508results about How to "reduce risk" patented technology

The present invention is directed towards methods and systems for performing maintenance on computers included in a group of load balanced computer. A maintenance agent identifies a computers in the group as requiring maintenance, and a second computer as having up-to-date maintenance and a load level below a limit. The load balancer may assign a request to the second computer responsive to the identification. Responsive to a determination that spare capacity from the plurality of computers available to receive requests is above the threshold and that the first computer is idle, the maintenance agent may remove, for maintenance, the first computer from the plurality of computers available to receive requests. The maintenance agent may identify the first computer as having up-to-date maintenance responsive to the maintenance.

Apparatus and methods are provided for providing access to a body lumen. The apparatus includes a tubular member including a proximal end, a distal end sized for insertion into a body lumen, and a lumen extending therebetween. A pushable stiffening member extends from the distal end of the tubular member. An expandable sheath extends along at least a portion of the stiffening member, the sheath being expandable from a contracted condition to facilitate insertion into a body lumen, and an enlarged condition wherein the sheath at least partially defines a lumen communicating with the tubular member lumen. A distal portion of the sheath is steerable, e.g., using a pull wire disposed within a lumen of the sheath or within the stiffening member. In addition or alternatively, the stiffening member may be biased to a predetermined shape to facilitate introduction.

A telemetric tibial tray includes a lower plate that defines a plurality of cylindrical transducer cavities having circular load diaphragms. An upper plate is attached to the lower plate through support posts projecting from the load diaphragms. The support posts have a circular cross-section and a diameter of about 5.0 mm. The lower plate further defines wiring channels communicating between the transducer cavities and a central cavity housing the circuit board for the telemetric tray. The wiring channels are arranged at a 45 degree angle relative to the sagittal plane of the knee joint in order to reduce the effects of the wiring channel intersection on the strain sensitivity of the tray. Each transducer cavity includes a radial strain gage array with four pairs of radially aligned strain gages, each pair aligned at a 45 degree angle relative to the sagittal plane of the knee joint. Each pair of strain gages includes an inner gage positioned at the point of maximum positive micro-strain across the diaphragm when loaded, and an outer gage positioned at the point of maximum negative micro-strain, to thereby increase the differential strain measured by the gages and increase the strain sensitivity of the tibial tray.

The present invention is directed to a pleated medical device assembly, preferably a pleated stent assembly, comprising a tube co-pleated with a balloon to a delivery width suitable for intraluminal delivery. Because the tube of the present invention transitions between its original diameter and its delivery diameter by folding and unfolding, rather than by radial contraction and expansion, the wall of the tube of the present invention may be substantially non-expandable, and thus may be substantially solid. The pleated stent assembly of the present invention is particularly suited for the treatment of neurovascular aneurysms.

An osteotomy system includes anchoring screws and advancement screws having a head with a surface defining a first angled plane. A plate has anchoring holes and advancement holes with countersunk surfaces defining respective second angled planes for compression or distraction. The first angled plane contacts one of the second angled planes upon tightening an advancement screw, causing advancement of the plate and step compression or distraction of one bone segment relative to another. In another embodiment, a wedge has a surface defining a first angled plane. A plate has one portion with inclined surfaces defining second angled planes. An advancement screw tightens the first angled plane against one of the second angled planes to advance one of the plate body portions for compression or distraction of one bone segment attached thereto relative to another segment. A plate, a method, a drill guide and a saw guide are also provided.

A fall arresting/prevention safety protection device for aerial lifts that delivers notifications and warnings to individuals who are subject to accidental falls or other safety hazards when performing construction or the like or when operating elevating construction machinery such as aerial lift work platforms, bucket trucks and similar type elevating work platforms. The invention further provides a load sensor that when activated transmits an emergency signal to operators, supervisors and emergency personnel. The present invention further provides a remote control to access and control movement of the aerial lift through a wireless transmission in the event the lift operator falls out of or is ejected from the bucket or work platform.

A wear assembly for attaching wear members to a lip of an excavator includes a wear member, a boss and a lock. The lip includes an inner face, an outer face, a digging edge and a series of through-holes spaced rearward of the digging edge. The bosses are each fixed to a face of the lip at a position rearward of the through-holes. The wear members each include slots to receive the boss adjacent their rear ends, and openings for receiving the locks at a position forward of the bosses. The openings are aligned with the through-holes in the lip. The lock includes a wedge and spool arrangement.

Systems and methods are disclosed for treating teeth to correct for malocclusions. This may be accomplished in one variation by receiving a scanned dental model of a subject's dentition, determining a treatment plan having a plurality of incremental movements for repositioning one or more teeth of the subject's dentition, and fabricating one or more aligners correlating to a first subset of the plurality of incremental movements.

A method is provided for visualizing the environment of a vehicle, particularly in darkness. For improving known methods, a weighted superimposition of isochronous and same-location image pairs of a visual image and an infrared image are performed for forming a fusion image. For a further improvement, it is provided to make the weighting dependent on the environment; thus, in darkness, a higher weighting and therefore a stressing of the infrared information is provided with respect to the visual information in the fusion image. In fog, it is provided to weight the visual information clearly higher in comparison to the infrared information, whereby the infrared information, which is often not very helpful in fog, is largely not taken into account in the fusion image. For implementing the method, a system is provided having a color-sensitive visual camera, an infrared camera and a fusion or superposing device, which superposes isochronous and same-location image pairs by pixels or areas and/or forms average values.

A reactor for plating a metal onto a surface of a workpiece is set forth. The reactor comprises a reactor bowl including an electroplating solution disposed therein and an anode disposed in the reactor bowl in contact with the electroplating solution. A contact assembly is spaced from the anode within the reactor bowl. The contact assembly includes a plurality of contacts disposed to contact a peripheral edge of the surface of the workpiece to provide electroplating power to the surface of the workpiece. The contacts execute a wiping action against the surface of the workpiece as the workpiece is brought into engagement therewith The contact assembly also including a barrier disposed interior of the plurality of contacts. The barrier includes a member disposed to engage the surface of the workpiece to assist in isolating the plurality of contacts from the electroplating solution. In one embodiment, the plurality of contacts are in the form of discrete flexures while in another embodiment the plurality of contacts are in the form of a Belleville ring contact. A flow path may be provided in the contact assembly for providing a purging gas to the plurality of contacts and the peripheral edge of the workpiece. The purging gas may be used to assist in the formation of the barrier of the contact assembly. A combined electroplating/electroless plating tool and method are also set forth.

A novel chlorine dioxide production apparatus, or reactor, is disclosed. The reactor receives reactants from two or more feed pipes under pressure, and the reactants react in a reaction chamber that operates under elevated pressure and within a specified temperature range. A gaseous product, such as chlorine dioxide, is generated and is released directly into a liquid stream for bleaching, disinfection, and other purposes. Also disclosed is a novel system for production of quantities of chlorine compounds from commercial grades of starting materials, and methods of using the reactor in situ for bleaching, and for disinfection, decontamination, and sterilization of flows of water or other liquids. An automated system for multiple points of addition of chlorine dioxide to a flow to be treated is also disclosed.

Dosage forms, drug delivery systems, and methods related to sustained release of dextromethorphan or improved therapeutic effects are disclosed. Typically, bupropion or a related compound is orally administered to a human being to be treated with, or being treated with, dextromethorphan.

The present invention provides the following: a cardiovascular disease primary prevention agent, which comprises as the active ingredient at least one selected from the group consisting of EPA, salts thereof, and esters thereof and is for lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease by administration to subjects having a blood (serum or plasma) hs-CRP level of 1.0 mg/L or higher in spite of no history of cardiovascular disease; a combination marker comprising the blood hs-CRP value and serum EPA/AA ratio for evaluating the primary risk of cardiovascular disease in subjects having no history of cardiovascular disease; and a method for extracting subjects with high risk of cardiovascular disease and/or a method for preventing cardiovascular disease.

In a method for controlling a robot arm, which is particularly suitable for use in medical applications, a robot arm (10) with a redundant number of joints is used. A torque acing in at least one joint (12a, 12b) is sensed. By means of a control device, the torque acting in this joint (12a, 12b) is controlled to become substantially 0.

An eye injector for transferring a substance across the surface of the eye of an animal includes a needle-free injector and a patient positioning mechanism. The needle-free injector includes a reservoir for storing the substance to be transferred, a nozzle in fluid communication with the reservoir; and a controllable electromagnetic actuator in communication with the reservoir. The eye injector can also include a targeting light source for directing a beam of light into a pupil of the eye. The needle-free injector can be positioned adjacent to the lens of the eye, therefore producing a jet that intersects with the beam of light at a point in the retina.

A gas cylinder transport cap is described. The cap has a bottom opening adapted for reversible attachment to a gas cylinder, where the attached cap surrounds a cylinder valve coupled to the gas cylinder. The cap also has a side surface which at least in part defines the perimeter of the bottom opening, where the side surface include a plurality of side openings; and a top surface formed on an opposite side of the cap from the bottom surface, where the top surface includes a top opening. The side openings and top opening improve transmissions of radio-frequency signals from a RFID device positioned inside the cylinder cap when the cap is attached to the gas cylinder. A method of tracking a gas cylinder transported between a first and second location is also described. The method may include the steps of coupling the gas cylinder to a RFID device, loading the gas cylinder on a transportation vehicle, and reading a gas cylinder identification signal transmitted by the RFID device with an RFID signal reader that translates the signal into gas cylinder identification data. The gas cylinder identification data may be associated with location data provided by a GPS device located in the transportation vehicle. The identification and location data may be communicated to gas cylinder tracking system that is remote from the transportation vehicle.

The present invention is directed to therapeutic methods using IL-6 antagonists such as an Ab1 antibody or antibody fragment having binding specificity for IL-6 to prevent or treat disease or to improve survivability or quality of life of a patient in need thereof. In preferred embodiments these patients will comprise those exhibiting (or at risk of developing) an elevated serum C-reactive protein level, reduced serum albumin level, elevated D-dimer or other coagulation cascade related protein(s), cachexia, fever, weakness and/or fatigue prior to treatment. The subject therapies also may include the administration of other actives such as chemotherapeutics, anti-coagulants, statins, and others. Additional preferred embodiments of the subject invention relate to therapeutic compositions and methods treating or preventing rheumatoid arthritis, especially subcutaneous and intravenous formulations and dosage regimens using IL-6 antagonists according to the invention, as well as methods for preventing or treating GVHD or leukemia relapse in subjects receiving transplanted cells, tissue or organs, use thereof in the treatment or prevention of mucositis, and use thereof to potentiate the cytotoxic, apoptotic, and anti-metastatic or anti-invasive effects of chemotherapeutics and radiation on cancers, especially cancers that have developed a resistance to radiation or chemotherapy, such as an EGFR inhibitor.

Methods useful for effecting prophylaxis or treatment of amyloidosis, including AA Amyloidosis and AL amyloidosis, by administering peptides comprising neoepitopes, such as AA fragments from a C-terminal region of AA, and antibodies specific for neoepitopes of aggregated amyloid proteins, for example, antibodies specific for the C-terminal region of AA fibrils. Antibodies for inhibition of formation and/or increasing clearance of amyloid deposits in a patient thus effecting prophylaxis or treating amyloid disease.

Medical devices for the treatment of spinal conditions are described herein. The medical device of this invention includes a spacer that is disposed between adjacent spinous processes and has a layer of a soft or compliant material. The layer is preferably thicker along those portions of the spacer directly contacting the adjacent spinous processes and is preferably thinner or non-existent adjacent to the anterior portion of the support member. This preferred asymmetry of the compliant layer allows the spacer to be seated between spinous processes as anteriorly as possible.

A linear lighting device may include: an installation rail including a housing and a power supply terminal, the housing being fixed to an installation object surface and having an accommodating space formed therein, the accommodating space having an open side in one surface thereof, the power supply terminal being disposed in the accommodating space of the housing in a length direction thereof; at least one linear lighting module including a power connection terminal and a light emitting device, the power connection terminal being electrically connected to the power supply terminal, the light emitting device being electrically connected to the power connection terminal, the linear lighting module being detachably coupled to the accommodating space of the housing; and a light transmissive cover detachably coupled to the housing so as to close the open side of the accommodating space of the housing.

A method for manufacturing a gel electrolyte pattern is disclosed, the method comprising depositing an electrolyte precursor by inkjet printing onto a gelling agent layer. A gel electrolyte pattern is also disclosed, the gel electrolyte pattern comprising either a mixture of a gelling agent and an electrolyte precursor or the products of a chemical reaction between a gelling agent and an electrolyte precursor.

A medical device is presented, which includes a fluid pathway and a septum slidably housed within the fluid pathway. The septum can be opened by a septum actuator disposed in a fixed position within the fluid pathway. In some examples, both the septum actuator and the septum have at least one surface exposed to the fluid pathway. An anti-pathogenic material can be applied to these surfaces.

The invention discloses a pre-warning method for a vehicle. According to the method, the most appropriate pre-warning rule can be customized according to specific feature information of the vehicle, the pre-warning accuracy is high, and risks in the vehicle driving process are greatly reduced. The method is executed by a vehicle terminal and a background processing system mounted on the vehicle and comprises steps as follows: (1), indexes requiring attention are abstracted according to factors related to driving safety, and a corresponding weighted value is set for each index; (2), vehicle data are collected and comprise static data, vehicle driving dynamic data, space data and driver information; (3), a risk coefficient of each index is calculated according to the weighted value of each index and the corresponding vehicle data, the risk coefficients of all the indexes are accumulated, and a total risk coefficient is obtained; (4), whether the total risk coefficient is in a specified range is judged, if yes, the step (5) is executed, and otherwise, the step (2) is executed; (5), a pre-warning message is sent to the vehicle terminal.

A method of performing a karaoke function from an electronic communications device comprises the steps of reading music data and providing a music signal, reading text data and presenting text on a display, receiving a voice signal, providing a first output signal comprising the music signal, providing a second output signal by mixing the music signal and the voice signal, and reproducing the first output signal for the user. The second output signal is further transmitted wirelessly from the electronic communications device to at least one further communications device, wherein the second output signal is received and reproduced for an audience. People listening to these further devices may be located at any location and still participate in the karaoke performance. Thus a more flexible karaoke performance is possible without restricting the participants to people located in one single location.

A heat exchanger for vehicles comprises firstly a heat-exchanger assembly consisting of flat liquid-conveying tubes and surface-enlarging means, secondly an inlet tank, and thirdly an outlet tank. The inlet tank and the outlet tank have a connection plate with a number of connection holes for the tubes. At each hole, the plate has a projecting connecting sleeve element. Each tube has at its ends a widened main portion which is accommodated on said connecting sleeve element. A rounded transitional area is formed between the connection plate and each connecting sleeve element, and the main portion is inserted in the conecting sleeve element and is applied with its outside against the inside of the connecting sleeve element. Each tube has at its ends an end portion which is widened in relation to the main portion, merges with the main portion and is applied against the transitional area. In a method of producing such a heat exchanger, the widened end area of the tubes are inserted in the connecting sleeve elements and are widened further in such a manner that each tube end is applied against the transitional area between the plate and the respective connecting sleeve element.

Techniques are provided for coordinating the delivery of cardioversion therapy and overdrive pacing therapy to the heart of a patient, primarily to prevent the re-occurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) following a cardioversion shock. Included are techniques for modulating the aggressiveness of overdrive pacing by adjusting the magnitude of overdrive pulses or by changing the electrodes with which overdrive pacing pulses are generated. In one example, three phases or “tiers” of AF suppression therapy are provided: cardioversion therapy; far-field dynamic atrial overdrive (DAO) pacing; and near-field DAO pacing. Briefly, a cardioversion shock is delivered to the heart of the patient in response to the detection of AF, then smoothed, far-field overdrive pacing pulses are delivered using widely-spaced electrodes for a period of two minutes while the magnitude of the pulses is gradually reduced. Finally, near-field overdrive pacing pulses are delivered more or les continuously until another episode of AF is detected.

A battery pack is made up of a plurality of flat prismatic batteries arranged face to face, each battery having one electrode terminal protruding from one end face in the height direction of the battery case and this end face or a side face of the battery serving as the other electrode terminal. The connector for electrically connecting adjacent prismatic batteries includes a flat part that is welded to one electrode terminal of one prismatic battery of the adjacent prismatic batteries, and a cylindrical part that is fitted onto and welded to the other electrode terminal of the other prismatic battery. The cylindrical part is formed in an attachment part that extends from the flat part through an upright part in the direction in which the batteries are aligned. The connector enables reliable electrical connection of the prismatic batteries despite possible variation in height of the electrode terminals.

A wave energy converter comprises a pitching floating vessel and means for converting the pitching motion to electrical power.

By varying the distribution of the ballast mass in the vessel and by varying the vessel's immersed length the moments of inertia of mass and of added mass are varied and wave-bridging is controlled.

The immersed length of the vessel is varied by changing the draft of a v-shaped hull. Roll and yaw are suppressed by a vertical fin held at a substantial depth

Inside the vessel is a compact pendulum that is a combination of tracked and folding pendulums.

Both vessel and compact pendulum can be simultaneously and dynamically tuned over the range of periods that characterize high-energy ocean swells.

A method of using a dynamic plate surgical implant includes removing a patient's degenerated disc between upper vertebrae and lower vertebrae; inserting an artificial replacement disc between the upper vertebrae and lower vertebrae where the degenerated disc was removed; attaching a dynamic plate surgical implant to an anterior of the upper vertebrae and the lower vertebrae, the dynamic plate surgical implant including an upper plate member and a lower plate member dynamically connected through a dynamic movement mechanism that allows extension, flexion, lateral flexion right an left, and rotation of the upper plate member relative to the lower plate member; and using the dynamic plate surgical implant to prevent the artificial replacement disc from kicking out anterior to the vertebrae while allowing the patient's spine to maintain its normal range of motion, reducing the risk of degeneration in adjacent segment of the spine.

The invention provides a lazyconvenient clothes matching advice system based on the electronic commerce. The lazyconvenient clothes matching advice system based on the electronic commerce comprises a human body model generation module, a human face identification and human body identification module, a clothes database search module, a matching charting module and an API (application program interface) interface, wherein the human body model generation module generates a human body model picture according to a whole-body picture uploaded by a user as well as data, such as the gender and the height input by the user; the human face identification and human body identification module obtains a human face identification and human body identification analysis result according to the whole-body picture uploaded by the user; the clothes database search module searches to obtain one or a plurality of matched clothes according to the human face identification and human body identification analysis result as well as the data, such as the gender, the height and the temperature input by the user; and the matching charting module adds the one or a plurality of matched clothes obtained by searching onto the generated human body model picture to generate one or a plurality of matching effect pictures. According to the lazyconvenient clothes matching advice system based on the electronic commerce, which is disclosed by the invention, the clothes matching effect can be obtained before a the user purchases the clothes on the internetInternet.