Abstract: A method of treating a bodily fluid withdrawn and then returned to a living body. The method involves withdrawing the bodily fluid from the living body and causing the bodily fluid to flow through a treatment system, altering at least the density of the bodily fluid through the action of a second fluid as the bodily fluid flows through the treatment system, sensing at least the density and flow rate of the bodily fluid before the density thereof is altered by the second fluid, sensing at least the density and flow rate of the bodily fluid after the density thereof is altered by the second fluid, sensing at least the density and flow rate of the second fluid, controlling the density and/or flow rate of the second fluid based on the sensed densities and flow rates, and returning the bodily fluid to the living body.

Abstract: A silencer apparatus for attenuating noise in gas flow systems. The apparatus generally includes a housing having an interior cavity and a gas flow inlet and outlet that are adapted to be connected to a passage such that a gas flowing through the passage enters and exits the cavity of the housing through the inlet and outlet, respectively. A silencer cartridge unit is removably disposed within the interior cavity of the housing and defines a gas flow path fluidically connected to the inlet and outlet of the housing. The silencer cartridge unit has at least one sound-attenuating element that surrounds the gas flow path. The housing is further equipped with a closure that sealingly closes a portion of the housing, and is releasable from the housing to provide an access opening through which the silencer cartridge unit can be removed. The apparatus can also be adapted to include a filtration medium.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for cooling chips on a computer memory module. The apparatus includes a primary and secondary heat spreaders, at least a first heatpipe coupled to the primary heat spreader and having a remote portion spaced apart from the primary heat spreader and thermally contacting the secondary heat spreader, and a coolant within the first heatpipe and the primary heat spreader so as to absorb heat from the primary heat spreader and conduct the heat to the secondary heat spreader. The primary heat spreader has at least two panels configured to engage the memory module therebetween, with facing contact surfaces of the panels adapted for thermal contact with the module chips. The secondary heat spreader is configured to increase surface dissipation of heat from the first heatpipe into the environment. The coolant has a boiling point at or below a maximum preselected operating temperature of the module chips.

Abstract: An anchor for a medical implant, a method of manufacturing an anchor, and a delivery system and method for delivering a medical implant, such as for monitoring physiological parameters, for example, for diagnosing and/or monitoring and/or treating cardiovascular diseases, such as CHF and CHD. The anchor includes a base member, arms, legs, features for securing the medical implant to the base member, and features for connecting the anchor to a connector. The anchor has a deployed configuration in which the arms radially project from a first end of the base member and the legs radially project from an opposite end of the base member. When deployed, the arms and legs terminate at extremities that are opposing but not aligned with each other.

Abstract: A hose member having a central region surrounded by a circumferential portion comprising a number of metal tubes that are substantially parallel to each other and wound in a helical manner around a longitudinal axis of the hose member. The central region may be defined by a carrier made of a polymeric material, or a longitudinal central cavity.

Abstract: Processes and apparatuses for producing a porous material, such as nano-porous silicon (npSi) media suitable for storage and retrieval of elemental hydrogen. Processes of this invention generally entail applying a magnetic field to a substrate that contains charge carriers and is in contact with an etchant, and then etching the substrate with the etchant while relative movement occurs between the substrate and the magnetic field. During etching, the charge carriers move relative to the substrate and the magnetic field, and porosity forms at surfaces of the substrate contacting the etchant.

Abstract: A method by which high temperature properties of a ductile iron alloy, including creep and LCF properties, can be increased for pressure-containing components that are subject to creep and low cycle fatigue. The method comprises modifying the ductile iron alloy to contain 0.4 to 0.8 weight percent molybdenum. A casting of the modified ductile iron alloy is produced and then annealed at a temperature of at least 725° C. for not less than five hours to eliminate carbides and/or stabilize pearlite in the casting. The annealed casting of the modified ductile iron alloy exhibits improved creep resistance and low cycle fatigue properties in comparison to an identical casting of a ductile iron alloy that does not contain molybdenum.

Abstract: A method of applying an outer insulation to a bare stator bar to form an insulated stator bar. The method entails extruding at least one extruded member that will form the outer insulation. The extruded member has an opposing pair of edges that are parallel to the longitudinal length of the extruded member. In addition, the extrusion process creates an inner cavity that extends the longitudinal length of the extruded member. A bare stator bar is then inserted into the inner cavity of the outer insulation so that the outer insulation surrounds the perimeter of the bar and extends along a longitudinal length thereof. The opposing pair of edges of the extruded member are then attached together so that the perimeter of the bar is entirely enclosed by the extruded member.

Abstract: A bimorphic structure responsive to changes in an environmental condition, sensor structures incorporating one or more of such bimorphic structures, and a method of forming such bimorphic structures. The sensor structure has an electrically-conductive first contact on a substrate, and a bimorph beam anchored to the substrate so that a portion thereof is suspended above the first contact. The bimorph beam has a multilayer structure that includes first and second layers, with the second layer between the first layer and the substrate. A portion of the first layer projects through an opening in the second layer toward the first contact so as to define an electrically-conductive second contact located on the beam so as to be spaced apart and aligned with the first contact for contact with the first contact when the beam sufficiently deflects toward the substrate.

Abstract: A fluid sensing system and method for sensing properties of a flowing fluid. The system and method entail a microfluidic device having a micromachined tube supported above a substrate, a tube passage within a freestanding portion of the tube, an inlet and outlet in fluidic communication with the tube passage and an exterior of the microfluidic device, elements for vibrating the freestanding portion of the tube, and elements for sensing movement of the freestanding portion of the tube so as to measure the vibration frequency and/or deflection of the freestanding portion and produce therefrom at least one output corresponding to a property of a fluid flowing through the tube passage. The system and method further entail placing the microfluidic device in a flowing fluid so that a fraction of the fluid enters the tube passage, and processing the output of the device to compute a property of the fluid.

Abstract: A multi-compressor heat pump system configured to provide heating and cooling over a range of ambient temperatures. The compressors can be operated independently and alone or together in series for maximum output. Heat exchangers are selectively fluidically connected to the compressors to enable refrigerant flow between the compressors and at least two heat exchangers in a manner that enables the heat pump system to be selectively operable in various modes. Preferred aspects include selectively operating the compressors based on the ratio of the evaporating and condensing pressures of the refrigerant within the heat pump system, a mixing chamber between the compressors, and a lubricant management system to prevent the accumulation of a lubricant in one of the compressors.

Abstract: A micromachined sensor having a capacitive sensing structure. The sensor includes a first substrate with first and second conductive layers separated by a buried insulator layer, and a member defined by the first and second conductive layers and the buried insulator layer. A first set of elements defined with the first conductive layer is connected to the member and includes first and second elements that are electrically isolated from each other by the buried insulator layer. A second set of elements is defined with the first conductive layer and capacitively coupled with the first set of elements. A second substrate is bonded to the first substrate so that the member and the first set of elements are movably supported above the second substrate. The second set of elements is anchored to the second substrate, and the first and second sets of elements are physically interconnected through the second substrate.

Abstract: A forging die and process suitable for producing large forgings, including turbine disks and other rotating components of power-generating gas turbine engines, using billets formed by powder metallurgy. The forging die includes a backplate, and segments arranged in a radial pattern about a region on a surface of the backplate. Each segment has a backside facing the backplate and an interface surface facing away from the backplate, with the interface surface being adapted to engage the billet during forging. The segments are physically coupled to the surface of the backplate in a manner that enables radial movement of the segments relative to the backplate.

Abstract: A piping alignment tool suitable for locating where an extension of an existing pipe must pass through obstructions such as walls. The tool has a tubular shape with oppositely disposed ends. Each end is formed to have multiple coaxial sets of different-sized pipe threads that allow the tool to be threaded onto a pipe having one of the pipe thread sizes formed on the tool. The tool is also equipped to generate light beams from each end, so that the light beam can be emitted from an end of the tool opposite a pipe onto which the tool has been threaded. By threading the tool onto a pipe and emitting a light beam from the end of the tool opposite the pipe, the location of an obstruction beyond the existing pipe is illuminated by the emitted light beam.

Abstract: A process and braze paste suitable for filling and closing voids in relatively thin wall sections of high temperature components, such as an impingement plate of a combustor of a gas turbine engine. The process entails applying at least a first braze paste to the crack to form a braze paste patch comprising powders of first and second alloys and an organic binder. The first alloy has a higher melting temperature than the second alloy, and the powders of the first and second alloys are present in the braze paste patch at a weight ratio of about 30:70 to about 70:30 weight percent. The braze paste patch is then heated to burn off the binder and melt at least the powder of the second alloy to form a brazement within the crack that contains particles of the first alloy dispersed in a matrix formed by the second alloy.

Abstract: A getter device including a substrate formed of a first getter material having a composition for gettering a first gas species, and a second getter material contacting an external surface of the substrate and having a composition for gettering a second gas species. The substrate has internal porosity connected to openings at its external surface, and the second getter material covers at least a portion of the external surface of the substrate but is absent from at least part of the internal porosity within the substrate so that the first getter material is exposed within the internal porosity for gettering the first gas species. According to a second aspect, a substrate is formed of a material transparent to radiation, and a film of getter material is deposited on the substrate to be sufficiently thin and/or porous so that the film is also transparent to the radiation transmitted through the substrate.

Abstract: An adapter assembly for securing a rear end cover to an automobile differential housing. The adapter assembly includes an annular-shaped plate having an inner diameter, an outer diameter, and a thickness in a direction transverse to the inner and outer diameters, and at least two and preferably three sets of holes. A first set of holes is through the thickness of the plate and countersunk, and a second set of holes is threaded. The optional third set of holes also extend through the thickness of the plate. The assembly further includes at least two and preferably three sets of bolts. A first set of bolts is configured and sized to be received in the first set of holes so that their heads are entirely received in the countersink and their shafts protrude from the plate. A second set of bolts is configured and sized to be threaded into the second set of holes.

Abstract: A flue gas desulfurization process and system that utilize ammonia as a reactant, and in which any hydrogen sulfide and/or mercaptans within the ammonia are separated during the desulfurization process so as to prevent their release into the atmosphere. The process and system entail absorbing acidic gases from a flue gas with a scrubbing media containing ammonium sulfate to produce a stream of scrubbed flue gas, collecting the scrubbing media containing the absorbed acidic gases, injecting into the collected scrubbing media a source of ammonia that is laden with hydrogen sulfide and/or mercaptans so that the injected ammonia is absorbed into and reacted with the collected scrubbing media, stripping the hydrogen sulfide and/or mercaptans from the collected scrubbing media by causing the hydrogen sulfide and/or mercaptans to exit the collected scrubbing media as stripped gases, and collecting the stripped gases without allowing the stripped gases to enter the stream of scrubbed flue gas.

Abstract: A method and instrument capable of accurately detecting the presence of a gas and accurately measuring the concentration of the gas in, for example, the environment. The method and instrument sense the presence of a gas with a sensing element whose output is linear to the concentration of the gas in the environment, and process the output of the sensing element through a nonlinear amplifier having a higher gain at lower levels of the output than at higher levels of the output so that the nonlinear amplifier amplifies the output of the sensing element at the lower levels thereof and avoids signal saturation at the higher levels thereof. The method and instrument then deliver the amplified output of the nonlinear amplifier to an audio circuit that produces an audio output having a property in proportion to the amplified output of the nonlinear amplifier.