Abstract: A method includes generating kth, (k+1)th, . . . , (kfinal)th control inputs for actuating flow control devices of a production well and/or an injection well of a well system during corresponding sampling steps k, (k+1), . . . , kfinal, actuating the flow control devices during the kth step using the kth control input, measuring a position of a fluid front and a dynamic state of the well system during the kth step; predicting a dynamic state of the well system at each step (k+1), . . . , kfinal using a state predictor, updating the (k+1)th, . . . , (kfinal)th control inputs based on the predicted dynamic states, optimizing the (k+1)th, . . . , (kfinal)th control inputs using a desired cost function, actuating the flow control devices during the (k+1)th step using the optimized value for the (k+1)th step, and measuring the position of the fluid front and a dynamic state of the well system during the (k+1)th step.

Abstract: A node of a network receives account access information (AAI) for an account that a user has with a system. The node causes a first record to be added to a distributed ledger that is used for managing access to the account, wherein the first record includes the AAI or an encrypted storage identifier that identifies a storage location for the AAI. The node determines a likelihood that the account is being accessed by the user based on the AAI and/or historical AAI for one or more accounts, that include the account, that are used to access the system. The node causes a second record that includes a value representing the likelihood to be added to the distributed ledger. The node causes one or more other nodes of the network to be alerted that the first record and the second record have been added to the distributed ledger.

Abstract: An electrical/mechanical switching having a first terminal and a second terminal. The first terminal is a neutral terminal and has a first terminal power engagement tab and a first terminal engagement tab with a first terminal copper dimple. The second terminal is a neutral terminal and has a second terminal mating engagement tab and a second terminal engagement tab with a second terminal copper dimple. A cam member is provided proximate the first terminal engagement tab and is movable between a first position and a second position to move the first terminal engagement tab into electrical and mechanical engagement with the second terminal engagement tab. An opening projection is provided proximate the first terminal engagement tab and the second terminal engagement tab and is movable between a first position and a second position to separate the first terminal engagement tab and the second terminal engagement tab.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to digitization of industrial inspection sheets. Digital scanning of paper based inspection sheets is a common process in factory settings. The paper based scans have data pertaining to millions of faults detected over several decades of inspection. The technical challenge ranges from image preprocessing and layout analysis to word and graphic item recognition. This disclosure provides a visual pipeline that works in the presence of both static and dynamic background in the scans, variability in machine template diagrams, unstructured shape of graphical objects to be identified and variability in the strokes of handwritten text. The pipeline incorporates a capsule and spatial transformer network based classifier for accurate text reading and a customized Connectionist Text Proposal Network (CTPN) for text detection in addition to hybrid techniques for arrow detection and dialogue cloud removal.

Abstract: A valve for use in oil and gas production or similar applications includes a plug or other flow barrier disposed in a cavity of a hollow valve body with a metal-to-metal sealing surface that is not reliant on any rubberized or elastomeric material to effect a seal.

Abstract: Identification of pulmonary diseases involves accurate auscultation as well as elaborate and expensive pulmonary function tests. Also, there is a dependency on a reference signal from a flowmeter or need for labelled respiratory phases. The present disclosure provides extraction of frequency and time-frequency domain lung sound features such as spectral and spectrogram features respectively that enable classification of healthy and abnormal lung sounds without the dependencies of prior art. Furthermore extraction of wavelet and cepstral features improves accuracy of classification. The lung sound signals are pre-processed prior to feature extraction to eliminate heart sounds and reduce computational requirements while ensuring that information providing adequate discrimination between healthy and abnormal lung sounds is not lost.

Abstract: An electronic smoking article includes a liquid supply region including liquid material and a heater-wick element operable to wick liquid material and heat the liquid material to a temperature sufficient to vaporize the liquid material and form an aerosol. The heater-wick element comprises a plurality of fused metal beads or particles.

Abstract: A telemetry and communication system and method for communication between a well production system and a well assist system. The system may comprise a well production system, which may comprise a telemetry sensor disposed in a production well below a highly conductive layer and a transmitter. The system may further comprise a well assist system comprising a sensor which is operable to receive information from the transmitter. A method for providing telemetry and communication may comprise determining a location of a well assist system for a well production system, deploying the well assist system to the location, disposing a sensor from the well assist system below a highly conductive layer, and receiving information with the sensor, the information being transmitted from a transmitter of the well production system disposed below the highly conductive layer.

Abstract: A power and communications cable may include an electromagnetic waveguide, an inner metallic tubular surrounding the electromagnetic waveguide, an electrically conductive material surrounding the inner metallic tubular, an electrically insulating material surrounding the electrically conductive material, and an outer metallic tubular resistant to corrosion and abrasion surrounding the electrically insulating layer. The example system may include an electrical device locatable in the wellbore and coupleable to the cable and a control unit coupleable to the cable and operable to supply power to and communicate with the electrical device via the power and communications cable.

Abstract: A system and method for supporting a service representative during a call with a user is disclosed. The system and method include using an intelligent voice assistant to monitor the call between the user and representative. The intelligent voice assistant may provide suggested actions when detecting a request from the user or service representative. The intelligent voice assistant can provide transcripts, call logs and/or call summary information to the service representative or user. The intelligent voice assistant can monitor a user's environment and speech to determine a stress level and/or user sentiment.

Abstract: Embodiments of a system and method for secure processing of image data are described. Image data included in image files may be encrypted and compressed in a single step using dynamically identified compression/encryption information such as code word tables.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for providing an estimate of cost of a claim to a homeowner. One of the methods includes receiving information about damage to a home of a homeowner. The method includes retrieving a home insurance policy associated with the homeowner and home insurance claims that have been submitted by other homeowners. The method also includes analyzing the information about the damage, the home insurance policy, and the home insurance claims to determine an estimate of cost of a claim that would cover the damage. In addition, the method includes providing the homeowner with the estimate of cost of the claim.

Abstract: Delegated administration of permissions using a contactless card. In one example, a permissions module may receive a request from a first account to grant a second account access to a computing resource. The permissions module may receive permissions data of the first account from a contactless card and encrypted data generated by the contactless card. The permissions module may transmit the permissions data and the encrypted data to an authentication server, which may verify the encrypted data based at least in part on the private key, and determine, based on the permissions data, that the first account has permissions to grant access to the computing resource. The permissions module may receive, from the authentication server, an indication of the verification of the encrypted data and a permissions vector associated with the second account, the permissions vector reflecting the grant of access to the computing resource to the second account.

Abstract: A digital voucher system facilitates the convenient application of vouchers against products and services purchased from a merchant by a consumer. A voucher enabled device carried by the consumer stores digital vouchers in memory. The merchant queries and obtains applicable vouchers for the consumer from the voucher enabled device carried by the consumer, applies the vouchers to a transaction, and communicates the resulting transaction data back to the voucher enabled device.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for characterizing materials in a wellbore having multiple casing strings uses well completion data and instantaneous frequency, instantaneous phase, and/or amplitude attributes, including waveform amplitude or instantaneous amplitude, of an acoustic waveform to determine material densities, acoustic velocities and acoustic travel distances for the materials between the various stages of casings.

Abstract: Implementations of the present disclosure include a financial services card including a card substrate, and multiple rows of braille-encoded characters formed on the card substrate, at least a portion of the braille-encoded characters encoding an account number that is associated with the financial services card being distributed between a first row and a second row of the multiple rows, and additional information associated with the financial services card being braille-encoded in a third row.

Abstract: A process generates, at a computer-implemented service provider platform, a simulated user request for a service. Further, the process sends, from the computer-implemented service provider platform to a computing device associated with an agent, the simulated user request for a service. Additionally, the process performs, with a processor at the computer-implemented service provider platform, an assessment of agent responsiveness to the simulated user request for the service. Finally, the process automatically generates, with the processor at the computer-implemented service provider platform, one or more actions based on the assessment.

Abstract: Systems and methods for managing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are disclosed. For example, the system may include one or more memory units storing instructions and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to perform operations. The operations may include sending a first call to a first node-testing model associated with a first API and receiving a first model output comprising a first model result and a first model-result category. The operations may include identifying a second node-testing model associated with a second API and sending a second call to the second node testing model. The operations may include receiving a second model output comprising a second model result and a second model-result category. The operations may include performing at least one of sending a notification, generating an updated first node-testing model, generating an updated second node-testing model, generating an updated first call, or generating an updated second call.

Abstract: Methods and systems are disclosed a digital investigation tool capable of recovering and decrypting content. The tool combines digital techniques with decryption capability for a wide range of encryption algorithms. In one implementation, the tool identifies the type and/or vendor of the encryption algorithm used to protect the content. The tool then automatically obtains the decryption information needed to decrypt the content. Depending on the encryption algorithm used, the information may include a master key, user-specific keys, user IDs, passwords, and the like. The decryption information may be accumulated in a local or remote storage location accessible by the tool, or it may be acquired in real time on an as-needed basis from a third-party encryption vendor, a key server, and the like. Such an arrangement allows law enforcement agencies as well as corporate security personnel to quickly recover and decrypt content stored on a computer system.

Abstract: Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques to enable use of a transaction card of a user device to perform transactions. Embodiments may include method, techniques, and circuitry to cause a transaction card to extend from a user device to be used to perform the transactions. Further, the transaction card may retract into the housing the user device when not in use.