Abstract: A cover for a sleeping assembly with a mattress portion (1) comprising a sheet material envelope having an opening into a first cavity which is capable of substantially enclosing a mattress (4) and a duvet portion (2) comprising a sheet material envelope having an opening into a second cavity which is capable of substantially enclosing a duvet (11) wherein the duvet portion (2) is attached along at least one edge to the mattress portion (1).

Abstract: A sensor for the detection of chemical messengers is described herein. In particular a sensor for the detection of catecholamines, for example dopamine, epinephrine or norepinephrine, is reported. Catecholamines play pivotal roles as neurotransmitters and hormones in the human body. An electrode for detecting a catecholamine comprising a conducting or semi-conducting substrate, and a polymer comprising polyethylenedioxythiophene on said substrate is disclosed. The polymer is doped with a cyclodextrin macrocycle. Suitable cyclodextrin macrocycles include anionic cyclodextrin macrocycles, for example sulfonated ?-cyclodextrins (CDs). Also, disclosed in sensor capable of selectively detecting a catecholamine in the presence of ascorbic acid (ascorbate).

Abstract: A cover for a sleeping assembly with a mattress portion (1) comprising a sheet material envelope having an opening into a first cavity which is capable of substantially enclosing a mattress (4) and a duvet portion (2) comprising a sheet material envelope having an opening into a second cavity which is capable of substantially enclosing a duvet (11) wherein the duvet portion (2) is attached along at least one edge to the mattress portion (1).

Abstract: A method and system are provided for efficient development of software application programs with user interfaces. Customarily, several specialists, including designers and developers, cooperate during the development stage of an application program. The invention teaches a strategy for making resource files external to the other compiled executable files in an application such that the information from the resource file may be obtained at runtime as needed without the need for compilation. Furthermore, the external resource file may be edited at runtime to allow designers to modify the look and feel for an application's interface without having to depend on developers to implement changes in the interface. Compartmentalization of the effort in developing and porting an application is facilitated for protection of source code and better management of designers and developers working on different aspects of a software application due to externalization of the resource files needed primarily by the designers.

Abstract: A method and system are provided for efficient development of software application programs with user interfaces. Customarily, several specialists, including designers and developers, cooperate during the development stage of an application program. The invention teaches a strategy for making resource files external to the other compiled executable files in an application such that the information from the resource file may be obtained at runtime as needed without the need for compilation. Furthermore, the external resource file may be edited at runtime to allow designers to modify the look and feel for an application's interface without having to depend on developers to implement changes in the interface. Compartmentalization of the effort in developing and porting an application is facilitated for protection of source code and better management of designers and developers working on different aspects of a software application due to externalization of the resource files needed primarily by the designers.

Abstract: A system and method for delivering support tools to a computer user's machine, without requiring the user to directly download, install and/or execute the tools. A user in need of support contacts support and in response receives a URL corresponding to a manifest, which is a data file identifying support tools that a user's machine is to run to collect data for analysis. Via HTTP, a control mechanism on the user's machine interprets the manifest, automatically handling downloading and installation of any needed tool, and executes the tools on the machine with appropriate parameters that are present in the manifest. Data is collected, packaged and returned to a support entity, where it is analyzed such that a support solution may be returned to the user. The system and method provide efficient and consistent support to computer users, helping both support personnel while giving computer users a very straightforward support experience.

Abstract: A method and system are provided for managing application programs with non-responsive user interfaces, possibly due to a bottleneck in handling events/messages. The method and system make an apparently frozen application user interface responsive so as to permit alternative tasks be executed or close the hung application. This is enabled by implementing routines to (a) detect if an application is hung, (b) replace the user interface for the hung application with a ghost interface, implemented by a separate thread, that permits system functionality such as sizing, minimization and closing of the application, and (c) destroying the ghost interface if the hung application becomes responsive again along with restoring the application's user interface along with updated event queues. Furthermore, creation of the ghost user interface is accompanied by placing a high priority special event in the hung application's queue to detect renewed responsiveness without requiring explicit monitoring.

Abstract: Output from an application or other program running in a windowing environment is redirected from the application to a bit map where it can be further manipulated prior to being displayed on the screen. A style bit is associated with each window from applications which are to be so redirected. Further parameters are associated with display of the window to provide position and size information and to provide special effects. Some special effects, such as transparency are identified by an alpha value, which enables further programs to manipulate the window in its associated bit map to make it appear transparent. One or more application program interfaces (APIs) provide the ability to specify the transparency, positioning, color key, size and other attributes as well as whether or not the window is redirected. This API may be utilized by the application to apply special effects to its windows., It may be used via a user interface to allow the user to select a desired window to redirect.