Abstract: This invention pertains to a method of calculating payout ratios in a financial transaction in which a chronically ill individual sells a portion of his life insurance proceeds in exchange for an investor paying the premiums. The preferred implementations of the method involve a programmed computer or a storage medium which contains the preferred formula for calculating the payout ratios.

Abstract: A method of extending promotional discounts and special prices on items for sale to identified consumers. After the identification of a consumer by a unique identifier; a selected item is promoted with a discount or special price to the identified consumer. The discount or special price is granted upon a purchase of the item by the identified consumer prior to the withdrawal or termination of the promotion to the identified consumer. The withdrawal or termination of the promotion is held in abeyance upon an acknowledgment of the promotion by the identified consumer. In other words, the identified consumer must take specific action to prevent a promotional discount from being withdrawn. This inverted promotion provides for greater incentives for the consumer to provide information about his or her purchasing habits.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for treating a patient sustaining an acute ischemic stroke in a brain having a blood circulatory system including a torcular Herophili and adjoining transverse venous sinuses, includes steps for partially occluding the sinuses to partially obstruct venous blood drainage while permitting some antegrade venous blood flow from at least one of the sinuses. A flow of the patient's arterial blood is introduced into at least one of the sinuses to produce a continuous retrograde blood flow on the venous side of the brain. In an associated method including a blood pump and occlusion catheters, a heat exchanger is used to lower the temperature of the retrograde blood flow in order to achieve hypothermic treatment of the brain.

Abstract: A compiler (142) constructs (FIGS. 14-32) a Reduced Flowgraph (RFG) from computer source code (144). The RFG is used to instrument (FIG. 36) code (142). An object module is created (146) and executed (148). Resulting path frequency counts are written to a counts file (154). A compiler (158) uses the source code (144) and the generated counts to identify runtime correlations between successive path edges and Superedges. An object module (159) is generated containing reordered (156) code generated to optimize performance based on the runtime correlations. If cloning is enabled (152), high frequency path edges are cloned (154) or duplicated to minimize cross edge branching.

Abstract: A method of reducing tissue volume for treatment of airway obstruction, obstructive sleep apnea, snoring, prostate tumor, and other pathologies comprising: applying a cryoprobe with a diameter preferably less than about 2 mm and with a sharp tip to first freeze the affected interstitial tissue of the soft palate, base of the tongue, tonsils or adenoids, singularly or in combination, or to the prostate, or other tissue, and then applying the same cryoprobe to heat the treated tissue.

Abstract: In an automated exchange system a method and a device which automatically checks the corresponding price in other exchange's order books is provided the exchange only allows a match if a better price cannot be found elsewhere. In a preferred embodiment the order is automatically transferred to the exchange having the better price if this is the case, and the order is further processed at that exchange the method and device provides means so that investors will not have to worry about getting a better price elsewhere, when entering bids into an automated exchange.

Abstract: Providing interest to clients' deposited finds without the legal limitation on the number of demand withdrawals from deposit accounts is accomplished by an administration system that keeps all of the records for the clients' deposits and withdrawals, calculates the total of the deposits and withdrawals for all clients, and uses the calculation to determine whether funds are deposited to or withdrawn from a single deposit account in which all clients' deposit funds are kept. Clients can make unlimited withdrawals, such as by check, credit card, debit card, or electronic transfer, through the administrator. By placing the administrator as the holder of a single account, legal exemptions to the limitation on earning interest in demand accounts is facilitated.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing an interactive computer-driven employment recruiting service. The method and apparatus enables an employer to advertise available positions on the Internet, directly receive resumes from prospective candidates, and efficiently organize and screen the received resumes. The method and apparatus further is capable of monitoring employment advertisements for a job seeker and automatically notifying the job seeker when a position for which the job seeker is suitable becomes available. The method and apparatus further enables a plurality of companies to advertise job positions at a single location accessible via the Internet by a job seeker, and enables the job seeker to communicate directly with a company via the Internet if the job seeker is interested in exploring further information pertaining to an available position at that company.

Abstract: A cardiovascular treatment method utilizes an elongate flexible surgical instrument (e.g., catheter) having a distal end. A distal end portion of the instrument is inserted into a vascular system of a patient. A surgical head at the distal end of the instrument is positioned so that the head is disposed adjacent to myocardium tissue of the patient. The head is operated to form a recess in the myocardium tissue. Prior to operating the head to form the recess, a thickness of the myocardium tissue is measured, the recess formed during the operation having a length determined in accordance with the measured thickness of the myocardium tissue. The thickness measurement partially determines the length of the recess. The angle of entry of the recess with respect to the heart wall also partially determines the length of the recess: the greater the angle, the longer the recess can be for a given myocardium thickness.

Abstract: A method for automating legal documents particularly for institutional and commercial loans includes the steps of providing in a database a plurality of provisions, including a plurality of standard clauses for each provision, and at least one optional clause associated with each standard clause, and a lender ranking value for each optional clause; selecting either the standard clause or the associated optional clause for each provision; allocating a borrower ranking value to each selected optional clause; comparing the associated lender ranking value to the borrower ranking value for each selected optional clause for determining which of the standard clauses will be retained and which of the selected optional clauses associated with the standard clause will be accepted to replace the standard clause; and generating a loan document having each of the accepted selected optional clauses and each of the retained standard clauses.

Abstract: In the field of retail product sales, a retail store would like to identify the most popular products in the market to make sure the product assortment of the store carries those popular products. By focusing on the most popular varieties of products and decreasing the exposure of the least popular varieties of products, a retail store can optimize its assortment selection and increase its profits and sales. The present invention supports the optimization of a retail product selection in a computerized system for categorizing products in inventory, determining market demand for products in the market, and optimizing the variety of products in inventory based upon retail sales data for a geographic region and a chain of stores. With the present method and system, a significant amount of retail sales data is manipulated into an easy to understand format for product category management and variety optimization.

Abstract: A technique is provided for paying bills electronically using data generated by any of multiple accounting software packages. The data generated by each accounting software package has a different structure. Respective rules associated with each accounting software package are stored. Structured data including data corresponding to a payee name, a payee address, an invoice number and an invoice amount generated by one of the accounting software packages is received. The data corresponding to the payee name, the payee address, the invoice number and the invoice amount is extracted from the received structured data by applying only the respective rules associated with the applicable accounting software package.

Abstract: A system and method for analyzing and originating a contractual option arrangement for transacting a deposit liabilities base of a financial institution at predetermined prices and time periods.

Abstract: A system grants authorized subscribers access to selected ones of entertainment events at various entertainment venues. The system preferably comprises a central processing station and plurality of access point controllers. The central processing station preferably permits registering of subscribers that can be authorized to attend selected entertainment events. The central processing station also generates and stores a record relating to authorization of a subscriber to attend a selected entertainment event. Each of the access point controllers preferably reads a subscriber identifier presented by the subscriber attending the respective entertainment event, and confirms that the subscriber attending the respective entertainment event has been authorized based upon the subscriber identifier. This system permits subscribers to prearrange for attendance at a selected event and/or venue, and does not suffer from the drawbacks of conventional paper tickets.

Abstract: The present invention, generally speaking, makes possible an associates program for electronic content distribution by providing a mechanism whereby a referrer may be identified at the time of purchase in a download-then-pay system. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an identifier or marker is added to the electronic content at the time of download. Merchant and purchase location information may also be added. At the time of purchase, a commerce module retrieves the identifier and presents it to the merchant server. The commerce module may also form part of the download or may originate from another source. The identifier may be used for various purposes. For example, the identifier may be used, directly or indirectly, to identify a referrer, to whom a referral fee is then credited. Also, the identifier may be used to look up offer information, since the price at the time of purchase may be different than the offer price at the time of download.

Abstract: An improved credit card billing method and system is disclosed which permits multiple items purchased as part of a single transaction or order to be separately billed on a credit card in accordance with a payment schedule designed to minimize inquiries regarding the overall order by the customer. The billing system permits the billing descriptor appearing on the credit card billing statement to have sufficient detail to minimize subsequent customer inquiries. The billing descriptor preferably includes a different customer service number for each individual item. Goods or services are purchased from a merchant in a conventional manner. The customer provides the merchant with a list of the multiple items included in the order, as well as credit card information. The merchant will preferably establish a staggered schedule for billing each individual item in the order and submit the charge requests to the credit card issuer in accordance with the established billing schedule.

Abstract: A conditional purchase offer (CPO) buyer agency system is disclosed for processing variable conditional purchase offers (CPOs) containing at least one variable condition. If a posted CPO is not accepted by at least one seller for a predefined period of time, or has been rejected by all potential sellers, the terms of the posted CPO may be modified by the CPO buyer agency system, within the tolerances specified by the buyer in the variable CPO, to facilitate acceptance. A buyer can submit a variable CPO having two sets of conditions, namely, a first set and a second set of conditions, as well as the corresponding buyer-defined offer price for each condition set. In addition, the buyer preferably provides a set of rules to control the gradual posting of the condition sets between the first and second condition sets, as well as the appropriate adjustments to the corresponding offer price.

Abstract: A method for aiding transactions by providing warranties against various aspects of a transaction which may be hard to assure ahead of time or when high risk is involved in relying on them. The method employs an infrastructure of a computer and communication systems communication with various distributed organizations working together and providing warranties. Different parties may trust different organizations and user representatives of the infrastructure. A party in a transaction may ask for a warranty against another party. As a response, the infrastructure, through its organizations, calculates and provides a decision regarding the request. Relying on the warranty, the risk involved in conducting the electronic transaction is reduced. In the case where the transaction does not reach sound completion, the warranty can be claimed. The method also involves managing and administering the infrastructure, the entities in the transaction system and their outstanding warranties.

Abstract: An Internet billing method comprises establishing an agreement between an Internet access provider and a customer, and an agreement between the Internet access provider and a vendor, wherein the Internet access provider agrees with the customer and the vendor to bill the customer and remit to the vendor for products and services purchased over the Internet by the customer from the vendor. The provider creates access to the Internet for the customer. When the customer orders a product or service over the Internet from a vendor, transactional information transmitted between the customer and the vendor is also transmitted to the provider. The provider then bills the transaction amount to the customer and remits a portion of the transaction amount to the vendor, keeping the differential as a fee for providing the service. As a result of this method, there is no need for any customer account numbers or vendor account numbers to be transmitted over the Internet, thereby maintaining the security of that information.

Abstract: A collective business system including participants engaged in a common field of business endeavor, a plurality of suppliers of business support mechanisms of interest to the participants and a for-profit hub business entity for managing transactions between the suppliers, the participants and their customers. Under the system, the independently owned and operated participants are assigned geographically protected business locations, as well as one or more of volume discounts of goods and services, national marketing capacity, discount capital financing for purchase of costly technology and machinery, access to information technology, logistics support or other business support mechanisms. The assets of the hub business entity are substantially liquid asset based and the hub business entity enables, controls and derives income from transactions between the suppliers and participants.