or more intermediate boxes. The intelligent thermostats are interconnected to intermediate boxes by wired and / or wireless interfaces and intelligent thermostats intercommunicate with one another by wireless communications. Wireless communications include communications through a local router and an ISP, 3G and 4G wireless communications through a mobile service provider. Components of the intelligent-thermostat-controlled thermostat-controlled environmental-conditioning system may also be connected by wireless communications to remote computing facilities.

Layered pharmaceutical composition suitable for oral use in the treatment of diseases where absorption takes place over a large part of the gastrointestinal tract. The composition comprising A) a solid inner layer comprising i) an active substance, and ii) one or more disintegrants / exploding agents, one of more effervescent agents or a mixture thereof. the solid inner layer being sandwiched between two outer layers B1) and B2), each outer layer comprising iii) a substantially water soluble and / or crystalline polymer or a mixture of substantially water soluble and / or crystalline polymers, the polymer being a polyglycol in the form of one of a) a homopolymer having a MW of at least about 100,000 daltons, and b) a copolymer having a MW of at least about 2,000 daltons, or a mixture thereof, and iv) an active substance, which is the same as in said solid inner layer A), and layer A being different from layer B, the layered composition being coated with a coating C) that has at least one opening exposing at least one surface of said outer layer, the coating being substantially insoluble in and impermeable to fluids and comprising a polymer, and the composition having a cylindrical form optionally with one or more tapered ends, wherein the ratio between the surface area of one end surface of the cylinder and the length of the cylinder is in a range of from 0.02 to 45 mm.

A process for producing and recovering light alcohols, particularly ethanol, alcohol mixtures containing ethanol, and ABE mixtures (alcohol mixtures containing acetone, butanol and ethanol), using a combination of steps including fermentation, first membrane separation, dephlegmation and dehydration by second membrane separation.

The composite oil-displacement agent consists of polymer 0-0.3 wt.%, surfactant 0.05-0.6 wt% and water 99.1-99.95 wt%, and is produced in kettle reactor with coagulated petroleum fraction from raw oil. It has surfactant concentration not higher than available systems, high interface tension reducing effect and stable performance. The ternary composite oil-displacement agent has no alkali and saltwhile reaching superlow interface tension and thus no alkali scale formed, no loss in polymer viscosity and viscolerasticity. In the compounding of the composite oil-displacement agent, common sewagemay be used and this produces certain environment protection effect.

An air manifold includes a sheet-like body including first and second spaced, opposing walls and a sealed perimeter. A plurality of divider walls connects the first and second walls together and defines a plurality of air channels within the body. An opening in the body defines an air port cooperable with an air mover. The air port is in fluid communication with the air channels. At least one zone inside the body is free of the divider walls. A group of the air channels are in fluid communication with each other through one the zone. A plurality of air vents located in the first wall are in fluid communication with at least one of the air channels. The air manifold is disposable between a seat cushion element and a structural support of a seat. The first wall of the air manifold faces a backside surface of the seat cushion element.

A device for transfer suitable for capturing and releasing microparticles binding an immobilized substance, which includes a magnet as well as either an extendable membrane, shapable membrane or magnet's coating such that the membrane or coating pressing tightly against the magnet's surface separates the magnet from the microparticles but does not substantially weaken the magnetic field directed at the microparticles. Also disclosed is a method for transferring a microparticle immobilized substance from a first vessel to a second vessel where the microparticles are of a magnetic or magnetizable material or the microparticles are attached to a magnetic or magnetizable body and the microparticles with the substance immobilized thereupon are captured with the aid of a magnet submerged in the first vessel, the magnet along with the microparticles captured thereupon are transferred to the second vessel and released from the magnet's influence.

Systems, methods, and related computer program products for controlling one or more HVAC systems using a distributed arrangement of wirelessly connected sensing microsystems are described. A plurality of wirelessly communicating sensing microsystems is provided, each sensing microsystem including a temperature sensor and a processor, at least one of the sensing microsystems being coupled to an HVAC unit for control thereof. The plurality of sensing microsystems is configured to jointly carry out at least one shared computational task associated with control of the HVAC unit. Each sensing microsystem includes a power management circuit configured to determine an amount of electrical power available for dedication to the at least one shared computational task. The at least one shared computational task is apportioned among respective ones of the plurality of sensing microsystems according to the amount of electrical power determined to be available for dedication thereto at each respective sensing microsystem.

The current application is related to environmental-conditioning systems controlled by intelligent controllers and, in particular, to an intelligent-thermostat-controlled HVAC system that detects and ameliorates control coupling between intelligent thermostats. Control coupling can lead to inefficient HVAC operation. When control coupling is detected, a settings-adjustment directive is sent to at least one intelligent thermostat to adjust one or more intelligent-thermostat settings, including an HVAC-cycle-initiation delay parameter, swing parameter, and a parameter that indicates whether or not an intelligent thermostat should first obtain confirmation or permission before initiating an HVAC cycle.

A process for producing and recovering light alcohols, particularly ethanol, alcohol mixtures containing ethanol, and ABE mixtures (alcohol mixtures containing acetone, butanol and ethanol), using a combination of steps including fermentation, first membrane separation, dephlegmation and dehydration by second membrane separation.

An antenna electrode having a substantially circular shape, is arranged on a plane of a processing vessel, which is located opposite to a stage for mounting a sample within the processing vessel, and positioned parallel to the stage. An emission monitor monitors emission intensity of plasma present in at least 3 different points along a radial direction of the antenna electrode. A control unit adjusts an energizing current supplied to an external coil for forming a magnetic field within the processing vessel. The control unit adjusts the energizing current supplied to the external coil based upon the monitoring result obtained from the emission monitor so as to control the emission intensity of the plasma to become uniform emission intensity.

Steerable and flexibly curved probes are provided, primarily for A surgical applications. A probe with flexible distal portion is inserted through an incision or cannula and the flexible distal portion may be selectively bent or steered using a guide wire. The guide wire is extended through the probe on a radially offset axis, and affixed at its distal end to the distal end of the flexible distal portion. The curvature of the nitinol wire is induced by extending or retracting the wire from the proximal end of the flexible distal portion while the distal end of the guide wire remains affixed to the distal end of the probe. The guide wire is activated by a finger-actuated mechanism. A further embodiment is provided in which the guide wire is fixed at both ends of the flexible distal portion of the probe and has a normally curved conformation, and assumes such conformation after insertion through a straight cannula. Other embodiments and applications are similarly disclosed.

A Fixation Augmentation Device (FAD) is presented. The FAD includes a tubular body or sleeve (902) having a collar (904) disposed on a first end thereof. The sleeve is provided having an outside diameter selected such that the sleeve fits into a hole drilled in a bone. The collar at the first or proximal end of the sleeve prevents advancement of the FAD into the hole with screw insertion. Flanges (908) are provided at the distal portion of the sleeve to provide interference fixation of the FAD to the bone, thereby allowing the screw and FAD to obtain purchase where a screw alone would have failed or otherwise have inadequate fixation. The FAD is also designed to collapse as it is withdrawn from the drill hole in the event of removal of the device is desired.

Systems, methods, and related computer program products for controlling one or more HVAC systems using a distributed arrangement of wirelessly connected sensing microsystems are described. A plurality of wirelessly communicating sensing microsystems is provided, each sensing microsystem including a temperature sensor and a processor, at least one of the sensing microsystems being coupled to an HVAC unit for control thereof. The plurality of sensing microsystems is configured to jointly carry out at least one shared computational task associated with control of the HVAC unit. Each sensing microsystem includes a power management circuit configured to determine an amount of electrical power available for dedication to the at least one shared computational task. The at least one shared computational task is apportioned among respective ones of the plurality of sensing microsystems according to the amount of electrical power determined to be available for dedication thereto at each respective sensing microsystem.

A method of delivering ultrasound signals using shear waves includes applying a portion of at least a first ultrasound beam to a subject at at least a first incident angle relative to the surface of the subject to induce shear waves in the subject, energy in the shear waves forming a substantial part of energy of first ultrasound waves at a desired region in the subject at a therapeutic level.

A security apparatus including a number input device (302), an address register (312) responsive to the number input device, an encryption schema memory (316) addressable by the address register to produce an output code and a relative address code, and address incrementing logic (310) responsive the relative address code and operative to increment the address register. The apparatus also preferably includes a PIN register (304) coupled to the number input device, a public code register (306) coupled to the number input device, and merging logic (308) merging outputs of the PIN register and the public code register to be input to the address register. The apparatus also preferably includes an output shift register operative to shift out the output code of the encryption schema memory. The encryption schema memory can be read only memory, writeable memory, or both.

The invention provides an inorganic ion doped carbon nitride photocatalyst and a preparation method thereof. The inorganic ion doped carbon nitride photocatalyst has a molecular formula shown in a formula (I). The preparation method comprises the following steps of: sufficiently mixing carbon and nitrogen sources and inorganic salt in a water solution, then drying and calcining to obtain the inorganic ion doped carbon nitride photocatalyst which has the molecular formula shown in the formula (I). According to the photocatalyst, inorganic ions enter a crystal lattice or an interlayer of C3N4, and visible-light catalytic activity of the C3N4 photocatalyst provided by the invention is greatly enhanced through the doping of the inorganic ions. Experiments indicate that the visible-light catalytic activity of the inorganic ion doped C3N4 photocatalyst with a two-dimensional structure is 1.5-3 times higher than that of a photocatalyst without C3N4 doped. Besides, the preparation method provided by the invention is moderate in condition, easy to operate and favorable to large-scale production.

With an interconnected fabrication step using the prior art photolithography, major portions of resist, interconnected material, and process gas necessary during plasma processing are wasted. Furthermore, a pumping means such as a vacuum system is necessary. Therefore, the whole equipment is increased in size. Consequently, as the processed substrate is increased in size, the manufacturing cost is increased. Accordingly, a means consisting of directly spraying the resist and interconnected material as liquid drops on necessary locations over the substrate to delineate a pattern is applied. Also, a means consisting of performing a chemical vapor deposition process such as ashing or etching at or near atmospheric pressure is applied.

The present invention provides a high current pulse generator for DC powered devices. The generator includes batteries as the power source that charges supercapacitors as well as provides power to the loads as required. During charging, the supercapacitors are connected in parallel, but they are switched to series connection by relays at the moment that the loads demand large currents. No other controlling means except for relays in the circuit is employed, so that the electric arrangement is simple, reliable, and cost-effective. As the batteries are designed to deliver currents at low discharge rates, the effective use-time of batteries is prolonged. Furthermore, due to the high power densities of supercapacitors, the readily available alkaline batteries can be utilized in the power unit for electric power tools.

The invention discloses a super-hydrophilic and underwater-super-oleophobic oil-water separation mesh membrane, and a preparation method and an application thereof. According to the method, fabric mesh with a specification of 100-300 meshes is subjected to ultrasonic cleaning, and is air-dried under normal temperature; a hydrophilic polymer water-sensitive agent and a cross-linking agent are dissolved in water according to a ratio of 1:9-9:1; the mixture is well mixed by magnetic stirring, such that a solution with a concentration of 1-99% is prepared; nano-sol is prepared with a sol-gel method; the solution and the nano-sol are prepared into a mixed solution with a concentration of 1-99%, and the solution is well dispersed through ultrasonic dispersion; the mesh is soaked in the mixed solution and is vertically lifted, or the mesh is directly sprayed by using a high-pressure spraying gun; and the mesh is bake-dried, such that the super-hydrophilic and underwater-super-oleophobic oil-water separation mesh membrane is obtained. Contact angles of the super-hydrophilic and underwater-super-oleophobic oil-water separation mesh membrane with water and oil in air are both 0 DEG, and the membrane is super-hydrophilic. Under water, the contact angle of the membrane with oil drops is larger than 150 DEG, and the membrane has an oil drop low adhesion characteristic. The mesh membrane provided by the invention can be used in oil-water mixture separation and oil-containing sewage processing.

A method of making a barbed suture by varying the blade geometry and / or the movement of the blade when cutting a suture is disclosed. The method can also be accomplished with a cutting device to create a plurality of barbs on the exterior of surgical suture. The barbs produced using the method with the cutting device can be the same or random configurations.

A method of diagnosing a subject by delivering ultrasound signals using shear waves includes applying a portion of an ultrasound mainbeam to a bone surface at an incident angle relative to the surface of the bone to induce shear waves in the bone, energy in the shear waves forming a substantial part of energy of first ultrasound waves at a desired region in the subject through the bone, detecting at least one of reflected and scattered energy of the applied ultrasound mainbeam, and analyzing the detected energy for a diagnostic purpose.

A bone fixation apparatus and method are provided that allow a user to push bone pins into engagement with bones with more precision and accurate feel as to proper engagement and the clamping forces between the pins and bone over prior devices utilizing applicator guns and the like. Fine tuning of the clamping forces is also contemplated. Compact and highly ergonomic bone fixators are provided which allow the user to remain close to the pin application site during clamping of the pins onto the bone. Significant flexiblity is preferably incorporated by having two adjustably connected positioner bodies which can each mount a pin holder module releasably attached thereto. A fixation system with improved rigidity is also provided by way of independent clamping members for each of a pair of rod mounts on each pin positioner. The independent clamp members keeps their size to a minimum while allowing the angular separation of connecting rods secured in the rod mounts and spanning and interconnecting two fixators to be optimized, e.g. approximately eighty degree angular spacing, from a system stability standpoint.

A computer graphics display method and system for controlling data visualization in at least one external dimension is provided which allows better querying and navigation of data in external dimension space. A data visualization is displayed in a first display window. A summary window provides summary information on data for the data visualization across one or more external dimensions. First and second controllers are displayed for controlling the variation of the data visualization in respective first and second external dimensions. A user queries the data visualization in the first and second external dimensions by selecting a point in the summary window. A user navigates through the data visualization in the first and second external dimensions by defining a path in the summary window. Grid points are also displayed in the summary window to facilitate data queries and navigation based on actual data points. The first and second controllers can be first and second sliders, such as, slide buttons, dials, or any other type of input. An animation control panel, including tape-drive controls, a path control, and a speed control, controls an animation of the data visualization over a selected navigation path through external dimension space.

Chlorine and sulfide species are separately introduced to a flue gas passing through a scrubber in order to remove the elemental and oxidized mercury from the gas through the precipitation of mercuric sulfide at near 100% efficiency.

Processes are provided for the storage and release of hydrogen by means of a substantially reversible catalytic hydrogenation of extended pi-conjugated substrates which include large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with nitrogen heteroatoms, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with oxygen heteroatoms, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with alkyl, alkoxy, nitrile, ketone, ether or polyether substituents, pi-conjugated molecules comprising 5 membered rings, pi-conjugated molecules comprising six and five membered rings with nitrogen or oxygen hetero atoms, and extended pi-conjugated organic polymers. The hydrogen, contained in the at least partially hydrogenated form of the extended pi-conjugated system, can be facilely released for use by a catalytic dehydrogenation of the latter in the presence of a dehydrogenation catalyst which can be effected by lowering the hydrogen gas pressure, generally to pressures greater than 0.1 bar or raising the temperature to less than 250° C. or less, or by a combination of these two process parameters.