Abstract: A marker system includes an enclosure with a controller therewithin. Emitters are electrically interfaced to the controller and include visible wavelength emitters and infrared wavelength emitters. The controller is configured to selectively initiate a flow of electric current though the visible wavelength emitters or through the infrared wavelength emitters causing the visible wavelength emitters or the infrared wavelength emitters to emit light and the light passes through the enclosure. There is at least one infrared detector, each of which is electrically interfaced to the controller and each of which is configured to detect infrared light that enters the enclosure. When the controller receives an electrical signal from any of the at least one infrared detector indicating reception of infrared light, the controller emits a signal to warn of the reception of infrared light (e.g., an audible signal, a vibration, a wireless signal, a wired signal).

Abstract: A cushion includes a cushioning element and a coating material provided on a surface of the cushioning element. The cushioning element includes an elastomeric material forming a plurality of intersecting buckling walls defining a plurality of hollow columns in an expanded form. The coating material includes stearic acid, a metal stearate, propylene glycol, and triethanolamine. The cushioning element is configured to be compressed, such as by a roll-packing machine, into the compressed form and subsequently released from the compressed form to transform to the expanded form. Methods of forming the cushion include forming the cushioning element comprising an elastomeric material, coating a surface of the cushioning element with the coating material, and compressing the cushioning element into a compressed form.

Abstract: A biopsy needle for collecting a tissue specimen includes an outer cannula and an inner tube received within the outer cannula. A snare coil is attached between the inner tube and the outer cannula and is configured to wind down when the inner tube rotates in a first direction relative to the outer cannula. The outer cannula is fixedly coupled to a needle holder that is coupled to and moves with a movable base that is axially movable within the handle housing. An inner driven structure (curvilinear part) is configured to selectively engage the movable base and travel therewith in a first stage of operation and in a second stage of operation in which the inner driven structure is disengaged from the movable base, the inner driven structure is driven along the movable base which is held in a stationary position.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided that include an order and/or quote engine that automatically adjusts bid, ask, or any other type of order prices to reflect some or all of the costs associated with a trade in an underlying item between a particular party receiving the order or orders accounting for specific costs associated with the party receiving the orders and in certain instances specific costs between the party receiving the order and the party submitting the order.

Abstract: Disclosed are various approaches to automate vulnerability assessment implement policy-based mitigation. A plurality of vulnerability records from respective ones of a plurality of vulnerability feeds are aggregated. Each of the plurality of vulnerability records are stored in a standardized format. A plurality of enterprise-specific severity scores are generated by calculating an enterprise-specific severity score for each of the plurality of vulnerability records. Then, a web page can be created that includes at least a subset of the plurality of enterprise-specific severity scores and respective ones of the plurality of vulnerability records.

Abstract: A neural network training apparatus is described which has a network of worker nodes each having a memory storing a subgraph of a neural network to be trained. The apparatus has a control node connected to the network of worker nodes. The control node is configured to send training data instances into the network to trigger parallelized message passing operations which implement a training algorithm which trains the neural network. At least some of the message passing operations asynchronously update parameters of individual subgraphs of the neural network at the individual worker nodes.

Abstract: Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods that provide a pipeline to generate personalized queries that are associated with and based on a user's interests determined from a user's past searches, on an Internet search engine, and/or the content the user viewed from the past searches. The suggested queries can be shown in a user interface component associated with the user interface of the search engine and before the user enters anything, such as a new Internet search. This pre-population of searches associated with a user's interests gives an opportunity to the user to try these queries without manually entering in a search string.

Abstract: Implementations of firearm regulation systems may include a firearm safety system (FSS) configured to physically couple to a firearm. The FSS may include a locking mechanism configured to prevent the firearm from firing and a sensor configured to detect an environmental parameter. The firearm regulation system may also include a management system communicatively coupled to the FSS and a site safety system (SSS) communicatively coupled to the management system. The SSS may include one or more lockdown mechanisms.

Abstract: Endoscopic image analysis, endoscopic procedure analysis, and/or component control systems, methods and techniques are disclosed that can analyze images of an endoscopic system and/or affect an endoscopic system to enhance operation, user and patient experience, and usability of image data and other case data.

Abstract: Recommending one or more relevant skills to a user that are appropriate for the user's current context is provided. A machine learning contextual skills model is trained on data associated with skills that are invoked by the particular user and by various users and context data that defines characteristics of the context of the users, the users' computing devices, and the users' environments in association with the invoked skills. Responsive to a trigger event associated with the user and a computing device, current context data and user data is collected and passed to the contextual skills system. The contextual skills model is applied to the collected data and generates a ranked list of skills. One or more top-ranking skills are selected and provided to the user as one or more skill recommendations that are determined to be relevant to the user and relevant to the user's current context.

Abstract: A control device for a hydraulic brake for a bicycle includes a reservoir for hydraulic fluid. The reservoir has a variable volume. The control device also includes a reservoir cover at least partially defining the reservoir, and a support that is attachable to a handlebar of the bicycle via an inner annular surface of the support. A handlebar proximity zone is radially outer relative to the inner annular surface of the support and is within two centimeters of the inner annular surface of the support. At least part of the reservoir cover is within the handlebar proximity zone.

Abstract: Compounds having three or more alkynyl moieties substituted with an aromatic moiety having one or more of certain substituents are useful in forming underlayers useful in semiconductor manufacturing processes.

Abstract: Technologies are provided for an extensible software-as-a-service (SaaS) computing platform. In some embodiments, a computing system includes computer-executable components comprising multiple core modules that provide a defined service. The multiple core modules include at least one extension point corresponding to a first core module of the multiple core modules, where a first extension point of the at least one extension point has a tenant-specific extension module mapped thereto that customizes the defined service. The computer-executable components also can include an application programming interface (API) corresponding to a defined tenant. The computing system also includes a data model corresponding to the defined tenant. Tenant-specific extension modules mapped to the at least one extension point can customize the API and/or the data model.

Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to voice activity detection (VAD) on wearable and other resource-constrained devices, to classify speech recorded by a microphone of the device as belonging to a wearer of the device versus another speech source. A computing device can include a microphone and an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The wearable device can use signals measured by the IMU for providing motion-tracking features, such as head tracking for augmented reality or virtual reality applications. Aspects of the disclosure provide for a device for leveraging existing data collected for these motion-tracking features for use in VAD. A device can pre-process data streamed from an IMU to use only signals predetermined to be indicative of whether or not a wearer of the device is speaking.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a processes and systems for producing fuels from biomass with high carbon conversion efficiency. The processes and systems described herein provide a highly efficient process for producing hydrocarbons from biomass with very low Green House Gas (GHG) emissions using a specific combination of components, process flows, and recycle streams. The processes and systems described herein provide a carbon conversion efficiency greater than 95% with little to no GHG in the flue gas due to the novel arrangement of components and utilizes renewable energy to provide energy to some components. The system reuses water and carbon dioxide produced in the process flows and recycles naphtha and tail gas streams to other units in the system for additional conversion to syngas to produce hydrocarbon-based fuels.

Abstract: The present invention provides systems, methods and apparatus for a wearable band adapted to be worn by a user. The wearable band may include one or more biometric sensors such as a pulse monitor adapted to monitor a pulse of the user, and a transmitter adapted to wirelessly transmit pulse information from the pulse monitor to a mobile device such as a cellular telephone or PDA. The wearable band does not include a display for the biometric information. Numerous additional embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: A system and method are presented that utilizes a primary server having shadow data and benefit bucket data to provide adjudication and payment processing of insurance payment requests without requiring interaction with an insurance server and normal adjudication processes. The primary server can handle adjudication and payment processing for a plurality of insurance providers. An alternate payment method can be identified with a member identifier, allowing both insurance payment adjudication and member payment through the alternate payment method. The primary server can provide benefit processing for retail discounts, and store value benefits for authenticated purchase transactions. A variety of discounts, stored value benefits, insurance benefits, and alternate payment mechanisms can be incorporated into a single transaction and handled in real-time during the transaction.

Abstract: Animal waste contains most of the essential nutrients required for plant growth. However, animal waste also contains microbes that convert urea to ammonium ions, nitrification of the ammonium ions to NO2 and NO3 and denitrification of NO2 or NO3 to N2. N2O is produced as an intermediate of nitrification and denitrification processes and N2O is a 300 times more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. The instant invention discloses low-cost, fluid suspension compositions comprising a combination of urease, nitrification and denitrification inhibitors that decrease the loss of nitrogen from animal waste and lessen the biological formation of the greenhouse gas N2O. These compositions comprise nitrogenous phosphoryl compounds and nitrification inhibitors that utilize manufacturing processes for the formation of low cost, fluid suspensions comprising one or more inhibitor particles selected from the group consisting of urease inhibitor particles, b) nitrification inhibitor particles, and c) fused particles.

Abstract: A vehicle having a Lidar system includes a cleaning apparatus that performs a method of cleaning the Lidar system. The cleaning apparatus includes a nozzle for spraying a gas onto a window of the Lidar, a pump for controlling a flow of the gas through the nozzle, and a processor. The processor is configured to control the pump to control the flow of the gas through the nozzle at a variable flow rate.

Abstract: An electric drive system is actively controlled while an electrified vehicle is being towed. The inverter switches are manipulated to preclude exceeding a maximum voltage of a DC bus and also to preclude exceeding a maximum phase current magnitude. During a transition from an inverter off state to a short-circuit state, field-oriented control is utilized.