Abstract: The present invention describes compounds produced from a creatine molecule and a fatty acid molecule. The compounds being in the form of creatine-fatty acid compounds being bound by an anhydride linkage, or mixtures thereof made by reacting creatine or derivatives thereof with an appropriate fatty acid previously reacted with a thionyl halide. The administration of such molecules provides supplemental creatine with enhanced bioavailability and the additional benefits conferred by the specific fatty acid.

Abstract: Lead distribution systems and methods distribute consumer business leads received from lead sources for routing to one or more destinations that will use the lead and/or will forward the lead to another destination. The system identifies a set of most profitable destinations for each lead, while complying with business rules associated with the lead source and the destinations. For each lead, the system identifies a set of candidate destinations, each with associated business rules. The candidate destinations may include destinations with which the system has established business rules, destinations with which the lead source has established business rules, or both. For leads that may be multi-distributed, different business rules may apply to each time the lead is distributed. When both the lead distribution system and the source have different business rules established with a destination, the rules established by the source may take precedence over those of the lead distribution system.

Abstract: Methods for using a liner in a waste sorting and disposal system are provided. The liner includes an internal space and an opening that provides access to that internal space. In some embodiments, the liner may also include a machine-readable identification key that is configured to identify a type of waste that the liner may receive. In some embodiments, the machine-readable key is optical, color-coded, alphanumeric or graphical. The liner can include one or more closure members to allow a user to securely seal the liner when it is removed from the container. In some embodiments, the liner can include a flange, lip, hook or other protrusion to secure its position relative to a container.

Abstract: For an assembly for receiving body fluids comprising a sampling element (10) that has a collecting area (12) for collecting body fluid obtained by a puncture, it is proposed that the collecting area is formed by a longitudinal slot (12) which is elongated as a capillary that is open on both sides via side openings (28, 30) on the sampling element (10).

Abstract: A listening device for presenting at least one audio signal to a user comprises a first ear piece and a second ear piece, each of the first ear piece and the second ear piece including at least one speaker and each being adapted to block substantially all external sounds from entering an ear of a user. The device further comprises a microphone for sensing a first audio signal and a differential amplifier coupled to the microphone for amplifying the first audio signal. The differential amplifier is coupled to a first electrical ground. A switching arrangement coupled to and receiving a second audio signal from an external audio source and the external audio source having a second electrical ground that is electrically distinct from the first electrical ground.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for treating the interior of a blood vessel include a variety of improved catheter designs, methods and apparatus for accessing and occluding a blood vessel.

Abstract: Systems and a storage medium for memory management are provided. A system includes a tag controlled buffer in communication with a memory device, including multiple pages divided into individually addressable lines. The tag controlled buffer includes a prefetch buffer with at least one of the individually addressable lines from the memory device and a tag cache in communication with the prefetch buffer. The tag cache includes at least one tag associated with one of the pages in the memory device. Each tag includes a reference history field and a pointer to a line in the prefetch buffer that is from the associated page. The reference history field includes information about how the lines from the associated page have been accessed in the past and is utilized to determine which lines in the associated page should be added to the prefetch buffer when the tag is added to the tag cache.

Abstract: A method for forming power semiconductor devices having an inter-electrode dielectric (IPD) layer inside a trench includes providing a semiconductor substrate with a trench, lining the sidewalls and bottom of the trench with a first layer of dielectric material, filling the trench with a first layer of conductive material to form a first electrode, recessing the first layer of dielectric material and the first layer of conductive material to a first depth inside the trench, forming a layer of polysilicon material on a top surface of the dielectric material and conductive material inside the trench, oxidizing the layer of polysilicon material, and forming a second electrode inside the trench atop the oxidized layer and isolated from trench sidewalls by a second dielectric layer. The oxidation step can be enhanced by either chemically or physically altering the top portion polysilicon such as by implanting impurities.

Abstract: Severe inter-symbol interference (ISI), introduced by narrow-band optical filtering in high spectral efficiency wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) systems to avoid coherent WDM crosstalk, can be substantially mitigated by the use of maximum-likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) reception. Compared to conventional threshold detection, the use of an MLSE receiver allows, for example, a 22% reduction in optical receive filter bandwidth. For tight optical filtering, the MLSE receiver benefits from taking into account noise correlation. MLSE receivers with one and with two samples per bit are described and it is shown that while oversampling is beneficial for wide-band optical filters, the benefit goes away for narrow-band optical filtering, thereby facilitating MLSE design for rates beyond 10 Gb/s.

Abstract: A series of decoded images is generated from a series of original images encoded by a first encoding technique following movement-compensated, predictive encoding, where a starting image of a group of successive original images that are to be encoded is defined by a second encoding technique following movement-compensated, temporally filtered partial band encoding based on a determined encoding property of a decoded image of the group of images that are to be encoded, the decoded image is used for generating an output image having a low resolution level, before the images are encoded. At least one output image is generated on each level of resolution from the successive original images of the group of from at least one decoded image during image encoding. The decoded images are provided only with a reduced quality while the reconstituted images are of great quality.

Abstract: A multiple layer photosensitive element having at least three differently sensitised photosensitive layers on one side of a support, such as a, transparent flexible support, is imagewise exposed according to a desired circuit pattern and developed to form two layers of conductive track patterns from each photosensitive layer, which may then be connected together by forming vias by drilling or in situ generation. The resulting multiple layer conductive element has application in the field of printed circuit board manufacture or as the backplane electronic element of a flexible display device.

Abstract: The inventors sought to provide compositions and methods of prophylaxis to prevent these harmful immune responses in patients and to prevent the related undesirable symptoms biological tissue such as for example inflammation, cell injury, tissue injury, tissue degradation, tenderness, redness, joint stiffness, joint swelling, restricted mobility and reduced strength. The inventors found that prophylactic therapy of an animal comprising administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising a GAG-peptide complex, optionally together with a connective tissue derived polypeptide, prevented the onset of at least one undesirable symptom.

Abstract: A portable oxygen concentrator includes a reservoir adapted to store oxygen-enriched gas, a delivery valve adapted to communicate with the reservoir, a pressure sensor adapted to measure a reservoir pressure within the reservoir and to measure a pressure drop across the delivery valve, and an input device adapted to receive a pulse does setting. A controller coupled to the pressure sensor and monitors the reservoir pressure and the pressure drop across the delivery valve. The controller is also coupled to the delivery valve to selectively open the delivery valve for pulse durations based on the pulse dose setting to deliver pulses of gas from the reservoir to a user. The controller further adjusts the pulse durations based at least partially upon the reservoir pressure and the pressure drop across the delivery valve.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes selecting a first member of a first dimension of a database to be included at a first location in a report. The first member includes first data to be retrieved from the database. A blank space to be added at a second location relative to the first member is also selected. A database query is generated that includes a first instruction to retrieve first data included in the first member. The first instruction is located at a first position in the query and the first data will appear in the report at the first location. The database query also includes a second instruction to retrieve a null set of data.

Abstract: The present invention describes compounds produced from a creatine molecule and a fatty acid molecule. The compounds being in the form of creatine-fatty compounds bound by an amide linkage, or mixtures thereof produced by reacting creatine or derivatives thereof with an appropriate fatty acid in the presence of dichloromethane and a pyridine catalyst, previously reacted with a thionyl halide. The administration of such molecules provides supplemental creatine with enhanced bioavailability and the additional benefits conferred by the specific fatty acid.

Abstract: A male sexual impotence treatment apparatus comprises a constriction device (3,6) implanted in a male patient, who suffers from sexual impotence, and engaging the patient's penile tissue or the prolongation thereof, and an electrically powered operation device, which is integrated with the constriction device and adapted to operate the latter to temporarily constrict the penile tissue or the prolongation thereof to restrict the penile exit blood flow to achieve erection. An electric power supply (14) is subcutaneously implanted in the patient remote from the constriction device and an insulated electric wire (18) connects the power supply and the electrically powered operation device. The electric wire is resilient and extends helically between the electric power supply and the electrically powered operation device.

Abstract: A hand-held device (2) for applying a barrier material (4, 6) to a lock of hair to be treated with a highlighting composition (32) is disclosed. The device may comprise one or two rolls (8, 10) of a tape of barrier material (4, 6) that is dispensed to the lock of hair as the same time as the roll or rolls (8, 10) are unrolled. The device may also contain the highlighting composition (32), either applied on the rolled tape or via a reservoir contained in the body.

Abstract: The invention relates to dermatological compositions including at least one oligopeptide with a sequence of 4, 5 or 6 amino acids and/or a derivative thereof as means for increasing the sensitivity of skin, wherein the amino acid sequence comprises the dipeptide sequence Ile-Pro and/or Pro-Ile.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for treating an arrhythmia is provided. The method includes the steps of: (a) sensing at least one electrical signal from the patient's heart; (b) calculating a frequency spectrum of each electrical signal; (c) calculating a center frequency for each frequency spectrum; and (d) selecting an electro-therapy for delivery to the patient's heart based on the center frequency. The electro-therapy can be a pre-programmed anti-tachycardia pacing (ATP) therapy, a shock therapy, or no therapy at all. The method is performed through the use of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Also provided is a method of determining the optimal location to deliver the electro-therapy.

Abstract: In order to improve the color rendition of solid-state illumination devices, an illumination system comprising a radiation source capable of emitting primary radiation and a luminescent material comprising a blend of a first phosphor capable of converting the primary radiation into a broad-band emission in the yellow range of the electromagnetic spectrum and a second phosphor capable of converting the primary radiation into a multiple narrow-band emission in the red and green range of the electromagnetic spectrum is provided.