Author: claimsbot

1. A double-layer transmit and receive (TR) coil array for a high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system for imaging an object, the system including:
a radio frequency (RF) shield;
a transmit coil strip, positioned adjacent the shield at a first distance from the shield closer to the object then the shield; and
a receive coil strip that receives MR data positioned closer to the object then the transmit coil strip at a second distance from the shield, the second distance being greater than the first distance.
2. The coil array according to claim 1, wherein the transmit coil strip is wider than the receive coil strip.
3. The coil array according to claim 1, wherein the transmit coil strip and the receive coil strip are each capacitively connected to the shield.
4. The coil array according to claim 3, wherein the transmit coil strip is connected to the shield at each end by capacitors, and the receive coil strip is connected at each end to capacitors, which are also connected to the capacitors respectively.
5. The coil array according to claim 1, further including first and second transformers that mutually decouple the transmit coil strip and the receive coil strip.
6. The coil array according to claim 5, wherein the transmit coil strip is coupled to a first side of the first transformer and a first side of the second transformer, and wherein the receive coil strip is coupled to a second side of the first transformer and to a second side of the second transformer.
7. The coil array according to claim 1, wherein the transmit coil strip and the receive coil strip each include a pin diode.
8. The coil array according to claim 1, wherein the transmit coil strip and the receive coil strip provide double resonance to the coil array.
9. The coil array according to claim 1, further including an RF feed line having capacitors, wherein the RF feed line passes between the shield and transmit coil strip and connects to a second shield.
10. The coil array according to claim 1, including a plurality of transmit strips and a plurality of receive strips.
11. A magnetic resonance scanner including a plurality of the transmit strips and a plurality of the receive strips of claim 1.
12. The coil array according to claim 1, wherein the coil array is one of a plurality of coil arrays configured to form a coil assembly.
13. The coil array according to claim 1, wherein the first distance is varied along the length of the RF shield to generate a B1 field gradient along the coil array.
14. A method for concurrently reducing specific energy absorption rate (SAR) and increasing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for transmit and receive elements in a TR coil array in a high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system for imaging an object positioned within a region of interest (ROI), the method comprising acts of:
positioning a transmit coil strip at a first distance from a radio frequency (RF) shield closer to the ROI then the RF shield;
positioning a receive coil strip at a second distance from the RF shield closer to the ROI then the transmit coil strip, the second distance being greater than the first distance; and
transmitting RF pulses with the transmit coil strip and receiving resonance signals with the receive coil strip.
15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising an act of varying the first distance along the length of the RF shield to generate a B1 field gradient along the coil array.
16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the act of transmitting the RF pulses comprises an act of one of turning off or detuning the receive coil strip when the RF pulses are transmitted.
17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the act of receiving the resonance signals comprises an act of one of turning off or detuning the transmit coil strip when the resonance signals are received.
18. The coil array according to claim 1, wherein the transmit coil strip is longer and extends past the receive coil strip.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A pre-assembled compartmented food package that may be stored and shipped in a flattened condition and erected into an expanded and operative condition at the point of use, comprising:
a shallow rectangular tray portion having front and back walls, opposite end walls, a top wall and a bottom wall, each of said end walls comprising releasably interengaged end closure flaps, and said front and back walls being pivotably connected at top and bottom edges thereof to the top wall and bottom wall, respectively, whereby said front and back walls may be pivoted to collapse said top and bottom walls on top of one another to flatten said tray portion for storage and shipment in the flattened condition, or to move said top and bottom walls apart to expand said tray portion for use in the expanded and operative condition, said top wall having at least one opening therein for holding an object, said at least one opening being formed by a cut in the top wall that defines a transverse partition panel which is foldable into generally perpendicular relationship to the top and bottom walls and to the front and back walls;
wherein there are also plural openings in the top wall, formed by cuts that define a longitudinal partition panel which is foldable into generally perpendicular relationship to the top and bottom walls and to said transverse partition panel, such that the edges of said transverse partition panel, when it is folded, frictionally engage against (a) the bottom wall and (b) between (i) one of the front and back walls and (ii) said longitudinal partition panel to hold the tray portion in the expanded and operative condition.
2. The food package as recited in claim 1, wherein:
said longitudinal partition panel is connected along a hinge line at one edge thereof to the top wall, and a narrow foot flange on an opposite edge is adhesively secured to the bottom wall.
3. The food package as recited in claim 1, wherein:
there are two transverse partition panel arranged in opposed relationship to one another, said transverse partition panels being arranged to be spaced from one another when they are folded.
4. The food package as recited in claim 1, wherein:
there are two longitudinal partition panels arranged in parallel, spaced relationship to one another when they are folded.
5. The food package as recited in claim 1, wherein:
a glue flap is hinged along an edge of the top wall, said glue flap being adhesively secured to said back wall so that said top wall lies parallel to said bottom wall, and said front and back walls lie parallel to one another.
6. The food package as recited in claim 1, wherein:
said end closure flaps of each end wall include a first end closure flap which is foldably attached along one edge to an end edge of the bottom wall, and a second end closure flap which is foldably attached along one edge to an end edge of the top wall.
7. The food package as recited in claim 6, wherein:
said first end closure flap has a free edge opposite the edge attached to the bottom wall, and an elongated central notch is formed in the free edge of said first end closure flap, defining a pair of outwardly projecting tabs at opposite ends of said free edge;
said second end closure flap has a free edge opposite the edge attached to the top wall, an outwardly projecting central tongue on said free edge, and a sloping shoulder extending from a base of the tongue to opposite corners of the top wall; and
each of said end walls are formed by folding said first end closure flap and said second end closure flap inwardly against one another to extend the central tongue on the second end closure flap through the central notch and behind the first end closure flap, and engage the tabs at opposite sides of said first end closure flap behind the sloping shoulders of the second end closure flap.
8. The food package as recited in claim 1, wherein:
a lid is pivotably connected along one edge to a top edge of said back wall for opening and closing movement relative to the tray portion.
9. The food package as recited in claim 8, wherein:
said lid is of double wall construction, imparting stiffness and durability to it.
10. The food package as recited in claim 8, wherein:
said lid comprises a game piece which is usable apart from its use as a lid to cover the tray portion.
11. The food package as recited in claim 8, wherein:
said lid is detachable from said tray portion along a perforated hinge line.
12. A one piece paperboard blank for forming a food package that can be stored and shipped in a flattened condition and opened to an expanded and operative condition at the point of use, comprising:
a rectangular bottom-wall-forming panel having opposite, parallel, first and second side edges and opposite, parallel, first and second end edges;
a narrow rectangular back-wall-forming panel having opposite, parallel, first and second edges, and connected along a fold line at the first edge thereof to the first side edge of the bottom-wall-forming panel;
a first rectangular lid-forming panel having opposite, parallel, first and second side edges, and connected along a fold line at the first side edge thereof to the second edge of the back-wall-forming panel;
a second rectangular lid-forming panel having opposite, parallel, first and second side edges, and connected along a fold line at the first side edge thereof to the second side edge of the first lid-forming panel, said first and second lid-forming panels being adapted to be folded into overlying relationship with one another and adhesively secured together to form a double thickness lid;
a narrow rectangular front-wall-forming panel having opposite, parallel, first and second edges, and connected along a fold line at the first edge thereof to the second side edge of the bottom-wall-forming panel;
a rectangular top-wall-forming panel having opposite, parallel, first and second side edges and opposite, parallel, first and second end edges, and connected along a fold line at the first side edge thereof to the second edge of the front-wall-forming panel;
a glue flap foldably connected along one edge to the second side edge of the top-wall-forming panel;
a first end closure flap foldably connected to each of the first and second end edges of the bottom-wall-forming panel; and
a second end closure flap foldably connected to each of the first and second end edges of the top-wall-forming panel, said first and second end closure flaps being adapted to be folded into interlocking relationship with one another when the blank is erected to form a package;
wherein a plurality of cuts are made in said top-wall-forming panel, which, when the package is erected from the blank, define a plurality of openings in said top-wall-forming panel for receiving an item, and also define a plurality of partition panels, and when the blank is folded and erected to form the package, said top-wall-forming panel and said bottom-wall-forming panel are disposed in spaced parallel relationship to one another, with at least one of said partition panels extending perpendicularly between said top-wall-forming panel and said bottom-wall-forming panel, with said glue flap adhesively secured to said front-wall-forming panel; and
wherein said plurality of partition panels includes a first partition panel that extends parallel to the opposite side edges of the top-wall-forming panel and a second partition panel that extends transverse to the first partition panel, and said second partition panel having dimensions such that when the blank is erected to form the package, opposite side edges of the second partition panel frictionally engage between the first partition panel and the front-wall-forming panel or the back-wall-forming to hold the package in the expanded and operative condition.

1. A method for making a flat, blister-free foam with an open, interconnected cellular structure, comprising:
saturating a polymer with a gas in a vessel at conditions wherein the gas is supercritical and producing a gas-saturated polymer;
desorbing gas from the gas-saturated polymer;
placing the gas-saturated polymer in a press;
in the press, heating the gas-saturated polymer at a temperature to allow cell growth while the press applies a clamping force to maintain flatness and produces a flat blister-free foam; and
removing a solid skin layer from the foam to expose an open, interconnected cellular structure.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the gas-saturated polymer is desorbed for about 35 minutes or greater.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the gas-saturated polymer is heated in the press for about 3 minutes or greater.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the polymer is a thermoplastic polymer.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the polymer is polyetherimide.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the clamping force is 1 ton or less.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the foam includes an open, interconnected nanocellular structure, wherein the cellular structure comprises cells having a diameter of 50 to 100 nm.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising polishing the foam to remove a skin layer.
9. A battery, comprising:
a foam made by the process of claim 1; and
the foam being placed between a cathode and anode of the battery.
10. A polymer foam, comprising:
a flat foam having an open, interconnected nanocellular structure, wherein the cellular structure comprises cells having a diameter of 50 to 100 nm.
11. A battery separator, comprising the polymer foam of claim 10.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for handling critical sections for a speculative thread, the method operating in a system that supports a head thread that executes program instructions and the speculative thread that speculatively executes program instructions in advance of the head thread, the method comprising:
during an entry into a critical section by the speculative thread, incrementing a variable containing a number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread;
wherein a virtual lock held by the speculative thread is associated with the critical section and is used to keep track of the fact that the speculative thread entered the critical section;
wherein the virtual lock does not prevent the speculative thread or other threads from entering the critical section;
during an exit from the critical section by the speculative thread, decrementing the variable containing the number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread;
receiving a request to perform a join operation with the head thread, the join operation merging state associated with the speculative thread into state associated with the head thread; and
waiting to perform the join operation until the variable containing the number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread equals zero.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the system additionally supports other head threads that execute program instructions for a parallel computational task in parallel with the head thread, and wherein the method further comprises:
during the entry into the critical section by the speculative thread, adding an entry for the virtual lock associated with the critical section into a list of virtual locks visited by the speculative thread; and
waiting to perform the join operation until no virtual locks in the list of virtual locks are held by the other head threads.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein waiting to perform the join operation until no virtual locks in the list of virtual locks are held by the other head threads involves using the head thread to acquire non-virtual locks associated with virtual locks in the list of virtual locks.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the entry for the virtual lock in the list of virtual locks contains an identifier for a corresponding non-virtual lock for the critical section, wherein the non-virtual lock is used to ensure mutual exclusion amongst the head thread and the other head threads working on the parallel computational task.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein during a write operation to a memory element by the head thread, the method further comprises:
performing the write operation to a primary version of the memory element;
checking status information associated with the memory element to determine if the memory element has been read by the speculative thread;
if the memory element has been read by the speculative thread, causing the speculative thread to roll back so that the speculative thread can read a result of the write operation; and
if the memory element has not been read by the speculative thread, performing the write operation to a space-time dimensioned version of the memory element if the space-time dimensioned version exists.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein performing the join operation includes merging the space-time dimensioned version of the memory element into the primary version of the memory element and discarding the space-time dimensioned version of the memory element.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the memory element includes an object defined within an object-oriented programming system.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the head thread and the speculative thread perform the join operation in parallel.
9. An apparatus that facilitates handling critical sections for a speculative thread, comprising:
a head thread that executes program instructions;
the speculative thread that speculatively executes program instructions in advance of the head thread;
a critical section mechanism for the speculative thread that is configured to,
increment a variable containing a number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread during an entry into a critical section by the speculative thread, and to
decrement the variable containing the number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread during an exit from the critical section by the speculative thread,
wherein a virtual lock held by the speculative thread is associated with the critical section and is used to keep track of the fact that the speculative thread entered the critical section,
wherein the virtual lock does not prevent the speculative thread or other threads from entering the critical section; and

a joining mechanism that is configured merge state associated with the speculative thread into state associated with the head thread;
wherein the joining mechanism is configured to wait to perform the join operation until the variable containing the number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread equals zero.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising other head threads that execute program instructions for a parallel computational task in parallel with the head thread, and wherein the critical section mechanism is further configured to:
add an entry for the virtual lock associated with the critical section into a list of virtual locks visited by the speculative thread during the entry into the critical section by the speculative thread, and to
wait to perform the join operation until no virtual locks in the list of virtual locks are held by the other head threads.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the critical section mechanism is configured to wait to perform the join operation by using the head thread to acquire non-virtual locks associated with virtual locks in the list of virtual locks.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the entry for the virtual lock in the list of virtual locks contains an identifier for a corresponding non-virtual lock for the critical section, wherein the corresponding non-virtual lock is used to ensure mutual exclusion amongst the head thread and the other head threads working on the parallel computational task.
13. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a mechanism that performs write operations for the head thread, the mechanism being configured to:
perform a write operation to a primary version of a memory element;
check status information associated with the memory element to determine if the memory element has been read by the speculative thread;
cause the speculative thread to roll back so that the speculative thread can read a result of the write operation if the memory element has been read by the speculative thread; and
perform the write operation to a space-time dimensioned version of the memory element if the space-time dimensioned version exists and if the memory element has not been read by the speculative thread.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the joining mechanism is configured to:
merge the space-time dimensioned version of the memory element into the primary version of the memory element; and to
discard the space-time dimensioned version of the memory element.
15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the memory element includes an object defined within an object-oriented programming system.
16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the head thread and the speculative thread are configured to perform the join operation in parallel.
17. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for handling critical sections for a speculative thread, the method operating in a system that supports a head thread that executes program instructions and the speculative thread that speculatively executes program instructions in advance of the head thread, the method comprising:
during an entry into a critical section by the speculative thread, incrementing a variable containing a number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread;
wherein a virtual lock held by the speculative thread is associated with the critical section and is used to keep track of the fact that the speculative thread entered the critical section;
wherein the virtual lock does not prevent the speculative thread or other threads from entering the critical section;
during an exit from the critical section by the speculative thread, decrementing the variable containing the number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread;
receiving a request to perform a join operation with the head thread, the join operation merging state associated with the speculative thread into state associated with the head thread; and
waiting to perform the join operation until the variable containing the number of virtual locks held by the speculative thread equals zero.
18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the system additionally supports other head threads that execute program instructions for a parallel computational task in parallel with the head thread, and wherein the method further comprises:
during the entry into the critical section by the speculative thread, adding an entry for the virtual lock associated with the critical section into a list of virtual locks visited by the speculative thread; and
waiting to perform the join operation until no virtual locks in the list of virtual locks are held by the other head threads.
19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein waiting to perform the join operation until no virtual locks in the list of virtual locks are held by the other head threads involves using the head thread to acquire non-virtual locks associated with virtual locks in the list of virtual locks.
20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the entry for the virtual lock in the list of virtual locks contains an identifier for a corresponding non-virtual lock for the critical section, wherein the non-virtual lock is used to ensure mutual exclusion amongst the head thread and the other head threads working on the parallel computational task.
21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein during a write operation to a memory element by the head thread, the method further comprises:
performing the write operation to a primary version of the memory element;
checking status information associated with the memory element to determine if the memory element has been read by the speculative thread;
if the memory element has been read by the speculative thread, causing the speculative thread to roll back so that the speculative thread can read a result of the write operation; and
if the memory element has not been read by the speculative thread, performing the write operation to a space-time dimensioned version of the memory element if the space-time dimensioned version exists.
22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein performing the join operation includes merging the space-time dimensioned version of the memory element into the primary version of the memory element and discarding the space-time dimensioned version of the memory element.