Abstract: An implant manipulator may have a distal end that retains an implant, a proximal end, and an intermediate portion between the ends. The implant manipulator may be a needle for a suture passer, with a suture capture feature at the distal end. The suture capture feature may have first and second members that flex apart to permit entry of the suture into a suture capture hole wherein the suture is retained until released. A suture passer may include one or more needles. The suture passer may also include a pusher; a distal end with a sharp, blade-like extension; or a side-loading distal end.

Abstract: An implant manipulator may have a distal end that retains an implant, a proximal end, and an intermediate portion between the ends. The implant manipulator may be a needle for a suture passer, with a suture capture feature at the distal end. The suture capture feature may have first and second members that flex apart to permit entry of the suture into a suture capture hole wherein the suture is retained until released. A suture passer may include one or more needles. The suture passer may also include a pusher; a distal end with a sharp, blade-like extension; or a side-loading distal end.

Abstract: An implant manipulator may have a distal end that retains an implant, a proximal end, and an intermediate portion between the ends. The implant manipulator may be a needle for a suture passer, with a suture capture feature at the distal end. The suture capture feature may have first and second members that flex apart to permit entry of the suture into a suture capture hole wherein the suture is retained until released. A suture passer may include one or more needles. The suture passer may also include a pusher; a distal end with a sharp, blade-like extension; or a side-loading distal end.

Abstract: An implant manipulator may have a distal end that retains an implant, a proximal end, and an intermediate portion between the ends. The intermediate portion may have a cross-sectional shape that extends along a nonlinear pathway. The intermediate portion may have a selectively bendable portion in which the cross-sectional shape varies to facilitate bending when desired. The implant manipulator may be a needle for a suture passer, with a suture capture feature at the distal end. The suture capture feature may have first and second members that flex apart to permit entry of the suture into a suture capture hole wherein the suture is retained until released. A suture passer may receive the needle in a bore shaped to change the cross-sectional shape to facilitate or restrict bending of the needle, as needed.

Abstract: An implant manipulator may have a distal end that retains an implant, a proximal end, and an intermediate portion between the ends. The implant manipulator may be a needle for a suture passer, with a suture capture feature at the distal end. The suture capture feature may have first and second members that flex apart to permit entry of the suture into a suture capture hole wherein the suture is retained until released. A suture passer may include one or more needles. The suture passer may also include a pusher; a distal end with a sharp, blade-like extension; or a side-loading distal end.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods of increasing the environmental stress tolerance of a plant, to methods of improving the quality and/or yield of a plant crop, to methods of application of agrochemicals having a physiological effect on a plant in the plant irrigation water, and to crops produced using said methods.

Abstract: An implant manipulator may have a distal end that retains an implant, a proximal end, and an intermediate portion between the ends. The intermediate portion may have a cross-sectional shape that extends along a nonlinear pathway. The intermediate portion may have a selectively bendable portion in which the cross-sectional shape varies to facilitate bending when desired. The implant manipulator may be a needle for a suture passer, with a suture capture feature at the distal end. The suture capture feature may have first and second members that flex apart to permit entry of the suture into a suture capture hole wherein the suture is retained until released. A suture passer may receive the needle in a bore shaped to change the cross-sectional shape to facilitate or restrict bending of the needle, as needed.

Abstract: Architecture generates low resolution placeholder content that preserves the usefulness of application responsiveness by preserving and displaying the structure of the content. This facilitates decreased memory requirements associated with pre-rendering structurally-intact content. The architecture enables the storing of pre-rendered content at a lower zoom level than is intended for actual display to require fewer resources, pre-rendering content at a lower zoom level to allow the application to adjust for the lower zoom level to provide more structural integrity than would be achieved rendering at full display zoom level and compressing the resulting data, stretching the pre-rendered content to the zoom level that is intended for display in order to achieve a low resolution appearance that merges directly with the full resolution content, and transitioning between low resolution content and full resolution content when the full resolution content becomes available.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of improving the yield or water use efficiency in crops of useful plants cultivated under deficit irrigation which comprises the application of an agrochemical compound to the plant, parts of such plant, plant propagation material, or at its locus of growth, wherein the agrochemical compound is selected from the strobilurins, the neonicotinoids, the azoles, the SAR-inducing compounds, certain plant growth regulators (PGRs) and mixtures of such compounds.

Abstract: An implant manipulator may have a distal end that retains an implant, a proximal end, and an intermediate portion between the ends. The intermediate portion may have a cross-sectional shape that extends along a nonlinear pathway. The intermediate portion may have a selectively bendable portion in which the cross-sectional shape varies to facilitate bending when desired. The implant manipulator may be a needle for a suture passer, with a suture capture feature at the distal end. The suture capture feature may have first and second members that flex apart to permit entry of the suture into a suture capture hole wherein the suture is retained until released. A suture passer may receive the needle in a bore shaped to change the cross-sectional shape to facilitate or restrict bending of the needle, as needed.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods of increasing the environmental stress tolerance of a plant, to methods of improving the quality and/or yield of a plant crop, to methods of application of agrochemicals having a physiological effect on a plant in the plant irrigation water, and to crops produced using said methods.

Abstract: Architecture generates low resolution placeholder content that preserves the usefulness of application responsiveness by preserving and displaying the structure of the content. This facilitates decreased memory requirements associated with pre-rendering structurally-intact content. The architecture enables the storing of pre-rendered content at a lower zoom level than is intended for actual display to require fewer resources, pre-rendering content at a lower zoom level to allow the application to adjust for the lower zoom level to provide more structural integrity than would be achieved rendering at full display zoom level and compressing the resulting data, stretching the pre-rendered content to the zoom level that is intended for display in order to achieve a low resolution appearance that merges directly with the full resolution content, and transitioning between low resolution content and full resolution content when the full resolution content becomes available.

Abstract: A needle passer instrument for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures, including arthroscopy. The instrument has upper and lower jaws for engaging tissue and a handle. A removable needle engaging cartridge is mounted to the upper jaw. A surgical needle with attached suture is mounted in a needle passage in the lower jaw. A needle actuation rod engages the surgical needle and pushes the needle through tissue contained between the jaws. The needle is engaged by the cartridge, and the needle may be cut away from the suture.