Author: claimsbot

1. A furanone endcapped polymer comprising a polymer comprising one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of lactide, glycolide, trimethylene carbonate, tetramethylene carbonate, dimethyl trimethylene carbonate, dioxanone, dioxepanone, caprolactone, valerolactone, and combinations thereof, endcapped with a furanone of the formula:
wherein R2, R3 and R4 are independently or all H, halogen, hydroxyl, or acetate,
\u201c\u2550\u201d represents a double bond, and
X is a moiety selected from the group consisting of H, halogen, formyl, carboxyl, cyano, ester, amide, alkyl, alkoxy, oxoalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl or arylalkyl, which moiety may optionally be substituted with one or more substituents or interrupted by one or more hetero atoms.
2. The furanone endcapped polymer of claim 1, wherein the furanone is of the formula:
wherein R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 are independently or all H, halogen, hydroxyl, or acetate.
3. An article comprising the furanone endcapped polymer of claim 1.
4. The article of claim 3, wherein the article is selected from the group consisting of textiles, packaging materials and medical devices.
5. A coating comprising the furanone endcapped polymer of claim 1.
6. A composition comprising the furanone endcapped polymer of claim 1 in combination with a component selected from the group consisting of absorbable polymers, non-absorbable polymers, fatty acid components, and combinations thereof.
7. An article comprising the composition of claim 6.
8. The article of claim 7, wherein the article is selected from the group consisting of textiles, packaging materials and medical devices.
9. A coating comprising the composition of claim 6.
10. A method comprising:
endcapping one or more polymers comprising one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of lactide, glycolide, trimethylene carbonate, tetramethylene carbonate, dimethyl trimethylene carbonate, dioxanone, dioxepanone, caprolactone, valerolactone, and combinations thereof with a furanone of the formula:
wherein R2, R3 and R4 are independently or all H, halogen, hydroxyl, or acetate,
\u201c\u2550\u201d represents a double bond, and
X is a moiety selected from the group consisting of H, halogen, formyl, carboxyl, cyano, ester, amide, alkyl, alkoxy, oxoalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl or arylalkyl, which moiety may optionally be substituted with one or more substituents or interrupted by one or more hetero atoms; and
recovering a furanone endcapped polymer.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the furanone is of the formula:
wherein R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 are independently or all H, halogen, hydroxyl, or acetate.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the furanone can be in an amount from about 2 to about 8 moles of furanone per mole of polymer.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the endcapping of one or more polymers with a furanone occurs for a period of time from about 15 minutes to about 72 hours, at a temperature from about 0\xb0 C. to about 250\xb0 C.
14. A suture comprising a polymer comprising one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of lactide, glycolide, trimethylene carbonate, tetramethylene carbonate, dimethyl trimethylene carbonate, dioxanone, dioxepanone, caprolactone, valerolactone, and combinations thereof endcapped with a furanone of the formula:
wherein R2, R3 and R4 are independently or all H, halogen, hydroxyl, or acetate,
\u201c\u2550\u201d represents a double bond, and
X is a moiety selected from the group consisting of H, halogen, formyl, carboxyl, cyano, ester, amide, alkyl, alkoxy, oxoalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl or arylalkyl, which moiety may optionally be substituted with one or more substituents or interrupted by one or more hetero atoms.
15. The suture of claim 14, wherein the polymer comprises one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of lactide, glycolide, trimethylene carbonate, tetramethylene carbonate, dimethyl trimethylene carbonate, dioxanone, dioxepanone, caprolactone, valerolactone, and combinations thereof.
16. The suture of claim 14, wherein the furanone is of the formula:
wherein R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 are independently or all H, halogen, hydroxyl, or acetate.
17. The suture of claim 14, wherein at least a portion of a surface of the suture possesses a coating comprising the polymer endcapped with a furanone.

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 dry process for coating a metal oxide particle, said process comprising:
contacting a moving bed of metal oxide particles in a moving bed reactor with a first reactant in a manner sufficient for said first reactant to adsorb to the surface of said metal oxide particles to produce first reactant adsorbed titania particles; and
contacting said first reactant adsorbed metal oxide particles with a second reactant under conditions sufficient for said second reactant to react with substantially all of said adsorbed first reactant to produce a coating of a product on the surface of said metal oxide particles.
2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said first reactant has a dipole moment of greater than 1 debye.
3. The process according to claim 2, wherein said first reactant is selected from the group consisting of: H2O, NH3, ROH, H2O2, O2, O3 and N2O.
4. The process according to claim 1, wherein said second reactant comprises an element selected from the group consisting of: Al, B, Ge, Ga, Mg, Ca, Ba, Zr, Ti, V, Ta and P.
5. The process according to claim 1, wherein said second reactant comprises Si.
6. The process according to claim 5, wherein said second reactant is selected from the group consisting of silicon halides and organosilicons.
7. The process according to claim 1, wherein said product is a dielectric.
8. The process according to claim 7, wherein said dielectric is selected from the group consisting of silica and alumina.
9. The process according to claim 1, wherein said metal oxide particle is a titania particle.
10. A dry process for coating a titania particle with a compact silica layer, said process contacting a fluidized bed of titania particles in a fluidized bed reactor with gaseous H2O in a manner sufficient for said H2O to adsorb to the surface of said titania particles to produce H2O adsorbed titania particles; and
contacting said H2O adsorbed titania particles with a gaseous Si containing reactant under conditions sufficient for said gaseous Si containing reactant to react with substantially all of said adsorbed H2O to produce a compact coating of silica on the surface of said titania particles.
11. The process according to claim 10, wherein said titania particles have a diameter ranging from about 0.001 to 100.
12. The process according to claim 10, wherein said Si containing reactant is selected from the group consisting of silicon halides and organosilicons.
13. The process according to claim 12, wherein said Si containing reactant is a silicon halide.
14. The process according to claim 13, wherein said silicon halide is SiCl4.
15. The process according to claim 13, wherein said Si containing reactant is an organosilicon.
16. The process according to claim 15, wherein said organosilicon is TEOS.
17. The process according to claim 10, wherein said process further comprises pretreating said titania particles to increase the energy of adsorption of said adsorbed H2O.
18. A dry process for coating a titania particle with a compact silica layer, said process comprising:
introducing titania particles ranging in size from about 0.001 to 100 into a fluidized bed reactor to produce a fluidized bed of titania particles;
introducing gaseous H2O into said fluidized bed reactor in a manner sufficient for said H2O to adsorb to the surface of said titania particles; and
introducing a gaseous silicon halide into said fluidized bed reactor under conditions sufficient for said silicon halide to react with substantially all of said adsorbed H2O on said titania particles to produce a compact coating of silica on the surface of said titania particles;
whereby titania particles coated with a compact layer of silica are produced.
19. The process according to claim 18, wherein said silicon halide is SiCl4.
20. The process according to claim 18, wherein said process further comprises pretreating said titania particles to increase the energy of adsorption of said adsorbed H2O.
21. Coated titania particles produced according to the process of claim 1.
22. Coated titania particles produced according to the process of claim 10.
23. Coated titania particles produced according to the process of claim 18.

1. An injectable device for use in physiological monitoring, comprising:
a plurality of sensors axially spaced along a body that provide an indication of at least one physiological event of a patient;
a monitoring unit within the body coupled to the plurality of sensors configured to receive data from the plurality of sensors and create processed patient data;
a power source within the body coupled to the monitoring unit; and
a communication antenna external to the body coupled to the monitoring unit configured to transfer data tofrom other devices.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the monitoring unit includes a processor.
3. The device of claim 2, wherein the processor includes program instructions for evaluating values received from the sensors with respect to acceptable physiological ranges for each value received by the processor and determine variances.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein the monitoring unit includes logic resources that determine heart failure status and predict impending decompensation.
5. The device of claim 1, wherein the monitoring unit is configured to perform one or more of, data compression, prioritizing of sensing by a sensor, cycling sensors, monitoring all or some of sensor data by all or a portion of the sensors, sensing by the sensors in real time, noise blanking to provide that sensor data is not stored if a selected noise level is determined, low-power of battery caching and decimation of old sensor data.
6. The device of claim 1, wherein the monitoring unit includes a notification device configured to provide notification when values received from the plurality of sensors are not within acceptable physiological ranges.
7. The device of claim 1, wherein the monitoring unit is configured to serve as a communication hub for multiple medical devices, coordinating sensor data and therapy delivery while transmitting and receiving data from a remote monitoring system.
8. The device of claim 1, wherein the monitoring unit is configured to deactivate selected sensors to reduce redundancy.
9. The device of claim 1, wherein each of a sensor is selected from at least one of, bioimpedance, heart rate, heart rhythm, HRV, HRT, heart sounds, respiratory sounds, respiratory rate and respiratory rate variability, blood pressure, activity, posture, wakesleep, orthopnea, temperature, heat flux and an accelerometer.
10. The device of claim 1, wherein each of a sensor is an activity sensor selected from at least one of, ball switch, accelerometer, minute ventilation, HR, bioimpedance noise, skin temperatureheat flux, BP, muscle noise and posture.
11. The device of claim 1, wherein the sensors are made of at least a material selected from, silicone, polyurethane, Nitinol, titanium, a biocompatible material, ceramics and a bioabsorbable material.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of sensors of the plurality of sensors have an insulative material selected from, PEEK, ETFE, PTFE, and polyimide, silicon, polyurethane.
13. The device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of sensors of the plurality of sensors have openings or an absorbent material configured to sample a hydration level or electrolyte level in a surrounding tissue site of the plurality of sensors.
14. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors includes current delivery electrodes and sensing electrodes.
15. The device of claim 1, wherein the outputs of the plurality of sensors is used to calculate and monitor blended indices.
16. The device of claim 15, wherein the blended indices include at least one of, heart rate (HR) or respiratory rate (RR) response to activity, HRRR response to posture change, HR+RR, HRRR+bioimpedance, andor minute ventilationaccelerometer.
17. The device of claim 1, wherein the body and antenna are injectable in the patient by at least one of, catheter delivery, blunt tunneling, insertion with a needle, by injection, with a gun or syringe device with a stiffening wire stylet, guidewire, or combination of stylet or guidewire with a catheter.
18. The device of claim 1, wherein the body is flexible.
19. The device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the body has a drug eluting coating.
20. The device of claim 1, wherein the power source comprises a rechargeable battery transcutaneously chargeable with an external unit.
21. The device of claim 1, wherein the antenna is an expanding antenna expandable from a first compressed shape to a second expanded shape.
22. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors includes two current delivery electrodes and two sensing electrodes, and the monitoring unit is configured to measure bioimpedance using the two currently delivery electrodes and the two sense electrodes.
23. An injectable device for use in physiological monitoring, comprising:
a plurality of electrodes axially spaced along a flexible injectable body, the electrodes comprising two current delivery electrodes and two sense electrodes for measuring bioimpedance;
a monitoring unit within the body coupled to the plurality of electrodes configured receive an output of the sense electrodes and determine the bioimpedance from the output;
a power source within the body coupled to the monitoring unit; and
a communication antenna external to the body coupled to the monitoring unit configured to transfer data tofrom other devices.
24. The injectable device of claim 23, wherein the antenna is an expanding antenna expandable from a first compressed shape to a second expanded shape.
25. The injectable device of claim 23, wherein the monitoring unit is further configured to, based at least in part on bioimpedance readings taken over a period of time, predict impending decompensation in a patient.
26. The injectable device of claim 25, wherein the monitoring unit is further configured to wirelessly communicate an indication of the decompensation prediction to another device.

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 stacked photovoltaic device having a light incidence surface, comprising
a plurality of photovoltaic cells stacked and each including a photoelectric conversion layer composed of a substantially intrinsic semiconductor,
the photoelectric conversion layer in the one photovoltaic cell closest to the light incidence surface including an amorphous semiconductor, and the photoelectric conversion layer in another photovoltaic cell including a non-single crystalline semiconductor containing crystal grains, and
the concentration of impurities contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said other photovoltaic cell being higher than the concentration of impurities contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said one photovoltaic cell.
2. The photovoltaic device according to claim 1, wherein
said non-single crystalline semiconductor is a microcrystalline semiconductor containing crystal grains having a diameter of not more than 1 \u03bcm.
3. The photovoltaic device according to claim 1, wherein
said impurities include carbon, the concentration of carbon contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said other photovoltaic cell being higher than the concentration of carbon contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said one photovoltaic cell.
4. The photovoltaic device according to claim 1, wherein
said impurities include nitrogen, the concentration of nitrogen contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said other photovoltaic cell being higher than the concentration of nitrogen contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said one photovoltaic cell.
5. The photovoltaic device according to claim 1, wherein
said impurities include oxygen, the concentration of oxygen contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said other photovoltaic cell being higher than the concentration of oxygen contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said one photovoltaic cell.
6. A method of manufacturing a stacked photovoltaic device, comprising the steps of:
forming a plurality of photovoltaic cells in order, each comprising a photoelectric conversion layer composed of a substantially intrinsic semiconductor,
the photoelectric conversion layer in the one photovoltaic cell closest to a light incidence surface including an amorphous semiconductor, and the photoelectric conversion layer in another photovoltaic cell including a non-single crystalline semiconductor containing crystal grains; and
adjusting at least one of the formation condition of the photoelectric conversion layer in said one photovoltaic cell and the formation condition of the photoelectric conversion layer in said other photovoltaic cell such that the concentration of impurities contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in each of said other photovoltaic cell is higher than the concentration of impurities contained in the photoelectric conversion layer in said one photovoltaic cell.