Abstract: A method of inputting text is provided in which a first portion of an input string is received from a user, the first portion of the input string including at least one keystroke representing a wildcard character of the input string. A second portion of the input string is then received, with the second portion including one or more keystrokes all representing non-wildcard characters of the input string.

Abstract: A method of measuring an analyte concentration in body fluid in an animal body having skin and subcutaneous soft tissue that includes body fluid. The method comprises, introducing a portion of an analyte-measuring device into the subcutaneous soft tissue. The analyte-measuring device includes an analyte sensing element, having a sharpened distal end to facilitate introduction into the animal body. Additionally the sensing element has an indicating electrode that is adapted to be activated by electric power and to form a raw analyte measurement, when it is activated and in contact with the body fluid, in less than two minutes. The sensing device further has a reference electrode and an electric power and display device that is adapted to mate to the analyte-sensing element. The power and display device activates the analyte-sensing element by applying electric power to it.

Abstract: A method of making a multiple use analyte sensing assembly. The method includes placing a coated wire analyte sensing assembly on an article having a surface that defines a set of pockets so that the wire extends into each pocket. The coated wire is then typically covered by a layer of insulation material between pockets, either by placing an apertured insulation material layer over the pockets so that the apertures correspond to the pockets or by placing a liquid curable insulation material over the coated wire between pockets.

Abstract: A method of checkpointing a microprocessor by providing, in parallel, a current read value from a queue and a next read value from the queue, and then selectively passing one of the current read value and next read value to a capture latch based on an instruction completion signal. The capture latch can directly drive the checkpoint register circuitry in the recovery unit of the microprocessor. If the queue is empty, a pair of multiplexers connected to the input of the register queue array are used to pass the input data value. The instruction completion signal may indicate whether all instructions in an instruction group have successfully completed.

Abstract: A method of addressing a condition of a living body comprising the steps of using an energy beam to form a set of pores in a work piece biocompatible membrane. The pores should have a mean area of less than 500 ?m through the biocompatible membrane, thereby producing a microporous membrane adapted to facilitate tissue in growth. This membrane is placed at least partially about an article that is adapted to be implanted in a living body, which is implanted into the living body, thereby addressing the condition.

Abstract: A sensing element adapted to, at least in part, be inserted into a mammalian body. The sensing element is made up of a core of a structurally robust metal and a plated portion made of an electrochemically active metal conjoined to at least a portion of the core. This sensing element may be used as part of a method for the continuous or intermittent monitoring of an analyte within a mammalian body. The method includes inserting at least a portion of the sensing element into the mammalian body and measuring any electric current produced by at least of portion of the sensor.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for reducing the number of cycles required to checkpoint instructions in a multi-threaded microprocessor that has dispatch group checkpointing. A determination is made in a first stage of a checkpoint pipeline whether checkpointing can occur for a group of instructions. The results of processing the group of instructions flow to a second stage of the checkpoint pipeline regardless of whether the group of instructions is ready to checkpoint. If the group of instructions is ready to checkpoint, the group of instructions is checkpointed in a third stage of the checkpoint pipeline.

Abstract: A method of measuring an analyte concentration in body fluid. The method includes the use of an analyte measuring device that has an analyte sensing element with a sharpened distal end and further has an indicating electrode covered by an absorbent layer. Also, an electric power, data processing and display device is adapted to mate to and activate the analyte sensing element by applying electric power to it and adapted to receive the raw analyte measurement and to compute and display a refined analyte measurement from the raw analyte measurement. The analyte sensing element is introduced into the animal body, thereby placing the absorbent layer into contact with the body fluid. The absorbent layer becomes saturated with body fluid and the analyte sensing element is removed from the body and is activated to form a raw analyte measurement. Which is used to form and display a refined analyte measurement.

Abstract: Redundant time-of-day (TOD) oscillators are aligned, within a master oscillator path, to local logic oscillator and used to create independent step-sync signals. A step checker validates and provides selection signals to identify which of the TOD oscillators operates according to a criterion. Independent step-sync signals are transmitted to several sibling chips. Local step and sync signals are delayed to arrive at TOD register nearly synchronous with TOD registers in sibling chips. A slave oscillator path may be used to select time signals generated in a sibling chip, whereby the master oscillator path is deselected. A primary control register set may be used to configure which among several chips is a master chip using the master oscillator path. All remaining chips are slave chips. All segments of the topology are redundant. One of multiple possible alternate topologies is defined in a secondary control register set.

Abstract: Mechanism for accurately measuring useful capacity of a processor allocated to each thread in a simultaneously multi-threading data processing system. Instructions dispatched from multiple threads are executed by the processor on a same clock cycle. A determination is made whether Time Base (TB) register bit (60) is changing. A dispatch charge value is determined for each thread, and added to the Processor Utilization Resource Register for each thread when TB bit (60) changes.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a system having a chemical sensor and either a temperature sensor or an ionic-strength sensor in a same fluidic channel. The disclosure also related to a system having a chemical sensor and either a temperature sensor or an ionic-strength sensor over a same substrate. This system can be capable of measuring chemical concentrations of two or more chemicals and a temperature or ionic strength of a fluid.

Abstract: An improved data compression method and apparatus is provided, particularly with regard to the compression of data in tabular form such as database records. The present invention achieves improved compression ratios by utilizing metadata to transform the data in a manner that optimizes known compression techniques. In one embodiment of the invention, a schema is generated which is utilized to reorder and partition the data into low entropy and high entropy portions which are separately compressed by conventional compression methods. The high entropy portion is further reordered and partitioned to take advantage of row and column dependencies in the data. The present invention enables not only much greater compression ratios but increased speed than is achieved by compressing the untransformed data.

Abstract: A vehicle trim panel is secured to a vehicle structural panel by providing a vehicle trim fastener having spaced arms which embrace and overlie the legs on a mount which is seated over the edge of a vehicle structural panel. The embracing arms and corresponding legs prevent lateral shifting of the trim panel relative to the structural panel.

Abstract: A system for servicing communication queues may include memory configured to store a hierarchical channel map having a plurality of levels wherein each bit of the lowest level is mapped to a different one of a plurality of communication channels and wherein each bit of each higher level is mapped to a group of bits at the next lower level. The system may include a host adapter configured to maintain the hierarchical bitmap wherein each bit at the lowest level is set if the channel to which it is mapped has a pending communication request and is cleared if not. Each bit of each higher level is set if at least one bit is set in the lower level group to which is mapped and cleared if not. The host adapter may be configured to examine the hierarchical bitmap in order to determine a next one of the communication channels to service. At each level of the hierarchical channel map a service mask may be provided to track which bits have already been traversed at that level.

Abstract: An adjustable gas nozzle has a nozzle body including a passageway therethrough opening into a first orifice at one end and an internal sealing surface adjacent thereto. A threaded internal surface is formed at a second end of the nozzle body. A conduit connected to a source of gas at one end having external threads adjacent a second end is threadably receivable within the second end of the nozzle body and is moveable between the first and second alternative positions relative to the nozzle body. Integral radial ribs are formed externally about the conduit between the external threads and the second end of the conduit and are engageable with the internal surface of said nozzle body between the sealing surface and the threads. The radial ribs on the exterior of the conduit have a larger diameter than the internal diameter of the interior wall of the nozzle body and is of a harder material so that deformation occurs in the wall resulting in a tight seal when the nozzle and the conduit are coupled.

Abstract: A fluid operated control valve for controlling fluid flow of a system which includes a first and a second fluid channels therein, the control valve includes: a hollow casing with closed first and second ends; a piston member slidably disposed within the casing and defining thereby within the casing a first chamber adjacent to the first end of the casing and a second chamber adjacent to the second end of the casing; a first magnet disposed adjacent the first chamber of the casing for attracting the piston member to a first terminal position; a second magnet disposed adjacent the second chamber of the casing for attracting the piston member to a second terminal position.

Abstract: The invention consists of a sensor with multiple indicating (sensing) electrodes covered with a selectively permeable membrane for monitoring fluid concentrations in a biological environment. The indicating electrodes respond to changes in certain analytes, such as glucose, through an enzyme-mediated reaction. The currents generated from the enzyme-mediated reactions are transmitted through radio signals to an external receiver where the information is processed and recorded. Through the use of various biomaterials and biochemicals associated with the sensor, the monitoring accuracy is improved and the overall viability is prolonged. The process of foreign body fibrosis (formation of a scar capsule around the implanted sensor) eventually limits the functional life of the device. We teach methods of delivery of certain biochemicals that can increase the functional life of the sensor by inhibiting the formation of the foreign body capsule or by stimulating the growth of capillaries into the capsule.

Abstract: A light source is incorporated into a weatherstrip or pinch strip assembly mounted on a movable panel or at the opening in a frame or panel which receives the movable panel. The light is illuminated to warn that a movable panel of a vehicle is about to close or open, is closing or opening, or that an obstruction has been encountered. The light can operate intermittently during opening or closing, and continuously when the movable panel is open.

Abstract: A method of producing a biocompatible microporous membrane comprising the steps of providing a biocompatible membrane and using an energy beam to form a set of pores having a minor axis of less than 15 ?m through the biocompatible membrane. One embodiment includes the steps of producing a first layer of material, defining a first set of pores; producing a second layer of material, defining a second set of pores and wherein the second set of pores is defined so as to cooperatively engage the first set of pores; and aligning and joining the first layer of material to the second layer of material to form a laminated membrane, having through-passageways formed by the first set of pores at least partially aligned with the second set of pores.

Abstract: In a bundled link system which partitions a data packet into varying size cells, a data packet is partitioned into a stream of cells of which the last two cells are partial cells. When the data has been partitioned so that less than the data required to fill two maximum size cells remains, the remaining data is divided into two cells where the cell size is selected so that each cell is larger than a predetermined minimum size. In a preferred embodiment, the remaining data is equally divided into partial size cells. In particular, in accordance with one embodiment, when there is less than two times the maximum size cell of data remaining to be partitioned in a packet and the remaining data is more than the maximum cell size, then the cell size used for the last two cells is the size of the remaining data divided by two.