Abstract: The present invention relates to non-psychoactive derivatives of tetrahydro-cannabinol, which exhibit anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities. In particular, the present invention relates to methods of administering the derivatives and pharmaceutical compositions as therapeutic agents in the treatment of pain and tissue inflammation.

Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method of replacing a failed hardware device in a computer each rely solely on program code and/or other computer facilities that are ensured of being available in the computer during a concurrent maintenance operation, so that, even in the event that a failure occurs in such a hardware device, successful performance of the concurrent maintenance operation is ensured. For example, the initiation of power up and power down functions necessary to permit replacement of a failed device may be performed through a control panel or other similar facility in a computer that is continuously available when a computer is in a fully or partially active and powered-on state.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that in an embodiment pre-register buffers remotely and create tokens locally that represent the buffers prior to a data transfer operation that uses the tokens to access the buffers. In an embodiment, the buffers are pre-registered via a translation table, and the tokens are used as an offset into the translation table. In an embodiment, the pre-registration verifies that the buffer is within memory allocated to a logical partition, which protects against the risk of address corruption.

Abstract: A process for depositing metal on microparticulate comprising immersing microparticulate in an autocatalytic plating bath comprising the metal; inducing ultrasonic vibration in the plating bath at a frequency corresponding to resonance frequency of the microparticulate; and inducing a turbulent vibration signal in the plating bath in a direction non-parallel to the ultrasonic vibration. This process results in the autocatalytic plating bath depositing the metal on the microparticulate with uniform thickness. The microparticulate can be spheres, flakes or microfibers, and can be made from a number of materials, such as synthetic polymers (nylon, Kevlar™, Zylon™, and aramid fibers) and biodegradable compounds. A method is disclosed for coating a surface with metallized microparticulate fibers with an orientation perpendicular to the surface.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for depositing a metal on a material. The process comprises the steps of: immersing the material in a deposition solution comprising the metal; inducing a material vibration in the deposition solution having a frequency corresponding to a resonance frequency of the material; inducing a solution vibration in the deposition solution in a direction non-parallel to the material vibration, said solution vibration having a frequency corresponding to the a resonance frequency of the deposition solution, whereby said metal is deposited onto the material. This process results in deposition of metal from the plating bath on the material in a controlled and substantially uniform thickness.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method of improving the recognition accuracy of an in-vehicle speech recognition system. The method of the present invention selectively adapts the system's speech engine to a speaker's voice characteristics using an N-best matching technique. In this method, the speech recognition system receives and processes a spoken utterance relating to a car command and having particular speaker-dependent speech characteristics so as to select a set of N-best voice commands matching the spoken utterance. Upon receiving a training mode input from the speaker, the system outputs the N-best command set to the speaker who selects the correct car command. The system then adapts the speech engine to recognize a spoken utterance having the received speech characteristics as the user-selected car command.

Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method to dynamically control the bindings between Input/Output Adaptors (IOA's) and Input/Output Processors (IOP's) in a hierarchical I/O interface of a computer, such that an IOA can be dynamically reassigned from one IOP to another IOP such that the latter IOP takes over management of data transfer between the processing complex of the computer and the IOA from the former IOP. At least partial system availability is maintained in the computer during dynamic reassignment to minimize system downtime and simplify maintenance operations on the computer.

Abstract: Use of the present invention enables the alignment and servicing of the rear derailleur of a bicycle without having the rear wheel or a specialized fixture mounted in the dropouts. For the present invention, the apparatus is placed on the frame of the bicycle and the chain routed over a toothed pulley. A tensioning spring in the apparatus provides the proper chain tension and allows the rear derailleur to be serviced or aligned.

Abstract: An electric motor having a snap-together construction without the use of separate fasteners. The construction of the motor removes additive tolerances for a more accurate assembly. The motor is capable of programming and testing after final assembly and can be non-destructively disassembled for repair or modification. The motor is constructed to inhibit the ready entry of water into the motor housing and to limit the effect of any water which manages to enter the housing.

Abstract: An antenna module for a road vehicle comprising a structure including a plurality of antennas having different functions and configured to be mounted on or conform to a surface of the vehicle, a data bus for conveying in a digital format, signals received by or to be transmitted by the antenna between the module and equipment comprised in the vehicle, and means for converting received signals into said format and for converting signals to be transmitted from that format into a form for transmission.

Abstract: Bearing fretting conditions are eliminated in washing machines by providing a drive system in which the bearings are not loaded during the spin mode. The drive system includes an input shaft and first and second hubs rotatively mounted about the input shaft. The second hub is movable along the input shaft between a first position adjacent to the first hub and a second position displaced from the first hub. The drive system spins the washing machine's basket when the second hub is in its first position and oscillates the agitator when the second hub is in its second position. A brake disk is mounted to the second hub for movement therewith, and a brake surface is fixedly mounted to the washing machine adjacent to the brake disk so that the brake disk contacts the brake surface when the second hub is in its second position. Separation of the two hubs is accomplished by ball bearings which are unloaded when the second hub is in its first position.

Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method of managing computer resources each facilitate concurrent maintenance operations by automatically re-associating existing resources in a computer, when suitable, with appropriate hardware devices installed into the computer after a concurrent maintenance operation has been performed. An existing resource is re-associated with an installed hardware device by updating at least one of a device identifier and a location identifier associated with the resource based upon that of the installed hardware device. A resource identifier for the resource, however, is preserved so that any computer application that relies on the resource can still access the resource without additional manual reconfiguration of the resource or the computer application. Consequently, maintenance operations are substantially simplified and expedited, thereby facilitating system maintenance and minimizing computer downtime.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided for calibrating a densitometer based sensor for measuring the linear density of the shot particles passing through a shot peening system to ensure that mass flow rate readings and shot velocity readings calculated therefrom are accurate. The apparatus comprises a probe having a plurality of randomly distributed particles configured to have a linear density substantially equal to the linear density of shot which the sensor should experience during operation of the shot peening system at desired parameters.

Abstract: A washing machine with an improved mode shifter comprises a basket for holding an article to be washed, a basket collar coupled to the basket, an agitator disposed within the basket, an agitator collar coupled to the agitator, a brake for reducing a rotational velocity of the basket, a brake collar coupled to the brake, a first spring disposed around the basket collar and the agitator collar, and a second spring disposed around the first spring, the basket collar, and the brake collar. The mode shifter provides a mechanically simple, inexpensive, and reliable mechanism for shifting from the agitation mode to the spin mode to the brake mode in a wash cycle.

Abstract: A hot-plug circuit for receiving a high-current load is disclosed. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hot-plug circuit comprises a transistor, a capacitor, a resistor, and a control circuit module. The transistor is coupled between a power supply and an input that is adapted to receive the high-power adaptor card. The capacitor is coupled between a first terminal and a second terminal of the transistor. The resistor is coupled to the first terminal of the transistor. Finally, the control circuit module is for applying a first bias voltage to the second terminal of the transistor via the resistor in order to turn the transistor off during an absence of the high-current load, and for applying a second bias voltage to the second terminal of the transistor via the resistor in order to turn the transistor on under a linear conduction mode upon an initial contact of said high-current load to the input.

Abstract: An electrode assembly for electrical discharge machining (EDM) a slot in a wall includes a plurality of laterally abutting individual electrodes having a collective perimeter configuration complementary with the slot. The electrodes define a collective height equal to the sum of their individual heights which may be substantially greater than the individual widths thereof for machining a correspondingly high aspect ratio slot in the wall.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for building a platform dependent makefile from a platform independent "build" file. Accordingly, instead of requiring that a programmer create a plurality of makefiles for a plurality of platforms, the invention enables the programmer to create a single, platform independent build file that may be used across a plurality of platforms. The build file includes arguments that are passed to rules stored in a rules file that create an internal data structure having the information necessary for forming the makefile. The invention then uses the information in this data structure to form the platform dependent makefile.

Abstract: Methods and systems for performing a tomographic scan which allow an operator to define a non-circular orbit so that a detector can be positioned close to a patient at each view are described. Such methods and systems provide that the patient to detector distance is reduced, which improves spatial resolution for the scan. In one embodiment, and to achieve a non-circular orbit, the camera and table/patient are moved with respect to one another. Specifically, the table is pinned in position and set to lateral and vertical positions during set-up. The same lateral and vertical table positions are maintained during the scanning phase. To get the camera closer or farther from the patient/table, the camera is pitched in or out. The camera head is tilted to achieve a tilt angle of zero degrees for all changes in pitch. As the camera pitches in and out, the central axis of the camera moves along the longitudinal axis of the table.

Abstract: A noise dithering system provides gating signals to switching transistors that selectively apply power to an output device in response to the gating signals, wherein said gating signals include a selected level of frequency modulation insufficient to alter operational characteristics of the output device more than a predetermined amount. One embodiment concerns a PWM switching system in which a PWM controller provides gating signals to switching transistors, where the gating signals are clocked by a timing circuit in accordance with a modulated input reactance sensed by a timing input node. In another embodiment, the gating signals may be clocked by the timing circuit in accordance with a modulated current at a timing input node, provided by a variable current source. In the case of the modulated input reactance, a voltage variable capacitor is preferably used to provide a capacitance proportional to output of a modulator.

Abstract: An almen strip has a plurality of corrugations on one surface while the opposite surface is smooth and flat. This strip measures directly peening intensity on chamfers.