Abstract: A hand-held electronic device with a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs is disclosed. In order to operate within the limited space available on a hand-held electronic device, the present invention optimizes the placement and shape of the keys, preferably using keys that are oval or oblong in shape, and that are placed at angles designed to facilitate thumb-typing. The angles at which keys on either side of the keyboard are placed is complimentary.

Abstract: An optically clear protective thin film having covalent chemical bonds on a molecular level between organic polymer and in situ generated silica molecules is formed from a hydrolyzed coating solution of tetraalkyl orthosilicate, epoxyalkylalkoxy silanes, (math)acryloxyalkylalkoxy silanes and solvent.

Abstract: The invention relates to a portable, cordless, hair dryer/blower that has an elongated hollow body portion with a mass center line and including therein a blower motor and a heating element and having a posterior end and an anterior end. A handle portion has a longitudinal axis extending substantially transversally from and along the mass center line of the elongated body portion. The handle portion includes switch controls for operating the heating element and the blower motor. A power source has a flat base and a mass center line that, when the power source is attached to the handle portion lies substantially along the longitudinal axis of the handle and the mass center line of the elongated body portion to provide power to the manual controls and to provide a flat base structure for enabling the hair dryer/blower to stand alone.

Abstract: A floor box cover assembly includes a ring receivable within an open end portion of the floor box, and further includes a cover structure having an access opening for providing access to the receptacle. A cylindrical wall on the cover structure fits within the ring when the cover structure is installed over the ring. The ring and the cover structure together define a plurality of radially projecting pins and a corresponding plurality of J-hook slots that receive the pins upon installation of the cover structure over the ring. The slots are free of detent constrictions for interlocking with the pins. Additionally, the ring is a split ring and fits within the floor box in an installed position in which opposite ends of the split ring define a circumferentially extending gap. The cover structure has an alignment boss that blocks insertion of the cylindrical wall into the split ring in positions other than a position in which the alignment boss is received within the gap.

Abstract: A document image that is the source of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) output is displayed. Recognition confidence parameters are determined for regions of the document image corresponding to words in the OCR output. The regions are displayed in a manner (e.g., highlighted in various colors) that is indicative of the respective recognition confidence parameter. Preferably, a user can select a region of the displayed document image. When the region is selected, text of the OCR output corresponding to the selected region is displayed in a pop-up menu.

Abstract: The invention establishes that coffee fruit ripening is climacteric. The invention further provides techniques to isolate substantially pure RNA from coffee fruit even though the fruit contains high levels of phenolic compounds and carbohydrate which would otherwise interfere with obtaining clean RNA preparations from this tissue. The invention provides purified proteins, nucleic acid sequences that code on expression therefore and recombinant DNA molecules, including hosts transformed therewith, and methods for transforming coffee plants to suppress the expression of coffee fruit-expressed ACC synthase and/or coffee fruit-expressed ACC oxidase necessary for ethylene biosynthesis and the ripening of coffee fruit. Coffee plants are transformed with vectors containing coffee fruit-expressed ACC synthase and/or with ACC oxidase DNA sequences that code on expression for the respective RNA that is antisense or sense to the mRNA for the respective ACC synthase and/or ACC oxidase.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a tank configured to contain air at an elevated pressure, an air compressor which is operative to supply compressed air for storage in the tank, and a base structure which supports the compressor on the tank. A mounting boss projects from the compressor into an opening in the base structure. A vibration damping structure is interposed between the mounting boss and the base structure within the opening.

Abstract: A system for distributing DC power to a plurality of optical network units in a fiber-to-the-curb communication system is provided. The system includes an AC-DC rectifier coupled to at least one local power hub. The local power hub includes a bulk DC-DC converter coupled to the AC-DC rectifier and a plurality of active current limiters coupled to a plurality of power outputs from the DC-DC Converter. Each of the active current limiters supplies current limited power to one of the optical network units in the fiber-to-the-curb system.

Abstract: A pump impeller having a central hub and circumferentially-spaced bottom vanes extending in a direction outwardly of the hub. An annular shroud surrounds the hub in outwardly-spaced relationship thereto and provides an impeller liquid inlet passage around the hub leading to the vanes. A permanent magnet motor rotor is mounted on the annular shroud. The rotor is used in a sump pump having an upper cylindrical filter that encloses a float switch for operating the pump motor.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for generating a database search result. The creation of the search result is achieved by representing the subdocument lists of an inverted database with encoded bit strings. The encoded bit strings are space efficient methods of storing the correspondence between terms in the database and their occurrence in subdocuments. Logical combinations of these bit strings are then obtained by identifying the intersection, union, and/or inversion of a plurality of the bit strings. Since keywords for a database search can be identified by selecting the terms of the inverted database, the logical combinations of bit strings represent search results over the database. This technique for method for generating a search result is computationally efficient because computers combine bit strings very efficiently. Also, the search elements of the present invention are not just limited to keywords. The search elements also include types of fields (e.g.

Abstract: A hub (2) includes a spindle (14) which projects through a housing (4) and rotates relative to the housing (4) on a bearing (6) that is located between the spindle (14) and the housing (4). The bearing (6) has two sets of raceways (28, 40) that are oblique to the axis x, and in addition rolling elements (36) arranged in two rows between the sets of raceways (28, 40). The inner raceways (28) that fit around the spindle (14) and have back faces (32), with the back face (32) for one of the races (26) being against a shoulder (18) from which the spindle (14) projects. Initially, the end of the spindle (14) projects straight beyond the back face (32) of the outer race—indeed, so that the races (26) can be installed over the spindle (14).