Abstract: Methods for installation, connection to, and use of anchors for mooring of marine structures, especially although not exclusively for gravity installed anchors, and accompanying apparatus. One embodiment comprises an anchor having recovery and load lines attached thereto, both lines held by a trailing buoy and with subsea connectors at their upper ends, held up by the buoy. The trailing buoy is held in a release frame, the anchor is lowered to a desired height above a seabed, then the release mechanism is shifted and the anchor is permitted to free fall and penetrate into the seabed. The trailing buoy and subsea connectors remain above the seabed, and a mooring line from a structure can be connected to the load line via the subsea connector. A second embodiment comprises a launch frame attached to the lowering line. A length of chain or rope is looped from the base of the launch frame to a remote release near the end of the launch frame arm, and from there to a recovery line assembly connected to the anchor.

Abstract: Anchor for mooring of buoyant marine structures. The anchor comprises an elongated shaft with a mooring line attachment that is rotatable around the full circumference (that is, a full 360 degrees of rotation) of the anchor shaft. The lower end of the shaft comprises nose section, while the upper end comprises a tail section. A plurality of fins are attached to the nose section and tail section, and extend radially outward from the anchor shaft. While the number of fins may vary, one presently preferred embodiment has three fins in each section of the anchor shaft. The anchor is preferably configured (via design of the nose and tail section fin areas, shapes, etc.

Abstract: A system for screening cellular tissue, in particular breast tissue. The system comprises an ultrasound probe that is capable of generating image data representing images of cellular tissue, one or more sensors to determine the probe's location, an image viewer, a pad, which is ultrasonically conductive and placed over the patient's nipple, and a fabric covering is placed over the breast tissue to be scanned. The pad has different ultrasonic characteristics than the cellular tissue to be scanned. The fabric covering includes an ultrasonic coupling agent and is used to hold the breast tissue in place. The fabric of the covering and the coupling agent transmit ultrasonic energy with minimal interference. The ultrasound probe is scanned over the tissue, and the one or more sensors are employed to determine the probe's location. The images representing the scanned tissue are displayed by a viewer which is capable of providing a rapid sequential display of the images.

Abstract: A system for screening cellular tissue, in particular breast tissue. The system comprises an ultrasound probe that is capable of generating image data representing images of cellular tissue, one or more sensors to determine the probe's location, an image viewer, a pad, which is ultrasonically conductive and placed over the patient's nipple, and a fabric covering is placed over the breast tissue to be scanned. The pad has different ultrasonic characteristics than the cellular tissue to be scanned. The fabric covering includes an ultrasonic coupling agent and is used to hold the breast tissue in place. The fabric of the covering and the coupling agent transmit ultrasonic energy with minimal interference. The ultrasound probe is scanned over the tissue, and the one or more sensors are employed to determine the probe's location. The images representing the scanned tissue are displayed by a viewer which is capable of providing a rapid sequential display of the images.

Abstract: A system and method of disseminating information about an event to guests of the event and the host of the event. The system includes a computing system storing information about the event. The system also includes a host terminal operable by the host and a guest terminal operable by the guest. Each terminal may communicate with the computing system. The computing system generates an electronic invitation for delivery to each guest selected by the host. The electronic invitation provides information about the event and a response prompt. The response prompt provides the guest the ability to provide the guest's intentions in attending the event. The response prompt sends a signal to the computing system indicating the guest's intentions. The computing system may then compile a list of guests for use by the host. In addition, the computing system may generate an interactive web site providing additional information on the event.

Abstract: Position and sizing of objects within a window that is resized is determined by selectively set parameters. Resizing of the object in response to resizing of a window in which the object appears can be set to an absolute or proportional basis or constrained to respond to only a vertical or a horizontal change in window size. Alternatively, an object can be centered within a window with reference to the margins of a window, which can be selectively set to change in an absolute or proportional manner as the window is resized. Movement of the object within the window can also be set in both the horizontal and vertical direction on an absolute or a proportional basis. To avoid accumulated round-off errors, the sizing of an object always relates to a dynamic initial position, which corresponds to the position in which the object currently would be if moved by a dynamic action, without regard for positional changes due to resizing of the window.

Abstract: A method and system for determining an optimal color palette for simultaneously displaying multiple graphic objects associated with different color palettes, particularly, when a new object may subsequently be added to the display. A multimedia authoring system that is used to specify graphic objects appearing on a page of the multimedia work incorporates machine instructions for creating the optimal color palette used in displaying the graphic objects when the multimedia work is run on a personal computer system (10). Preferably, the optimal color palette has up to 256 colors, including 20 that are used by the graphic user interface operating system. Colors are added to the optimal color palette by hashing the colors used in the color palettes associated with each of the graphic objects included on a page of the multimedia work, until the color palettes associated with all objects on a page have been processed or until all available colors in the optimal color palette are used.

Abstract: Data defining pages and objects of a multimedia work are transferred in the background to minimize delays that would otherwise be incurred. In playing a multimedia work that is recorded on a CD-ROM, a personal computer (10) that includes a central processing using (CPU) (23) transfers data for selected pages and for objects on a page of the multimedia work into a cache, using free CPU cycles, so that the data are available when needed. This technique is particularly useful in transferring data for animation objects of a multimedia work, since it enables two animations to play concurrently without incurring a delay to load the data for the second animation when the page is loaded and avoids interrupting the execution of the first animation at the time that the second animation must start executing. An authoring program used to create the multimedia work enables the author to select the pages and objects on a page that are to be prewarmed in this manner.

Abstract: A method and system for efficiently transferring data for objects on the page of a multimedia work from a CD-ROM to the memory of a computer. An application program is run on a personal computer (10) that enables an author to create a multimedia work. Certain types of objects can be selectively processed so that data for those objects are temporarily stored on a hard drive (16) as the work is being created, in a format that will reduce the time required to load the data and execute the objects when the work is subsequently played from a CD-ROM. In this technique, the sequence in which the objects on a page are required is determined and the data for each of these objects are split into a header portion and a tail portion. The header portions of the data for the objects are stored consecutively in that sequence on the hard drive, preferably followed by the tail portions of the data for the objects. This process is repeated for each of the objects on the other pages of the multimedia work.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for maintaining synchronization and sequencing between an audio track and other components of a multimedia work. The audio track is recorded in accordance with the Redbook standard, enabling the CD-ROM on which the audio is stored to be played on a conventional CD player. In order to synchronize the audio track with other components of a multimedia work, such as video, a separate time/command track is provided on the CD-ROM. This separate time/command track includes timing data which reference a physical address in the audio track and an associated command that is to be implemented when playback of the audio track reaches that physical address. Consequently, video and other components can be maintained in synchronization with the audio track. If synchronization is lost, it can be regained either by immediately executing commands that should have been executed at an earlier point in the playback of the audio track, or by dropping the commands.

Abstract: A multimedia work stored on a CD-ROM is repurposed at run time to include changes and additions to the original work. Files required for repurposing the multimedia work are distributed on a floppy disk or CD-ROM for installation on the user's hard drive (16) prior to execution of the multimedia work on a personal computer (10). A run-time version of an authoring program employs one of the files for repurposing that includes references to objects/pages used in the repurposed multimedia work. Since objects communicate with the run-time authoring program through a node (89) and a filter (88), changes to the interaction between objects and the system are readily implemented by replacing the previous filter with a new filter. However, a filter is not required if the repurposing only replaces one object that was in the original work with a different object having the same label.