Abstract: A hand grip apparatus for receiving operator input includes a body having a proximal end and a distal interface end for coupling to an input apparatus. A first control lever is attached to the body and extends away from the proximal end and terminates in a finger grip for receiving one of the operator's fingers. A second control lever is attached to the body and extends away from the proximal end terminating in a thumb grip for receiving the operator's thumb. Movement of at least one of the control levers is operable to produce a first control signal representing the movement. An input control is included on the body between the grip ends and has an actuator surface angled towards the finger grip end and configured to produce a second control signal in response to actuation by one of the operator's fingers.

Abstract: Implant delivery devices, methods of device assembly and methods of using those devices are presented where the delivery device uses an automatic implant delivery mechanism that eliminates variability in pusher wire speeds by providing a needle assembly having one or more implants positioned within a proximal end of a needle cannula, a dampener assembly and a shuttle assembly located within a housing along with the activation member which holds the shuttle assembly in cocked or pre-tensioned state. A lock can be engaged with the activation member to prevent premature firing or triggering of the device.

Abstract: A hand grip apparatus for receiving operator input includes a body having a proximal end and a distal interface end for coupling to an input apparatus. A first control lever is attached to the body and extends away from the proximal end and terminates in a finger grip for receiving one of the operator's fingers. A second control lever is attached to the body and extends away from the proximal end terminating in a thumb grip for receiving the operator's thumb. Movement of at least one of the control levers is operable to produce a first control signal representing the movement. An input control is included on the body between the grip ends and has an actuator surface angled towards the finger grip end and configured to produce a second control signal in response to actuation by one of the operator's fingers.

Abstract: Contact holes of solar cells are formed by laser ablation to accommodate various solar cell designs. Use of a laser to form the contact holes is facilitated by replacing films formed on the diffusion regions with a film that has substantially uniform thickness. Contact holes may be formed to deep diffusion regions to increase the laser ablation process margins. The laser configuration may be tailored to form contact holes through dielectric films of varying thicknesses.

Abstract: A collapsible carry cot includes a base member; first and second frame members, wherein the first and second frame members together at least partially define a side or end wall of the carry cot, and wherein the first and second frame members are pivotally coupled together such that pivoting the first and second frame members relative to one another changes a height of the side or end wall of the carry cot, and wherein the first frame member is pivotally movable relatively to the base member and the second frame member is pivotally and slidably movable relative to the base member; and a securing mechanism, the securing mechanism to releasable secure the second frame member relative to the base member, such that sliding of the second frame member relative to the base member is restricted, thereby restricting pivoting of the first frame member relative to the second frame member.

Abstract: A light source for a color display apparatus (1) for displaying light at optical wavelengths corresponding a plurality of different colors sequentially, comprising a plurality of light-emitting diodes (3, 4, 5) each respectively operable to emit light to display a respective one of the plurality of different colors, a power source (26) connected to the plurality of LEDs for supplying power thereto a plurality of capacitor units (7, 8, 9) connected to the power source to be provided thereby with charge for generating a respective one of a plurality of different respective forward bias voltages for application to the LEDs to operate the LED. A control unit (10) is operable to selectively connect a capacitor unit to an LED for applying a desired one of the different said forward bias voltages thereto according to the color of light which the LED is operable to display.

Abstract: Techniques for managing data in a non-volatile memory system (e.g., Flash Memory) are disclosed. A controller can use information relating to a host's file system, which is stored by the host on non-volatile memory, to determine if one or more clusters (or sectors with clusters) are currently allocated. The controller can use the information relating to the host's file system to identify when the host is sending data to the next free cluster and to store such data in a sequential format by copying data from other locations in the non-volatile memory.

Abstract: The invention provides a process for the production of a substance or composition for the treatment, by therapy or prophylaxis, of parasitic infections, in particular malarial infections such as Plasmodium falciparum infections, of the human or animal body. The process comprises extracting the substance or composition from roots of the plant species Dicoma anomala, by an extraction using an organic solvent to obtain a liquid extract containing the substance or composition and removing the solvent from the liquid extract to leave a dried extract containing the substance or composition. The invention extends also to the use of the substance or composition in the manufacture of a medicament or preparation for such treatment of infections; to a substance or composition for use in such treatment of said infections; to compounds for use in such treatment of said infections; and to a method of treating said infections using such compounds.

Abstract: In a memory that is programmable page by page and each page having multiple sectors that are once-programmable, even if successive writes are sequential, the data recorded to an update block may be fragmented and non-sequential. Instead of recording update data to an update block, the data is being recorded in at least two interleaving streams. When a full page of data is available, it is recorded to the update block. Otherwise, it is temporarily recorded to the scratch pad block until a full page of data becomes available to be transferred to the update block. Preferably, a pipeline operation allows the recording to the update block to be set up as soon as the host write command indicates a full page could be written. If the actual write data is incomplete due to interruptions, the setup will be canceled and recording is made to the scratch pad block instead.

Abstract: In a nonvolatile memory with block management system that supports update blocks with non-sequential logical units, an index of the logical units in a non-sequential update block is buffered in RAM and stored periodically into the nonvolatile memory. In one embodiment, the index is stored in a block dedicated for storing indices. In another embodiment, the index is stored in the update block itself. In yet another embodiment, the index is stored in the header of each logical unit. In another aspect, the logical units written after the last index update but before the next have their indexing information stored in the header of each logical unit. In this way, after a power outage, the location of recently written logical units can be determined without having to perform a scanning during initialization. In yet another aspect, a block is managed as partially sequential and partially non-sequential, directed to more than one logical subgroup.

Abstract: A non-volatile memory is constituted from a set of memory planes, each having its own set of read/write circuits so that the memory planes can operate in parallel. The memory is further organized into erasable blocks, each for storing a logical group of logical units of data. In updating a logical unit, all versions of a logical unit are maintained in the same plane as the original. Preferably, all versions of a logical unit are aligned within a plane so that they are all serviced by the same set of sensing circuits. In a subsequent garbage collection operation, the latest version of the logical unit need not be retrieved from a different plane or a different set of sensing circuits, otherwise resulting in reduced performance. In one embodiment, any gaps left after alignment are padded by copying latest versions of logical units in sequential order thereto.

Abstract: The invention provides a process for the production of a substance or composition for the treatment, by therapy or prophylaxis, of parasitic infections, in particular malarial infections such as Plasmodium falciparum infections, of the human or animal body. The process comprises extracting the substance or composition from roots of the plant species Dicoma anomala, by an extraction using an organic solvent to obtain a liquid extract containing the substance or composition and removing the solvent from the liquid extract to leave a dried extract containing the substance or composition. The invention extends also to the use of the substance or composition in the manufacture of a medicament or preparation for such treatment of infections; to a substance or composition for use in such treatment of said infections; to compounds for use in such treatment of said infections; and to a method of treating said infections using such compounds.

Abstract: A non-volatile memory is constituted from a set of memory planes, each having its own set of read/write circuits so that the memory planes can operate in parallel. The memory is further organized into erasable blocks, each for storing a logical group of logical units of data. In updating a logical unit, all versions of a logical unit are maintained in the same plane as the original. Preferably, all versions of a logical unit are aligned within a plane so that they are all serviced by the same set of sensing circuits. In a subsequent garbage collection operation, the latest version of the logical unit need not be retrieved from a different plane or a different set of sensing circuits, otherwise resulting in reduced performance. In one embodiment, any gaps left after alignment are padded by copying latest versions of logical units in sequential order thereto.

Abstract: In a nonvolatile memory with block management system that supports update blocks with non-sequential logical units, an index of the logical units in a non-sequential update block is buffered in RAM and stored periodically into the nonvolatile memory. In one embodiment, the index is stored in a block dedicated for storing indices. In another embodiment, the index is stored in the update block itself. In yet another embodiment, the index is stored in the header of each logical unit. In another aspect, the logical units written after the last index update but before the next have their indexing information stored in the header of each logical unit. In this way, after a power outage, the location of recently written logical units can be determined without having to perform a scanning during initialization. In yet another aspect, a block is managed as partially sequential and partially non-sequential, directed to more than one logical subgroup.

Abstract: In a memory that is programmable page by page and each page having multiple sectors that are once-programmable, even if successive writes are sequential, the data recorded to an update block may be fragmented and non-sequential. Instead of recording update data to an update block, the data is being recorded in at least two interleaving streams. When a full page of data is available, it is recorded to the update block. Otherwise, it is temporarily recorded to the scratch pad block until a full page of data becomes available to be transferred to the update block. Preferably, a pipeline operation allows the recording to the update block to be set up as soon as the host write command indicates a full page could be written. If the actual write data is incomplete due to interruptions, the setup will be canceled and recording is made to the scratch pad block instead.

Abstract: In a memory that is programmable page by page and each page having multiple sectors that are once-programmable, even if successive writes are sequential, the data recorded to an update block may be fragmented and non-sequential. Instead of recording update data to an update block, the data is being recorded in at least two interleaving streams. When a full page of data is available, it is recorded to the update block. Otherwise, it is temporarily recorded to the scratch pad block until a full page of data becomes available to be transferred to the update block. Preferably, a pipeline operation allows the recording to the update block to be set up as soon as the host write command indicates a full page could be written. If the actual write data is incomplete due to interruptions, the setup will be canceled and recording is made to the scratch pad block instead.

Abstract: The on-chip copy process is extended so that the data may be copied between two blocks that may be on different chips, different planes on the same chip, or the same plane of the same chip. More specifically, the methods described here provide a single data copying mechanism that allows data to be copied between any two locations in a memory system. An exemplary embodiment uses an EDO-type timing. According to another aspect, selected portions of the relocated data, such as chosen words in a transferred page, can be updated in the controller on the fly. In addition to transferring a data set directly from a read buffer of a source array to a write buffer of a destination array, the data set can concurrently be copied, if desired, into the controller where an error detection and correction operation can be performed on it.

Abstract: Techniques for managing data in a non-volatile memory system (e.g., Flash Memory) are disclosed. A controller can use information relating to a host's filing system, which is stored by the host on non-volatile memory, to determine if one or more clusters (or sectors with clusters) are currently allocated. The controller can use the information relating to the host's filing system to ensure that one or more clusters (or one or more sectors within a cluster) are not copied from one location to another location in the memory during a garbage collection cycle. As a result, some unnecessary operations (e.g., copying data) which are conventionally performed can be avoided and system performance can be enhanced.

Abstract: Update data to a non-volatile memory may be recorded in at least two interleaving streams such as either into an update block or a scratch pad block depending on a predetermined condition. The scratch pad block is used to buffered update data that are ultimately destined for the update block. In a preferred embodiment, an index of the data stored in the scratch pad block as well that stored in the update block is saved in an unused portion of the scratch pad block every time the scratch pad block is written to.

Abstract: Update data to a non-volatile memory may be recorded in at least two interleaving streams such as either into an update block or a scratch pad block depending on a predetermined condition. The scratch pad block is used to buffered update data that are ultimately destined for the update block. Synchronization information about the order recording of updates among the streams is saved with at least one of the streams. This will allow the most recently written version of data that may exist on multiple memory blocks to be identified. In one embodiment, the synchronization information is saved in a first block and is a write pointer that points to the next recording location in a second block. In another embodiment, the synchronization information is a time stamp.