Abstract: A target region of tissue is destroyed by saturating the region with light-absorbing material, reducing the temperature of the region, and disintegrating the region with a light source. One means for carrying out these steps is a multi-channel delivery needle having a primary transport line, a waveguide lengthwise connected to the primary transport line, and one or more auxiliary lines lengthwise connected to the primary transport line. The tubes and waveguide define a sharpened common end to assist the needle in entering the skin and penetrating flesh necessary to reach the target region.

Abstract: A read sensor includes first and second symmetric spin valves with resettable magnetization directions. The first spin valve includes an antiferromagnetic layer, a ferromagnetic pinned layer, a non-magnetic conductor layer, then a ferromagnetic free layer. The ferromagnetic free layer is shared by the first and second spin valves. Upon the ferromagnetic free layer lies a non-magnetic conductor layer, then an inner ferromagnetic pinned layer and an outer ferromagnetic pinned layer sandwiching an exchange coupling layer. The exchange coupling layer exhibits sufficient exchange coupling with the sandwiching ferromagnetic pinned layers to pin these layers' magnetization directions in antiparallel directions. A second antiferromagnetic layer may be provided adjacent the second spin valve's outer ferromagnetic pinned layer.

Abstract: A disk drive assembly in which the suspension and read/write transducer are integrated into a combination assembly and fabricated using thin film deposition techniques thereby producing an assembly which is very low in mass permitting contact recording. In one embodiment, transducers are deposited in a row and column configuration onto a release and support layer covering a wafer substrate having a thickness equal to a desired suspension length. The wafer is separated into a plurality of row sections, with each row section providing one thin film transducer from each column. A second release layer is formed on a separated side on the row section and thin layers of suitable materials are deposited to form a suspension layer including conductive lines extending to the thin film transducers. The first and second release layers are dissolved and the row section is further cut to form the individual combination assemblies.

Abstract: A method of evaluating a tetrahedral linear interpolation function utilizes a table preparation process and a linear interpolating process. In the table preparation process, values v and domain points p of the function are related by two tetrahedral interpolation variables denoted as a matrix T and a vector t, as follows: v=t+pT. The coordinates of p include n components, and the value v includes m components. The matrix T includes n rows and m columns, as it must to relate p to v. If the value of the function is scalar, t is also a scalar, and T is a vector of n elements. From the coordinates of the (n+1) domain input points and the function values v at these points, the values of variables t and T are computed and stored in a table. The linear interpolation procedure of the invention uses the values tabulated for t and T to calculate an approximation for the components of the function value v at a given p.

Abstract: This invention provides a body mounted exercise device primarily for use in exercising the muscles of the buttocks, but preferably adaptable to also exercise the thighs and arms. The device preferably comprises two hinge plates which are each secured outwardly and to one side of a respective hip joint of a human user, each of the hinge plates provided with a pivot arm pivotable about the hinge plate. For exercise of the muscles of the buttocks, the pivot arms extend downwardly along the legs of the user, preferably engaging the backs of the legs between the hip joints and knees. The exercise device is provided with biasing means which exert a forwardly directed biasing force on the backs of the legs, the biasing force opposing rearward pivoting of the legs about the hip joints. During rearward pivoting of the legs, the muscles of the buttocks contract and are forced to overcome the biasing force exerted by the pivot arms on the legs of the user.

Abstract: A plurality of suspension and magnetic head combinations are made on a wafer for longitudinal recording. A horizontal first pole piece and horizontal and vertical components of a second pole piece are formed with a magnetic gap between the first pole piece and the vertical component of the second pole piece. The suspension layers are formed mainly from the insulation layer that separates the horizontal first pole piece and the horizontal component of the second pole piece and an insulation layer that covers and protects the pole pieces. The layers of the combination head are deposited on a wafer in rows and columns. A release layer is deposited on the wafer and then the individual thin film layers of the magnetic head are deposited. The wafer is then divided into rows. The vertical component of the second pole piece is formed on the end of the row in contact with its horizontal component.

Abstract: A surface mount placement system with one or more carriages includes, on each carriage, multiple groups of quills, each group being adjustable on one of two principal orthogonal directions of a plane containing a component mounting zone. The quills of each group are independently rotatable with respect to the quills of the other group and are further independently moveable in a third direction orthogonal to the two principal directions. A carriage is moved to the component mounting zone where the two groups are adjusted with respect to each other for placement of at least two components, one from each group, in a single place step.

Abstract: A sealing system for the compression ring (5) of a piston (1) of an internal combustion engine comprises placing an elastomeric material seal ring (15) behind the compression ring (5) to provide sealing to improve compression ratio and prevent loss of oil. The seal ring may be an O-ring of a neoprene/silicon blend elastomeric material of circular, U-shaped, oval, square, rectangular or trapezoidal shape, and may be hollow or solid. The seal ring may have a cross-sectional diameter of from 50% to 100% of the thickness of the compression ring (5) behind which it fits.

Abstract: A compression interlocking system for stabilizing long bone fractures, comprises an elongated intramedullary rod having a proximal end, a distal end and a longitudinal axis, the rod adapted for extending within a bore generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of a long bone from a proximal end of the bone to beyond a fracture of the bone, a first member for fixing the proximal end of the rod to a first portion of a bone having a fracture, a second member for fixing the distal end of the rod to a second portion of the bone having the fracture, and a cam associated with at least one of the first and second members for moving the first portion of the bone and the second portion of the bone toward one another for closing and applying compression to the fracture.

Abstract: A method for localizing execution of subqueries and determining collocation of execution of subqueries in a shared-nothing database. The concept of compatible partitioning is used to localize database operations in order to eliminate excess processes and communication, and thereby improve response time and throughput for the database management system. The method reduces the number of process by reducing the number of nodes involved in processing a query and by combining multiple processes.

Abstract: A data storage system including a controller and a string of multiple DASDs, where each DASD is responsive to commands from the controller to perform local operations such as XOR functions and transferring data to other DASDs. A bus, which may comprise a serial or a parallel bus, electrically interconnects the controller and the DASDs. Each DASD includes a storage apparatus, an interface, a buffer, and processor. The buffer selectively receives data from the interface and the storage apparatus. In addition to other operations, the processor is responsive to commands from the controller to the buffer interface to perform an XOR operation on selected items of data in the buffer. The processor may additionally direct the results of the XOR operation to another DASD or to the controller.

Abstract: A noise dithering system provides gating signals to switching transistors that selectively apply power to an output device in response to the gating signals, wherein said gating signals include a selected level of frequency modulation insufficient to alter operational characteristics of the output device more than a predetermined amount. One embodiment concerns a PWM switching system in which a PWM controller provides gating signals to switching transistors, where the gating signals are clocked by a timing circuit in accordance with a modulated input reactance sensed by a timing input node. In another embodiment, the gating signals may be clocked by the timing circuit in accordance with a modulated current at a timing input node, provided by a variable current source. In the case of the modulated input reactance, a voltage variable capacitor is preferably used to provide a capacitance proportional to output of a modulator.

Abstract: A system for optimizing the position and use of cartridges of machine-readable data storage media in an automated super library. The invention is implemented in a super library that includes a main library bin with a plurality of cartridge slots, a picker, and multiple small libraries, where each small library has a small library bin with multiple slots, a picker, and at least one data drive. Mount queue times are estimated for each small library, and a main library picker is selectively operated to transfer cartridges between the small libraries based on the estimated mount queue times. This provides expedited access of the cartridges at the small libraries. The host processor maintains requests for such inter-library transfers in a main picker queue, for processing by the main picker. When each small library has a non-empty mount queue, the main picker processes small libraries' cartridge transfer requests by efficiently distributing cartridges along the small libraries.

Abstract: Apparatus for cleaning fluids, especially cooling lubricants of machine tools. The apparatus includes a tank having a partition subdividing it into a sedimentation chamber and a clean chamber and having an inlet for the contaminated cooling lubricant and a discharge device for the cleaned cooling lubricant. A filter is mounted between the sedimentation chamber and the clean chamber and a conveyor device is mounted in the sedimentation chamber for removing sedimented particles from the tank. An environmentally safe and low-maintenance cleaning apparatus according to this invention is created by the fact that the sedimentation chamber is subdivided by a partition into an inlet area and a preliminary cleaning area that are connected to each other by a passage in the lower area of the partition. The filter is an edge filter mounted in the partition between the preliminary cleaning area and the clean chamber.

Abstract: A method of lapping the air bearing surface of a magnetoresistive head which minimizes the likelihood of interelement shorts at the air bearing surface is described. In a final, linear lapping phase, the air bearing surface is lapped back and forth parallel to the longitudinal axis of the head elements in an oscillatory path across a stationary lapping surface. Any scratches or smears of the elements will be along the length of the elements rather than transverse to the elements. Any transverse scratches or smears occurring in earlier lapping phases will be removed during the linear lapping phase.

Abstract: A system and method including a computer shape definition language are disclosed for defining shapes and mining time sequences that resemble the shapes. The system and method include provisions for establishing a user-defined alphabet that in turn establishes a set of elemental shapes. The system also includes simple yet powerful operators for combining the elemental shapes to define a desired time sequence shape. Moreover, intervals of actual time sequences are mapped into corresponding transition sequences using the alphabet, and the transition sequences are stored in a hierarchical index structure for easily accessing the transition sequences. The index structure is entered with the desired time sequence shape, and the index structure is traversed to identify maximal actual transition sequences which conform to the desired time sequence shape, within user-definable blurry criteria.

Abstract: Digital data is stored on a DASD by generating a parity block for a specified block of data items and storing the parity block at a selected location on the DASD. The parity block includes a parity computation calculated by applying a parity routine to the corresponding data. The parity block also includes a parity code that indicates either (1) the size of the corresponding data block, or (2) the number of data items contributing to the parity computation. The parity block may be stored adjacent to the corresponding data, or at an independent location. Among other things, the invention provides significantly increased robustness against data loss, and improved flexibility and efficiency in storing data.

Abstract: A novel through-hole interconnect for connecting a power plane conductor to a through-hole includes a central pad connected to the through-hole and a deformable hinge that connects the central pad with the power plane conductor in a multilayer circuit board. The central pad and hinge are defined by a non-continuous area removed from the plane conductor. Preferably this area has a C-shape. During the compression process to join the core assemblies, deformation of the hinge advantageously absorbs the shear forces and allows the power plane beyond the hinge to remain substantially planar. The resulting multilayer laminated circuit board includes a plurality of cores laminated together in a stacked configuration and a plurality of plated through-holes defined in said multilayer laminated circuit board each of which is connected to a plane conductor by a hinge deformed so that the interconnect area is aligned outside of a plane defined by the plane conductor.

Abstract: One or more portions of an inflatable thermal blanket that is sized sufficiently to fully cover a patient are gathered and maintained in a non-inflated condition by a closure such that a thermally-controlled inflating medium admitted into the blanket is prevented from being admitted into the gathered portion(s), thereby leaving a primary part of the patient covered and exposing a part of the patient for medical attention. Thereafter the closure can be released to permit the inflating medium to be admitted into the gathered portion such that the gathered portion self-erects and assumes an inflated condition. The released thermal blanket covers the entire patient and bathes the patient in the inflating medium. The closure can be provided as an elongated tape strip with a central perforation that can be separated.

Abstract: A soft closing liquid valve of the pilot control type including an inlet chamber, an outlet chamber, a third pilot chamber, a first conduit for liquid communication between the inlet chamber and the third chamber and a second conduit for fluid communication between the third chamber and the outlet chamber whereby the liquid flow rate through the first conduit is reduced by the conduit including a tortuous path means so that the flow rate into the third chamber is substantially reduced and when the second conduit is closed causes the third chamber to fill at a slower rate than in conventional pilot controlled valves, the resultant slow rate of change of pressure causing a slow closure of the flow path between the inlet and outlet chambers by a diaphragm thus minimizing water hammer.