Abstract: A folding step system includes a housing forming an interior space and a step comprising a step surface. The step is movable between a stowed configuration in which substantially all of the step surface is disposed within the interior space and a deployed configuration in which at least a portion of the step surface is disposed outside of the interior space and at least a portion of the step surface is disposed within the interior space.

Abstract: Disclosed are embodiments for employing off board sensors to augment data used by a ground based autonomous vehicle. In some aspects, the off-board sensors may be positioned on another autonomous vehicle, such as an aerial autonomous vehicle (AAV). The disclosed embodiments determine uncertainty scores associated with ground regions. The uncertainty scores indicate a need to reimage the ground regions. An AAV may be tasked to reimage a region having a relatively high uncertainty score, depending on a cost associated with the tasking.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to the field of molecular biology and more specifically to microarrays and methods, including methods for modifying immobilized capture primers comprising: a) contacting a substrate comprising a plurality of immobilized capture primers with a plurality of template nucleic acids under conditions sufficient for hybridization to produce one or more immobilized template nucleic acids, and b) extending one or more immobilized capture primers to produce one or more immobilized extension products complementary to the one or more template nucleic acid.

Abstract: Systems and methods disclosed herein relate to utility based selection of inquiries in a streaming data pipeline. An indication of user identification data and a data source may be received by a server in communication with a distributed streaming data pipeline. This pipeline may be in communication with asynchronous event processing services. Those event processing services may determine an inquiry rule that includes an inquiry threshold. This rule may be based on the data source and retrieval of information related to that data source from memory in a database server. The rule may prompt a comparison of an inquiry count to an inquiry threshold. If the count is below the threshold, an inquiry may be sent to a user based in part upon expected utility that is itself based upon several indications of expected utility calculated by an event processing service.

Abstract: A system for securely disseminating information relating to a process control plant includes a process control node and a controller that is coupled to a plurality of process control devices. The process control node includes a communicator module operable to transmit, via a first network, information of the process plant received from the controller. The system also includes a data services module operable to receive from the communicator module, via the first network, the information of the process plant and to transmit some or all of that information via a second network, and a mobile server, coupled to the second network and to a third network, and operable to receive data from the data services module. The mobile server is operable to communicate with a plurality of mobile computing devices via the third network.

Abstract: A system and method for packaging pine straw and a packaged mass of pine straw made therefrom, the method including providing an electronically-controlled system configured for packaging pine straw, the system including system logic that controls conveying, fluffing, cleaning, compressing and packaging of the pine straw, and using the system to compress a mass of pine straw into a rectangular mass of pine straw and enclosing the rectangular mass of pine straw within a flexible plastic sheet thereby forming a substantially rectangular packaged mass of compressed pine straw.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for managing capabilities of an account of a user system at a commerce platform are described. The method may include receiving, at the commerce platform, a request from a user system that identifies an account at the commerce platform and includes a capability requested for the account, where the requested capability corresponds to a desired functionality of the account. The method may also include mapping the requested capability to a compliance plan that defines a set of account data to be collected before activation of the capability for the account by the commerce platform. Furthermore, the method may include transmitting a message, generated by the commerce platform, that comprises a listing of additional data to be provided by the user system before activation of the capability for the account, where the additional data comprises a minimal set of account data defined by the compliance plan less any data already associated with the account at the commerce platform.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a heat exchanger includes stacking a plurality of parting sheets, a plurality of lengthwise closure bars, and a plurality of widthwise closure bars to form a rectangular first heat exchanger section. The first heat exchanger section includes at least one widthwise passage extending between a pair of the widthwise closure bars and at least one lengthwise passage extending between a pair of the lengthwise closure bars. The method also includes brazing the rectangular first heat exchanger section together and cutting a first side and a second side of the rectangular first heat exchanger section to give the first heat exchanger section a tapered-trapezoid profile. The method further includes brazing an end of a second heat exchanger section to the first or second side of the first heat exchanger section.

Abstract: A meltable smokeless tobacco composition configured for insertion into the mouth of a user is provided. The smokeless tobacco composition includes a tobacco material and a lipid having a melting point of about 36° C. to about 45° C. An associated process is also provided. The process includes melting a lipid having a melting point of about 36° C. to about 45° C. to form a molten lipid composition, mixing a tobacco material with the molten lipid composition to form a molten smokeless tobacco composition, and cooling the molten smokeless tobacco composition to form a solidified smokeless tobacco composition.

Abstract: An indicator assembly includes a fastener defining a first end, a second end opposite the first end, and an axis extending from the first end to the second end; a first indicator positioned radially outwardly of the fastener relative to the axis of the fastener; and a second indicator positioned radially outwardly of the fastener relative to the axis of the fastener, wherein the second indicator is axially in between the first indicator and the second end of the fastener upon the fastener being oriented in a first position, and wherein the second indicator is radially inwardly or radially outwardly of the first indicator upon the fastener being oriented in a second position.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for training an action selection neural network that is used to select actions to be performed by a reinforcement learning agent interacting with an environment. In particular, the actions are selected from a continuous action space and the system trains the action selection neural network jointly with a distribution Q network that is used to update the parameters of the action selection neural network.

Abstract: A tail rotor assembly coupled to a tailboom of a helicopter includes a tail rotor gearbox having top, bottom and aft sides and a shroud surrounding the tail rotor gearbox. The shroud includes a shroud airframe having top and bottom portions. The tail rotor assembly includes a tail rotor gearbox support assembly configured to support the tail rotor gearbox within the shroud. The tail rotor gearbox support assembly includes a support column coupling the aft side of the tail rotor gearbox between the top and bottom portions of the shroud airframe, an upper support crossbar coupling the top side of the tail rotor gearbox between the support column and the tailboom airframe and a lower support crossbar coupling the bottom side of the tail rotor gearbox between the support column and the tailboom airframe.

Abstract: A communications device transmitting/receiving data to/from a mobile communications network includes a transmitter to transmit data to the mobile communications network via a wireless access interface, a receiver to receive data from the mobile communications network via the wireless access interface, and a controller. The wireless access interface includes plural time divided temporal units and in each temporal unit a down-link control channel and a downlink shared channel. The temporal units may be sub-frames of an LTE carrier. The controller can control the receiver to receive downlink control channel information transmitted by the mobile communications network in one or more control channel elements of the downlink control channel, and to receive the downlink control channel information by searching the downlink control channel in a predetermined sub-set of plural possible sets of control channel elements in one or more of the temporal units according to a fixed aggregation level.

Abstract: A quasi-systolic array includes: a primary quasi-systolic processor; an edge row bank and edge column bank of edge quasi-systolic processors; and an interior bank of interior quasi-systolic processors. The primary quasi-systolic processor, edge quasi-systolic processor, and interior quasi-systolic processor independently include a quasi-systolic processor and are disposed and electrically connected in rows and columns in the quasi-systolic array.

Abstract: A method of coupling two pipes includes fastening two coupling segments into an untightened configuration, the two coupling segments comprising a first segment and a second segment, the first segment comprising a first end and a second end distal to the first end, the second segment comprising a first end and a second end distal to the first end, wherein fastening the two coupling segments comprises: placing a pivot clip between the second end of the first segment and the first end of the second segment, the pivot clip configured to maintain a separation distance between the second end of the first segment and the first end of the second segment; and tightening a first tightening element to draw the second end of the first segment towards the first end of the second segment; and placing ends of the two pipes between the two coupling segments.

Abstract: Service providers, such as website operators, may rely on interfacing with third-party systems over the Internet to provide services to their users. Outages and degraded responsiveness of these third-party systems can affect the efficiency of the operations of the service provider. The described embodiments allow a service provider to monitor the responsiveness of one or more third-party systems, including making predictions on the future reliability of those third-party systems. The described embodiments include various monitors, that use outgoing and incoming web traffic data from the service provider, to produce responsiveness parameters of third-party systems, based on which the service provider can dynamically route its outgoing traffic to the more reliable third-party systems.

Abstract: A lock tab washer for a pipe hanger includes a washer body; an edge tab defining a first section and a second section, wherein the first section extends from the washer body and the second section is bent relative to the first section in a first direction; and first, second, and third nut tabs extending from the washer body, wherein each of the first, second, and third nut tabs are bent relative to the washer body in a second direction opposite the first direction.

Abstract: A lock tab washer includes a washer body, the washer body defining a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the washer body defining a hole therethrough; an edge tab extending from the first side of the washer body, the edge tab define a first section and a second section, the second section bent relative to the first section; a nut tab extending from the second side of the washer body, the nut tab bent relative to the washer body; and a wing extending from the nut tab, the wing bent relative to the nut tab.

Abstract: A computing device may determine a respective disk access usage of flash memory of the computing device by each of a plurality of applications. The computing device may compare the respective disk access usage of the flash memory by each of the plurality of applications with a respective application-specific disk access overuse threshold to determine disk access overuse of the flash memory by an application of the plurality of applications. The computing device may, in response to determining the disk access overuse of the flash memory by the application, terminate the application.

Abstract: A method of displaying streamed content includes receiving streamed content from a server, decoding the streamed content, outputting the decoded streamed content for display, and estimating a degree of attention of a user on the streamed content, where the decoding step comprises decoding the content to a quality that is dependent upon the estimated degree of attention of the use.