Abstract: Described herein are routes of synthesis and therapeutic uses of 1-alkyl, 2-acyl glycerol derivatives of formula I: which when administered to mammalian biological systems result in increased cellular concentrations of specific sn-2 substituted ethanolamine plasmalogens independent of the ether lipid synthesis capacity of the system. Elevating levels of the specific sn-2 substituted species in this way can cause lowering of membrane cholesterol levels and the lowering of amyloid secretion. These compounds can be used for the treatment or prevention of diseases of aging associated with increased membrane cholesterol, increased amyloid, and decreased plasmalogen levels, such as neurodegeneration (including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and age-related macular degeneration), cognitive impairment, dementia, cancer (e.g. prostate, lung, breast, ovarian, and kidney cancers), osteoporosis, bipolar disorder and vascular diseases (such as atherosclerosis, hypercholesterolemia).

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for increasing user response to advertisements. Embodiments include an optimization engine configured to identify a request from a requester; identify at least one potential keyword associated with the request; associate the at least one potential keyword with at least one criteria bin; and identify at least one keyword from the at least one criteria bin based on a weight given the at least one criteria bin; and a routing system communicating with the requester and a supplier, the routing system also communicating with the optimization engine, the routing system configured to dynamically alter the base request with the at least one keyword to form an altered request; and send the altered request to the supplier.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for increasing user response to advertisements. Methods include identifying a base request from an advertisement requester, identifying a first keyword and a second keyword associated with the base request, ranking the first keyword and the second keyword based on a user response history associated with the first keyword and the second keyword, and identifying the higher ranked of the first keyword and the second keyword to be used to dynamically alter the base request.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for dynamically rotating keywords to be used to alter an advertisement request from an advertisement requester. In one embodiment, a method includes identifying a base request from an advertisement requester; identifying at least two potential keywords associated with the base request; and assigning a usage weight to each of the at least two potential keywords, the usage weight determining a percentage of times that each of the at least two potential keywords should be selected to dynamically alter the base request.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for increasing user response to advertisements from advertisement suppliers obtained in response to keywords. In one embodiment, a method includes identifying a base request from an advertisement requester; identifying a first and second keyword associated with the base request, the first and second keyword having both previously been used in advertisement requests to a first advertisement supplier; ranking the first keyword and the second keyword based on a user response history for each of the first keyword and second keyword; and identifying the higher ranked of the first keyword and the second keyword to be used to dynamically alter the base request to form an altered request to be sent to the first advertisement supplier.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for dynamically backfilling a deficient number of advertisements from an advertisement supplier. In one embodiment, a method includes identifying a first request from an advertisement requester, the first request identifying a desired number of advertisements to receive from a first advertisement supplier; identifying a first fetching period; sending the first request to the first advertisement supplier; monitoring to determine whether the desired number of advertisements from the first advertisement supplier are received within the first fetching period; and if the desired number of advertisements are not received within the first fetching period, performing a backfill mechanism to supply the desired number of advertisements.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for dynamically ordering advertisements received from at least one advertisement supplier. In one embodiment, a method includes sending a request to at least a first advertisement supplier; receiving one or more advertisements from the at least first advertisement supplier; identifying a prioritizing parameter associated with each of the one or more advertisements; and dynamically ordering the one or more advertisements from the at least first advertisement supplier into two or more positions of a response based on the prioritizing parameter.

Abstract: A process for upgrading, or refining, high sulfur containing heavy hydrocarbon crude oil to a lighter oil having a lower sulfur concentration and, hence a higher value product, is disclosed. The process includes reacting the high sulfur heavy hydrocarbon crude oil in the presence of a catalyst and low pressure hydrogen to produce a reaction product stream from which the light oil is recovered. Part of the reaction product is separated and subjected to further upgrading to produce a lower sulfur oil product for application as distillate fuels. The upgrading process also produces residual oil that is suitable for making olefins, carbon fiber or road asphalt. Catalysts utilized in the processes of the invention can include a transition metal containing compound, the metal being selected from Group V, Group VI, and Group VIII of the Periodic Table, and mixtures of these metals.

Abstract: An affinity relationship index and a method for using it are disclosed. The affinity relationship index captures, for any given place name, an affinity to one or more potentially more important place names. Each such more important place subtends an affinity domain within which other places are deemed to lie. The index carries this on hierarchically and has the effect of creating a relatively meaningful and minimized structure that can be rapidly searched for a user's intended destination. An application uses these affinity domains to determine the instructions necessary to embark upon a guided journey rather than determining all instructions needed to complete the journey.

Abstract: Disclosed are nitrone compounds and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. The nitrone compounds have one to six additional carbons bridging between the nitrone functionality and the nitrone aryl ring. The disclosed compositions are useful as therapeutics for inflammation-related conditions and analgesia in mammals, such as arthritis, and for neuropathic pain and traumatic injuries such as traumatic brain injury and acute spinal cord injury.

Abstract: The fuel properties of petroleum hydrocarbon waste having an API gravity varying from about 5 to 30 are improved by heating the hydrocarbon to a temperature of about 35° C. to 90° C. and mixing the heated hydrocarbon stream with a suitable solvent to reduce the viscosity of the hydrocarbon, which is then separated by a centrifuge to obtain an aqueous phase stream, an oil phase stream, and a separated solids stream. The oil phase stream has a viscosity range of about 250 centipoise (cP) to about 1000 cP. The oil phase stream is utilized in a refinery, while a slurry fuel is prepared with the separated solids stream and aqueous phase stream as a feedstock for road asphalt, a fuel for a combustor, or a fuel for a gasification process. The oil phase stream is used for fuels and feedstock for making carbon fiber.

Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for collecting data that relate addresses to map-referenced locations. A fleet of delivery trucks delivers items to locations throughout a geographic region. Each item to be delivered includes a tracking code. An electronic code reader device is used to record the tracking code of an item when the item is being delivered. A position determining device, such as a GPS unit, is used to determine a geographic position associated with the delivery of each item. Data indicating the tracking code of an item and the corresponding geographic position associated with the delivery are stored. Then, using data that indicate an address associated with each tracking code, each address is associated with a geographic position. This information is used to revise a geographic database, e.g., to relate addresses to map-referenced locations.

Abstract: A photograph repository system includes data storage for storing photographs in the form of digital data files and a search feature that provides for searching for photographs by location and optionally by other search criteria. In one embodiment, a photograph repository service is accessible to users over a common data network, such as the Internet. In the photograph repository service, each stored photograph is associated with a location, i.e., where the photograph was taken and/or the location of an object in the photograph. Users can search for and obtain copies of their own photographs that they had stored previously with the photograph repository service. In addition, users can search for and obtain copies of photographs that had been taken by other users and stored with the photograph repository service. The photograph repository system can also be implemented as a standalone system, a hybrid system, or a peer-to-peer system.