Author: claimsbot

1. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, comprising the steps of:
identifying a patient having at least a partial obstruction at a site in the venous outflow track from the brain;
removing the obstruction; and
implanting a valve in fluid communication with the site, to permit venous outflow and reduce retrograde pressure.
2. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the removing step comprises inflating a balloon at the site.
3. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 2, wherein the balloon carries an implant at the time of the inflating step.
4. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 2, further comprising removing the balloon and thereafter performing the implanting a valve step.
5. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 2, wherein the balloon is carried by a catheter introduced into the vasculature at an access point spaced apart from the site.
6. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the removing step comprises surgically removing a section of vein.
7. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the implanting step comprises surgically attaching a valve at the site.
8. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the implanting step comprises releasing a valve having a self expandable support at the site.
9. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the implanting step comprises inflating a balloon within a balloon expandable portion of a valve support at the site.
10. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 7, wherein the implanting step comprises implanting a tubular graft having a valve mounted therein.
11. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 7, wherein the implanting step comprises attaching a first end of the graft at a first anastomosis to the left internal jugular vein and attaching a second end of the graft at a second anastomosis to the left innominate vein.
12. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the valve is implanted in the left internal jugular vein.
13. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the valve is implanted in the right internal jugular vein.
14. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the valve is implanted in the azygos vein.
15. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 1, wherein the valve is implanted in the superior vena cava.
16. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 10, wherein the graft comprises a tubular ePTFE wall.
17. A method of treating cerebrospinal venous insufficiency as in claim 10, wherein the graft comprises a section of saphenous vein.
18. A cerebrospinal venous insufficiency catheter, comprising:
a first elongate, tubular shaft, having an inflation lumen extending therethrough;
a first balloon carried by the shaft;
a second elongate, tubular shaft, having a central lumen, and axially movably carried by the first shaft, the central lumen having a distal opening;
wherein the distal opening is axially movably positionable between a first position in which the first balloon is at least partially within the central lumen, and a second position in which the first balloon is fully exposed beyond the distal opening.
19. A cerebrospinal venous insufficiency catheter as in claim 18, further comprising a second balloon carried by the first shaft.
20. A cerebrospinal venous insufficiency catheter as in claim 18, further comprising a third balloon carried by the second shaft.
21. An implant, for positioning in the neurovascular venous outflow tract, comprising:
a radially expandable frame, for engaging the wall of a vein; the frame having a flowpath therethrough;
an occluder support within the frame, extending across the flow path at an inclined angle relative to the central axis of blood flow; and
a thin film occluder, movable between a first position spaced apart from the occluder support sufficient to permit flow through the flow path in a first direction, and a second position in contact with the support such that it inhibits flow through the flow path in a second direction.
22. An implant as in claim 21, further comprising at least one anchor on the frame for engaging the wall of the vein.

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 method for building a directed set to allow a user of a computer system to find a context in which to answer a question, the method comprising:
identifying a plurality of concepts to form a directed set, wherein only one concept is a maximal element;
establishing directed links between pairs of concepts in the directed set, the directed links defining \u201cis a\u201d relationships between the concepts in the pairs of concepts, so that each concept is either a source or a sink of at least one directed link;
establishing chains in the directed set from the maximal element to each other concept, where for each pair of concepts in each chain, one of the pair of concepts is a lineal ancestor of the other of the pair of concepts;
selecting one or more chains in the directed set as a basis; and
measuring how concretely each concept is represented in each chain in the basis.
2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising creating a state vector for each concept in the directed set, wherein each state vector includes as its components measures of how concretely the concept is represented in each chain in the basis.
3. A method according to claim 2 wherein creating a state vector for each concept in the directed set includes measuring a distance between the state vectors for each pair of concepts.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein measuring a distance between the state vectors for each pair of concepts includes measuring a Euclidean distance between the state vectors for each pair of concepts.
5. A method according to claim 1 further comprising introducing a new concept into the directed set.
6. A method according to claim 5 wherein introducing a new concept includes:
adding a new chain from the maximal element to the new concept; and
measuring new distances from the new concept to each chain in the basis.
7. A method according to claim 1 further comprising:
discarding the chains in the basis; and
re-selecting one or more chains in the directed set as a new basis.
8. A method according to claim 7, wherein:
discarding the chains in the basis includes discarding the chains in the basis independent of any document; and
re-selecting one or more chains in the directed set as a new basis includes re-selecting one or more chains in the directed set as the new basis independent of any document.
9. A method according to claim 1 further comprising:
receiving new information about a first concept in the directed set; and
updating the directed links for the first concept.
10. A method according to claim 9 wherein updating the directed links includes at least one of:
a) removing an existing chain from the maximal element to the first concept; and
b) establishing a new chain from the maximal element to the first concept, where for each pair of concepts in the new chain, one of the pair of concepts is a lineal ancestor of the other of the pair of concepts.
11. A method according to claim 1 wherein identifying a plurality of concepts includes:
listening to a content stream; and
parsing the concepts from the content stream.
12. A method according to claim 1 wherein establishing chains in the directed set from the maximal element to each other concept includes:
listening to a content stream;
identifying a relationship between a first concept and a second concept from the content stream; and
establishing a chain from the maximal element to the first concept through the second concept to model the relationship between the first and second concepts.
13. A method according to claim 1, wherein establishing directed links includes:
establishing a first directed link from a second concept to a first concept; and
establishing a second directed link from a third concept to the first concept.
14. A computer-readable medium containing a program to build a directed set to allow a user of a computer system to find a context in which to answer a question, the program comprising:
identification software to identify a plurality of concepts to form a directed set, wherein only one concept is a maximal element;
chain-establishment software to establish chains in the directed set from the maximal element to each other concept, where for each pair of concepts in each chain, one of the pair of concepts is a lineal ancestor of the other of the pair of concepts;
chain-selection software to select one or more chains in the directed set as a basis; and
measurement software to measure how concretely each concept is represented in each chain in the basis.
15. A storage medium for storing a lexicon as a directed set for use by an application program to establish a context for a query, the storage medium comprising:
a data structure stored in the storage medium, the data structure including the lexicon and including:
a plurality of concepts stored in the storage medium, wherein only one concept is a maximal element;
at least one chain extending from the maximal element to each concept, wherein the at least one chain includes an ordered subset of the concepts, beginning with the maximal element and ending with the other concept, where for each pair of concepts in each chain, one of the pair of concepts is a lineal ancestor of the other of the pair of concepts;
a plurality of distances between pairs of concepts;
at least one chain identified as a chain in a basis for the directed set; and
measurements of how concretely each concept is represented in each chain in the basis.
16. An apparatus on a computer system to build a directed set to allow a user of the computer system to find a context in which to answer a question, the apparatus comprising:
a data structure to store the directed set;
an identification unit to identify a plurality of concepts in the directed set, wherein the directed set includes only one maximal element;
a chain unit to establish chains in the directed set from the maximal element to each other concept, where for each pair of concepts in each chain, one of the pair of concepts is a lineal ancestor of the other of the pair of concepts;
a basis unit to select one or more chains in the directed set as a basis; and
a measurement unit to measure how concretely each concept is represented in each chain in the basis.
17. An apparatus on a computer system to build a directed set to allow a user of the computer system to determine what questions can be answered using a given context, the apparatus comprising:
a data structure to store the directed set;
an identification unit to identify a plurality of concepts in the directed set, wherein the directed set includes only one maximal element;
a chain unit to establish chains in the directed set from the maximal element to each other concept, where for each pair of concepts in each chain, one of the pair of concepts is a lineal ancestor of the other of the pair of concepts;
a basis unit to select one or more chains in the directed set as a basis; and
a measurement unit to measure how concretely each concept is represented in each chain in the basis.
18. An apparatus on a computer system to enable a user of the computer system to find a context in which to answer a question, the apparatus comprising:
a directed set stored in the computer system, the directed set including a plurality of first concepts, only one maximal element, and at least one basis chain extending from the maximal element to each one the other concepts, where for each pair of first concepts in each basis chain, one of the pair of first concepts is a lineal ancestor of the other of the pair of first concepts;
an input for receiving a content stream;
a listening mechanism listening to the content stream and parsing the content stream into second concepts; and
a measurement mechanism measuring distances between pairs of the second concepts according to the plurality of first concepts and the basis chains of the directed set.
19. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein:
the apparatus further comprises a network connection; and
the input for receiving the content stream is coupled to the network connection.
20. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the measurement mechanism includes:
a state vector constructor converting each second concept into a state vector in Euclidean k-space; and
measuring means for measuring the distance between state vectors corresponding to the second concepts according to the plurality of first concepts and the basis chains of the directed set.
21. An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the measuring means includes Euclidean measuring means for measuring a Euclidean distance between state vectors corresponding to the second concepts according to the plurality of first concepts and the basis chains of the directed set.
22. An apparatus according to claim 18, the directed set further including a directed link to a third concept from a fourth concept, the directed link establishing an \u201cis a\u201d relationship between the third concept and the fourth concept.
23. An apparatus according to claim 22, the directed set further including a second directed link to the third concept from a fifth concept, the directed link establishing an \u201cis a\u201d relationship between the third concept and the fifth concept.

1. An electric power steering apparatus comprising a steering column in which a steering shaft through which steering torque is transmitted is installed, and an electric motor to transmit via a speed reducer in a speed reduction gear box a steering assist force to the steering shaft, wherein
the electric motor and a control unit to drive the electric motor are juxtaposed in the speed reduction gear box;
a terminal block is provided at an outer circumference of a flange proximate to the control unit of the electric motor, a terminal box surface of the terminal block being provided so that a plane direction faces a direction vertical to an axis line of the electric motor, the motor side connecting terminal of the electric terminal being held on the terminal block surface;
the unit side connecting terminal provided at a position proximate to the electric motor of the control unit is arranged so as to overlap with the motor side connecting terminal on the terminal block surface; and
the unit side connecting terminal and the motor side connecting terminal are coupled at a coupling portion,
wherein the motor side connecting terminal is provided with a bent portion at a side proximate to the control unit, and,

wherein the motor side connecting terminal is provided with a rising slope so as to apart from the terminal block surface, imparts an elastic backlash to the unit side connecting terminal as the motor side connecting terminal goes from the bent portion toward a terminal tip.
2. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the motor electric motor and the control unit are arranged on the speed reduction gear box in series in an axial direction of the electric motor.
3. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coupling portion couples the unit side connecting terminal and the motor side connecting terminal from an axial direction of the steering column.
4. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coupling portion is a fixing screw for fastening to the terminal block together with unit side connecting terminal and the motor side connecting terminal from a direction vertical to a shaft line of the electric motor.
5. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a speed reduction gear box fixing screw to fix the control unit to the speed reduction gear box, the speed reduction gear box fixing screw extending in the same direction as the fixing screw to be mashed with the unit side connecting terminal.
6. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coupling portion is solder welding to bond the unit side connecting terminal and the motor side connecting terminal to the terminal block.
7. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a set of the overlapped unit side connecting terminal and the motor side connecting terminal is arranged multiple adjacent to one another, and a solder splash preventing wall to prevent splash of solder is provided between the adjacent set.
8. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a terminal holder holding the unit side connecting terminal is provided at a position proximate to the electric motor of the control unit, one fixing concave and convex being provided at a position facing the electric motor of the terminal holder;
the other fixing concave and convex are provided on the terminal block of the electric motor proximate to the terminal holder; and
when the one fixing concave and fixing convex of the terminal holder and the other fixing concave and convex of the terminal block are engaged, the unit side connecting terminal overlaps with the motor side connecting terminal.
9. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a guide wall is provided on the terminal block to guide the unit side connecting terminal in a direction in which the unit side connecting terminal overlaps with the top of the motor side connecting terminal.
10. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a terminal cover covering around the unit side connecting terminal and the motor side connecting terminal is detachably provided on the terminal block.
11. The electric power steering apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the terminal cover slidably moves, while being engaged with the terminal block, to a position covering around the unit side connecting terminal and the motor side connecting terminal from an outer circumference of the electric motor apart from the control unit.

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 method comprising the steps of:
forming a two-dimensional array of spots on lead segments of a lead frame, each spot comprising a circular recessed portion and a piled ring of metallic material above and around the recessed portion;
affixing a semiconductor chip on the lead frame; and
encapsulating the semiconductor chip and the two-dimensional array of spots on the lead frame with a mold compound.
2. The method of claim 1, in which the forming step further includes using a pulsed laser.
3. The method of claim 1, in which the leadframe is made of a metal.
4. The method of claim 3, in which the metal includes a base metal covered by a layer of a surface metal different from the base metal.
5. The method of claim 4, in which the spots expose the base metal in the recessed portion, and the piled rings include the surface metal in amorphous configuration.
6. The method of claim 5, in which the array of spots includes substantially linear rows and lines.
7. The method of claim 6, in which the diameter of a spot is about 20 to 30 \u03bcm.
8. The method of claim 7, in which the pitch of the spots is less than 50 \u03bcm center-to-center, and the pitch of the rows is less than 50 \u03bcm centerline-to-centerline.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a second two-dimensional array of spots on regions of a pad.
10. A method comprising the steps of:
forming a two-dimensional array of spots on a carrier, which includes insulating compound integral with conductive traces and vias, each spot comprising a circular recessed portion and a piled ring of the insulating material above and around the recessed portion;
affixing a semiconductor chip on the carrier; and
encapsulating the semiconductor chip and the two-dimensional array of spots on the carrier with a mold compound.