Large-area flexible printed circuits for automotive applications

To meet the demands for safety and passenger comfort, modem passenger cars offer more and increasingly sophisticated electrical and electronic systems. The wiring harnesses that support such systems become too large, complex and heavy, when designed for a conventional electrical architecture based on 14 volts, posing several challenges to automotive manufacturers. Alternative electrical architectures based on 42 volts and in-vehicle multiplexing promise to reduce the size and weight of the wiring harness, but these architectures are yet to be fully developed and standardized. In the near term, alternative wiring solutions have gained the interest of automotive manufacturers. Small flexible printed circuits (FPCs) have previously been integrated into automotive instrument clusters. The benefits of reduced weight and space requirements of such FPCs compared to a wire harness has fuelled an interest in much larger FPCs as substitutes for the Instrument Panel and door harnesses in high-volume production cars. This research investigates the materials typically used in FPC manufacture, for applicability within a passenger car. [Continues.

Electromagnetic compatibility performance of large area flexible printed circuit automotive harness

Electrical interconnection is increasingly important to the functionality of modern vehicles. At the same time the drive within the industry to reduce costs and improve fuel efficiency requires the reduction of the weight of vehicles wherever possible. It is in this context that the possibility of using large-area flexible printed circuits (FPCs) in place of wiring harnesses is receiving strong interest from manufacturers. An FPC harness offers a substantial weight reduction over wire, improved reliability and quality control, and enhanced functionality. Since good electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) design and performance is necessary for the safe and proper functioning of a vehicle, it is important to know if the EMC performance of a vehicle is likely to be compromised by the incorporation of an FPC harness. This question is addressed in this work by comparing the performance of wire and FPC structures in a standard EMC test. The cost implications of anti-interference measures for mass production of FPC harnesses are also assessed. It is found that relatively cheap and simple to implement track structures can significantly reduce the amount of coupling to a large-area FPC automotive harness from an external electromagnetic field

Design and construction of large-area flexible printed-circuit automotive electrical interconnection harnesses

The replacement of automotive wiring harnesses with large-area flexible printed circuits (FPCs) would help to reduce the vehicle weight and emissions. To help clarify what a future large-area FPC interconnection harness should be capable of, a detailed design exercise to meet the engineering specification of the instrument panel wiring harness of a specific midrange passenger car was carried out. To demonstrate the added value of using an FPC, intelligence in the form of active circuitry was incorporated in the designs. Two generic architectural concepts were pursued. The first, a single large-area FPC, supported the wire harness geometry, all point-to-point interconnections, and current ratings up to 4 A. However, the panel size was too large to be manufactured on existing automotive FPC process lines. The second, intended to be a collection of smaller FPCs that could be manufactured on existing automotive FPC process lines, was found not to be practical as originally conceived. A physical implementation of the single large-area FPC design was made in stages at different company sites using various pieces of equipment, some of which are not normally used for FPC or electrical circuit manufacture. Modified versions of the equipment could be used to create a large-area automotive FPC manufacturing line

Recognizing People by Body Shape Using Deep Networks of Images and Words

Common and important applications of person identification occur at distances and viewpoints in which the face is not visible or is not sufficiently resolved to be useful. We examine body shape as a biometric across distance and viewpoint variation. We propose an approach that combines standard object classification networks with representations based on linguistic (word-based) descriptions of bodies. Algorithms with and without linguistic training were compared on their ability to identify people from body shape in images captured across a large range of distances/views (close-range, 100m, 200m, 270m, 300m, 370m, 400m, 490m, 500m, 600m, and at elevated pitch in images taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV]). Accuracy, as measured by identity-match ranking and false accept errors in an open-set test, was surprisingly good. For identity-ranking, linguistic models were more accurate for close-range images, whereas non-linguistic models fared better at intermediary distances. Fusion of the linguistic and non-linguistic embeddings improved performance at all, but the farthest distance. Although the non-linguistic model yielded fewer false accepts at all distances, fusion of the linguistic and non-linguistic models decreased false accepts for all, but the UAV images. We conclude that linguistic and non-linguistic representations of body shape can offer complementary identity information for bodies that can improve identification in applications of interest.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 4 table

The Effects of COVID-19 Restrictions on College Students Physical Activity and Mental Health

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COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE OSTEOBLASTIC ACTIVITY OF TWO IMPLANT SYSTEMS (Endopore versus Entegra) UTILIZING SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTERISED TOMOGRAPHY (SPECT): EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN PIGS MODEL

Implantology has been an important component of dental management for over forty years, and during that period, many configurations of implant materials and methods have been developed. As empirical and clinical research yield new implant materials, there has been need to test and compare these materials to provide the most cost-effective and efficient implants. Evaluation of efficiency of implants has relied heavily on histological and radiological methods, but these one dimensional measurement methods fail to evaluate the osteoblastic activity and osseointegration properties of putative implants. In this report we describe the use of a quantitative single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) as a tool for comparing the osseo-integrating capabilities of two types of implant

Comparative Study of Osteoblastic Activity of Same Implants (Endopore) in the Immediate Extraction Site Utilizing Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography: Peri-implant Autogeneous Bone Grafting with GTR versus No Peri-implant Bone Grafting

The study was designed to exploit the single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) to compare osteoblastic activity of two implant systems: an Endopore® implant (Beaded implants) placed immediately into an extraction socket in conjunction with peri-implant autogenous grafting supple-mented with a guided tissue regeneration (GTR) technique, and an Endopore® implant placed immediately into the extraction socket without peri-implant grafting and GTR. Endopore® implants of the same size (12 mm x 4.1 mm INT-Hex) were placed in fresh extraction sockets in the canine-tooth region of the pigs jaw. The implant on the right side had peri-implant bone grafting utilizing autogenous bone together with cytoplast resorbable GTR membrane, whilst the implant on the left side received no peri-implant bone grafting. Osteoblastic activity was evaluated 81 days (11 weeks and 4 days) post implantation using the SPECT imaging technique. The SPECT imaging revealed more osteoblastic activity on the side with peri-implant bone grafting as compared with the site without peri-implant bone grafting. The result suggests that peri-implant bone grafting with GTR around the immediate implant showed more osteoblastic activity and thus enhanced osseointegration when compared with the implant without bone grafting and GTR. Bone grafting and GTR should be encouraged as a standard procedure with dental implants. Keywords: Guided tissue regeneration, immediate implant, peri-implant grafting "Estudio Comparativo de Actividad Osteoblástica de los Mismos Implantes (Endopore) en el Sitio Inmediato de Extracción Utilizando Tomografía Computarizada por Emisión de Fotones Individuales: Injerto de Hueso Autógeno Peri-Implantario con RTG Frente al Injerto de Hueso no Peri-implantario – Estudio Experimental en un Modelo de Cerdo" RESUMEN El estudio fue diseñado para aprovechar la tomografía computarizada por emisión de fotones individuales (SPECT) con el propósito de comparar la actividad osteoblástica de dos sistemas de implante: un implante Endopore® (implantes con cuentas) colocado inmediatamente en una cavidad de extracción en conjunción con el injerto óseo autógeno peri-implantario complementado con una técnica de regeneración tisular guiada (RTG), y un implante Endopore® colocado inmediatamente en la cavidad de extracción sin injerto peri-implantario y RTG. Implantes Endopore® del mismo tamaño (12 mm x 4.1 INT-Hex) fueron colocados en cavidades de extracción frescas en la región del canino de la mandíbula de los cerdos. El implante del lado derecho tuvo un injerto óseo peri-implantario utilizando hueso autógeno junto con una membrana (RTG) reabsorbible Cytoplast, en tanto que el implante del lado izquierdo no recibió injerto óseo peri-implantario. La actividad osteoblástica se evaluó 81 días (11 semanas y 4 días) tras la implantación usando la técnica de procesamiento de imágenes por SPECT. Esta técnica reveló más actividad osteoblástica en el lado del injerto óseo peri-implantario, en comparación con el sitio sin injerto óseo peri-implantario. El resultado sugiere que el injerto óseo peri-implantario con RTG alrededor del implante inmediato tiene más actividad osteoblástica, y por ende mayor oseointegración, si se le compara con el implante sin injerto óseo y RTG. Tanto el injerto óseo como la RTG deben estimularse como procedimientos estándar de los implantes dentales. Palabras claves: Implante inmediato, injerto peri-implantario, regeneración tisular guiad