ntra Entravision Sees Revenues, Income Dip For First Quarter 2020 By www.allaccess.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 13:44:24 -0700 ENTRAVISION COMMUNICATIONS CORP. first quarter 2020 revenues dipped 1% to $64.249 million, blamed on the effects of the pandemic, an 8% decline for the company's digital operations, and a … more Full Article
ntra Cliftonville announce contract extension for Thomas Maguire By www.belfastlive.co.uk Published On :: Thu, 7 May 2020 16:33:21 +0000 He made his debut in August 2018 and has gone on to make 52 appearances for the Reds. Full Article Sport
ntra Patients taking ACE-i and ARBs who contract COVID-19 should continue treatment, unless otherwise advised by their physician By newsroom.heart.org Published On :: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 13:00:00 GMT Embargoed until 8 a.m. CT/9 a.m. ET, Tuesday, March 17, 2020 DALLAS, Tuesday, March 17, 2020 – As the global impact of COVID-19 rises, the scientific community continues to evaluate the clinical impact and health care needs of patients with... Full Article
ntra Más de $14 millones en becas de investigación otorgadas para soluciones de tecnología de la salud centradas en la salud del corazón y del cerebro, incluidos los proyectos especiales relacionados con el COVID-19 y las ECV By newsroom.heart.org Published On :: Thu, 02 Apr 2020 15:02:00 GMT DALLAS, 2 de abril del 2020 – La American Heart Association, la organización voluntaria líder mundial dedicada a un mundo con vidas más duraderas y saludables, anunció hoy que se otorgarán más de $14 millones en becas de investigación científica a cuatro... Full Article
ntra Las dos nuevas declaraciones de la AHA se centran en la insuficiencia cardíaca: cómo pueden afectar los determinantes sociales a los resultados clínicos, y el impacto en los cuidadores By newsroom.heart.org Published On :: Thu, 30 Apr 2020 20:00:00 GMT Aspectos destacados de las declaraciones: Los factores sociales adversos, como el estado de los seguros, la inseguridad alimentaria, la falta de fondos para medicamentos y otros, pueden causar resultados clínicos negativos de la insuficiencia... Full Article
ntra Biggest free-agent contracts in MLB history By mlb.mlb.com Published On :: Wed, 27 Feb 2019 14:06:30 EDT Manny Machado inked a 10-year, $300 million deal with the Padres, the biggest free-agent contract in MLB history. Here's the Top 10. Full Article
ntra What does a decentralized WordPress environment look like? By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mon, 27 Aug 2018 16:44:42 +0000 Watch my video and see what a decentralized WordPress environment might look like. Almost everything we rely on to operate online is a centralized platform. WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, you name it—they’re all gigantic, centralized platforms. Ok, sure, but why does that matter? It matters because the bigger centralized platforms get, the less freedom users […] Full Article Centralization vs. Decentralization Videos
ntra The Key Difference Between Centralization and Decentralization By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 18 Sep 2018 16:58:03 +0000 One of the more compelling insights to come from the Joe Rogan interview with Elon Musk is this idea that humanity is actively creating “giant cybernetic collectives.” Through our participation in social media platforms and on the internet in general, we are assimilating knowledge and building connections at a rate that vastly exceeds everything that […] Full Article Centralization vs. Decentralization Videos
ntra How to Create a WordPress Intranet for Your Organization By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 23 Sep 2017 04:33:55 +0000 Do you want to create a WordPress intranet for your organization? WordPress is a powerful platform with tons of flexible options that makes it ideal to be used as your company’s intranet. In this article, we will show you how to create a WordPress intranet. Full Article Miscellaneous create how intranet organization wordpress
ntra Decentralized and Parallelized Primal and Dual Accelerated Methods for Stochastic Convex Programming Problems. (arXiv:1904.09015v10 [math.OC] UPDATED) By arxiv.org Published On :: We introduce primal and dual stochastic gradient oracle methods for decentralized convex optimization problems. Both for primal and dual oracles the proposed methods are optimal in terms of the number of communication steps. However, for all classes of the objective, the optimality in terms of the number of oracle calls per node in the class of methods with optimal number of communication steps takes place only up to a logarithmic factor and the notion of smoothness. By using mini-batching technique we show that all proposed methods with stochastic oracle can be additionally parallelized at each node. Full Article
ntra Intra-Variable Handwriting Inspection Reinforced with Idiosyncrasy Analysis. (arXiv:1912.12168v2 [cs.CV] UPDATED) By arxiv.org Published On :: In this paper, we work on intra-variable handwriting, where the writing samples of an individual can vary significantly. Such within-writer variation throws a challenge for automatic writer inspection, where the state-of-the-art methods do not perform well. To deal with intra-variability, we analyze the idiosyncrasy in individual handwriting. We identify/verify the writer from highly idiosyncratic text-patches. Such patches are detected using a deep recurrent reinforcement learning-based architecture. An idiosyncratic score is assigned to every patch, which is predicted by employing deep regression analysis. For writer identification, we propose a deep neural architecture, which makes the final decision by the idiosyncratic score-induced weighted average of patch-based decisions. For writer verification, we propose two algorithms for patch-fed deep feature aggregation, which assist in authentication using a triplet network. The experiments were performed on two databases, where we obtained encouraging results. Full Article
ntra ZebraLancer: Decentralized Crowdsourcing of Human Knowledge atop Open Blockchain. (arXiv:1803.01256v5 [cs.HC] UPDATED) By arxiv.org Published On :: We design and implement the first private and anonymous decentralized crowdsourcing system ZebraLancer, and overcome two fundamental challenges of decentralizing crowdsourcing, i.e., data leakage and identity breach. First, our outsource-then-prove methodology resolves the tension between the blockchain transparency and the data confidentiality to guarantee the basic utilities/fairness requirements of data crowdsourcing, thus ensuring: (i) a requester will not pay more than what data deserve, according to a policy announced when her task is published via the blockchain; (ii) each worker indeed gets a payment based on the policy, if he submits data to the blockchain; (iii) the above properties are realized not only without a central arbiter, but also without leaking the data to the open blockchain. Second, the transparency of blockchain allows one to infer private information about workers and requesters through their participation history. Simply enabling anonymity is seemingly attempting but will allow malicious workers to submit multiple times to reap rewards. ZebraLancer also overcomes this problem by allowing anonymous requests/submissions without sacrificing accountability. The idea behind is a subtle linkability: if a worker submits twice to a task, anyone can link the submissions, or else he stays anonymous and unlinkable across tasks. To realize this delicate linkability, we put forward a novel cryptographic concept, i.e., the common-prefix-linkable anonymous authentication. We remark the new anonymous authentication scheme might be of independent interest. Finally, we implement our protocol for a common image annotation task and deploy it in a test net of Ethereum. The experiment results show the applicability of our protocol atop the existing real-world blockchain. Full Article
ntra Enabling Cross-chain Transactions: A Decentralized Cryptocurrency Exchange Protocol. (arXiv:2005.03199v1 [cs.CR]) By arxiv.org Published On :: Inspired by Bitcoin, many different kinds of cryptocurrencies based on blockchain technology have turned up on the market. Due to the special structure of the blockchain, it has been deemed impossible to directly trade between traditional currencies and cryptocurrencies or between different types of cryptocurrencies. Generally, trading between different currencies is conducted through a centralized third-party platform. However, it has the problem of a single point of failure, which is vulnerable to attacks and thus affects the security of the transactions. In this paper, we propose a distributed cryptocurrency trading scheme to solve the problem of centralized exchanges, which can achieve trading between different types of cryptocurrencies. Our scheme is implemented with smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain and deployed on the Ethereum test network. We not only implement transactions between individual users, but also allow transactions between multiple users. The experimental result proves that the cost of our scheme is acceptable. Full Article
ntra Decentralized Adaptive Control for Collaborative Manipulation of Rigid Bodies. (arXiv:2005.03153v1 [cs.RO]) By arxiv.org Published On :: In this work, we consider a group of robots working together to manipulate a rigid object to track a desired trajectory in $SE(3)$. The robots have no explicit communication network among them, and they do no know the mass or friction properties of the object, or where they are attached to the object. However, we assume they share data from a common IMU placed arbitrarily on the object. To solve this problem, we propose a decentralized adaptive control scheme wherein each agent maintains and adapts its own estimate of the object parameters in order to track a reference trajectory. We present an analysis of the controller's behavior, and show that all closed-loop signals remain bounded, and that the system trajectory will almost always (except for initial conditions on a set of measure zero) converge to the desired trajectory. We study the proposed controller's performance using numerical simulations of a manipulation task in 3D, and with hardware experiments which demonstrate our algorithm on a planar manipulation task. These studies, taken together, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller even in the presence of numerous unmodelled effects, such as discretization errors and complex frictional interactions. Full Article
ntra Supreme Court divided over Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate By www.inlander.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 17:40:24 -0700 By Adam Liptak The New York Times Company… Full Article Local News
ntra Taco Vado offers fresh and flavorful breakfast all day from its West Central Spokane drive-through stand By www.inlander.com Published On :: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 01:30:00 -0800 While its main goal is to introduce the humble breakfast taco to more Spokane eaters, owners of the new quick food stop Taco Vado say breakfast burritos have actually been its bestselling menu item since opening about a month ago.… Full Article Food/Food News
ntra Method for producing a concentrate of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT The current invention describes processes for obtaining of concentrates of esters of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid for their use in massive and regular human consumption either as a pharmaceutical ingredient or as a food ingredient, which are characterized by having neutral and stable organoleptic properties, free of side effects, which are typical from marine oils derivatives, and with low content of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP). Full Article
ntra Nanoparticles for drug delivery to the central nervous system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present disclosure relates to compositions and methods for producing nanoparticles to provide relatively more rapid delivery of such particles across the blood-brain barrier. The nanoparticles may be formed from bis-quaternary pyridinium-aldoxime salts that may also be of a specific polymorphic structure and which may be formed in either hydrophobic or hydrophilic type liquid media. In addition, the nanoparticle for transport across the blood-brain barrier may comprise a polymeric resin encapsulating a bis-quaternary pyridinium-2-aldoxime salt. Full Article
ntra Fluid cocamide monoethanolamide concentrates and methods of preparation By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 08:00:00 EST The invention is drawn to fluid concentrate formulations of fatty acid monoethanolamides comprising (a) about 71-76% by weight of one or more C8-C22 fatty acid monoethanolamides, (b) about 15-17% by weight of water, and (c) about 10-12% by weight of one or more hydrotropes, based on the fluid formulation, wherein the fluid formulation is homogeneous, pumpable and color stable at a temperature of less than 55° C. A preferred embodiment is drawn to fluid concentrate formulations of cocamide monoethanolamide (CMEA) consisting of (a) about 71-76% by weight of CMEA, (b) about 15-17% by weight of water, and (c) about 10-12% by weight of glycerol, based on the fluid formulation. Methods of preparing the fluid concentrate formulations mulations are also disclosed. The fluid concentrate formulations of fatty acid monoethanolamides are useful in the preparation of cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions. Full Article
ntra Non-corrosive oven degreaser concentrate By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The invention relates to a non-corrosive degreasing concentrate and ready to use formulation. In particular, non-corrosive compositions capable of removing polymerized grease as effectively as some alkali metal hydroxide (i.e. caustic) based degreasers without requiring the use of personal protective equipment are disclosed. Full Article
ntra Calendar watch having a centrally pivoted date indicator By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 27 Nov 1990 08:00:00 EST A calendar watch includes a central date indicator (4). The indicator is united with a crown wheel (9) comprising teeth (11) forming a circular crown (12) arranged to be perpendicular to a face (13) of said wheel. The teeth (12) are driven by a finger (14) rotating in a plane intersecting said crown in its height. The finger is united with a date driving wheel (15). The invention permits easy transformation of a watch having its date display in a dial aperture to a watch having a date indicator rotating about the center of the movement. Full Article
ntra Dynamically expandable and contractible fault-tolerant storage system with virtual hot spare By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A dynamically expandable and contractible fault-tolerant storage system employs a virtual hot spare that is created from unused storage capacity across a plurality of storage devices. This unused storage capacity is available if and when a storage device fails for storage of data recovered from the remaining storage device(s). On an ongoing basis, the storage system may determine the amount of unused storage capacity that would be required for the virtual hot spare (e.g., based on the number of storage devices, the capacities of the various storage devices, the amount of data stored, and the manner in which the data is stored) and generate a signal if additional storage capacity is needed for a virtual hot spare. Full Article
ntra Decentralized caching system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 28 Jul 2015 08:00:00 EDT In a satellite communication system comprising at least a hub and a plurality of terminals, at least one terminal may include a cache for storing data objects. The cache may be based on a detachable memory device that may be inserted to or removed from the terminal at any given time, including after the terminal is deployed. Aspects are directed to preventing a prefetching of objects already stored in a cache of a remote terminal. In some embodiments, an efficient multicasting of content to terminals over an adaptive link may occur in a manner which may benefit terminals comprising a cache while not affecting or minimally affecting the performance of terminals that may not include a cache. Full Article
ntra Methods for production of high concentration of arginine bicarbonate solution at high pressure By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Methods of producing arginine bicarbonate solutions in very high concentrations including reacting an arginine slurry containing a first portion of arginine with a source of carbon dioxide gas at elevated pressure and temperature, adding subsequent portions of arginine to the resulting solution and further reacting with compressed carbon dioxide until a final solution containing in excess of 50% by weight are provided which include preparing an arginine solution by subjecting an arginine water slurry to elevated pressure and temperature and reacting the arginine solution with a source of carbon dioxide gas to form a solution comprising arginine and bicarbonate anion and recovering arginine bicarbonate from the solution. Full Article
ntra Hydrocarboxylation of aqueous formaldehyde using a dehydrating recycle stream to decrease water concentration By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Disclosed is a process for the production and purification of glycolic acid or glycolic acid derivatives by the carbonylation of aqueous formaldehyde. The water in the hydrocarboxylation zone is reduced via reaction with the ester bonds in a recycle stream comprising glycolic acid oligomers and/or methyl glycolate oligomers. Full Article
ntra Apparatus and method for separating and concentrating fluids containing multiple components By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 08:00:00 EDT An apparatus that allows for separating and collecting a fraction of a sample. The apparatus, when used with a centrifuge, allows for the creation of at least three fractions in the apparatus. It also provides for a new method of extracting the buffy coat phase from a whole blood sample and mesenchymal stem cells from bone reaming material. A buoy system that may include a first buoy portion and a second buoy member operably interconnected may be used to form at least three fractions from a sample during a substantially single centrifugation process. Therefore, the separation of various fractions may be substantially quick and efficient. Full Article
ntra Centrifuge for separating of whole blood into blood components as well as fluidically communicating containers for insertion into the centrifuge, as well as a method for obtaining a highly enriched thrombocyte concentrate out of whole blood By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 08:00:00 EST The invention refers to a centrifuge for separating whole blood into its blood components and a method for extracting a highly enriched thrombocyte concentrate out of whole blood. For this purpose, the centrifuge comprises a closed loop and/or open-loop control unit as well as a drive unit coupled to the closed loop and/or open-loop control unit, a rotor (12) having at least two container receptacles (14a, 14b; 16a, 16) for removably holding containers (18, 20, 22, 24) being in fluid communication with each other, at least one sensor arranged between the container receptacles (14a, 14b; 16a, 16b) and coupled with the closed loop and/or open-loop control unit for detecting a separation layer. Herein, a motor/gear unit (30a, 30b, 32a, 32b) coupled to the closed loop and/or open-loop control unit is associated with each of the container receptacles (14a, 14b; 16a, 16b). Each of the motor/gear units is in operational contact through means (34) with each of the containers (18, 20, 22, 24) supported in the respective container receptacle (14a, 14b; 16a, 16b) such that a transfer and back-transfer of blood components between the containers (18, 20, 22, 24) is initiated. Full Article
ntra Method and apparatus for concentrating platelets from platelet-rich plasma By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An apparatus for use with a centrifugal cellular separation device that comprises a rotor rotatable about an axis of rotation is provided that comprises a fluid separation chamber having a first port, a second port spaced apart from the first port, and a third port located intermediate the first port and the second port. The fluid separation chamber has a cross sectional area generally transverse to a radius extending from the axis of rotation that varies between the first port and the second port. The fluid separation chamber is adapted to be mounted to the rotor so as to be rotatable therewith, with the first port located at a greater radial distance from the axis than the second port, and the third port located radially intermediate the first port and the second port. Full Article
ntra Autonomous intracardiac implantable medical device with releaseable base and fastener element By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An intracorporeal autonomous active medical device having a capsule body and a base. The capsule body includes a body portion and a lid portion, and the capsule body contains therein electronic circuitry containing the active elements of the autonomous medical device, and a power supply. The capsule body also includes a fastening system on an exterior surface of the capsule body that is configured to correspond with a fastening mechanism on the base configured to be anchored to a tissue wall. The fastening mechanism provides selective engagement between the capsule body and the base. Full Article
ntra Retractable screw intracardiac lead for cardiac stimulation and/or defibrillation By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A retractable screw-type stimulation or defibrillation intracardiac lead is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the lead comprises a flexible hollow sheath (12) having at its distal end a lead head (10) and a connector (66) at its proximal end. The connector comprises a pin (62) connected to a lead head electrode (18). The lead head comprises a tubular body (28), at least one electrode (18, 20) for stimulation or defibrillation, a moving element translationally and rotationally moving within the tubular body in a helical motion, an anchoring screw (24) axially moving with respect to the tubular body, and a deployment mechanism (22) to deploy the anchoring screw out of the tubular body (28). The lead is a co-radial type, and the moving element (26) secured to the anchoring screw is connected to the tubular body (28) by a helical guide (46) and a coupling finger (56) protruding between two successive turns of the helical guide (46) for transforming a rotary movement imparted to the lead body in a deployment or retraction movement of the moving element (26). The helical guide (46) is resiliently compressible, with a free end (52) with a flat area (54) facing a flange (38) in vis-à-vis, so as to pinch the coupling finger (56) and to perform the function of a clutch limiting the torque transmitted to the anchoring screw by the rotation of the lead body, even in case of continuation of this rotation. Full Article
ntra Enhanced therapeutic stimulus for non-nutritive suck entrainment system and method By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present invention relates to a system and method for using the system. In particular, the present invention relates to an application, executable by a processing device to assess the organization of a non-nutritive suck (NNS) pattern of a patient and to entrain an organized NNS pattern in the patient. The software system receives data from an orofacial stimulation appliance to assess the patient's natural NNS pattern and generates a precise therapeutic pulse profile that is actuated as a tactile stimulus via the orofacial stimulation appliance to entrain an organized NNS pattern. Full Article
ntra Apparatus and method for entraining fluids By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method of entraining a second fluid in a first fluid is provided. The method comprises supplying a first fluid to a processing passage (4) having an inlet (6) and an outlet (8), and supplying an entrainment fluid to a nozzle (10) which opens into the processing passage (4) intermediate the passage inlet (6) and the passage outlet (8). A second fluid which will undergo a change of phase and/or state when added to the first fluid is also provided, and supplied to a first port (22) opening into the processing passage (4) adjacent the nozzle (10). The entrainment fluid is injected from the nozzle (10) into the processing passage (4) so as to form a dispersed phase of the first and second fluids in a continuous vapor phase, and the vapor phase is condensed downstream of the nozzle (10). A device suitable for carrying out such a method is also provided. Full Article
ntra Intrapersonal data communication systems By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Intrapersonal communication systems and methods that provide an optical digital signal link between two or more local devices are disclosed. In some embodiments, the system includes a first signal converter disposed at a first end of the optical digital signal link and configured to convert between electrical digital signals from a first local device and optical digital signals from the optical digital signal link. The system can include an optical connector having a non-contact portion configured to couple optical digital signals between the first signal converter and the optical digital signal link across a gap. The system can include a second signal converter disposed at a second end of the optical digital signal link and configured to convert between electrical digital signals from the second local device and optical digital signals from the optical digital signal link. Full Article
ntra Use of oils with high concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids in plastics and surface coatings By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 08:00:00 EDT Oil compositions having a high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids are described for use in various applications including use as drying oils, in ink compositions and coating compositions. Oil compositions wherein the double bonds of the fatty acids are substantially epoxidized are described and used as plasticizers and thermal stabilizers for various halogenated polymer compositions. Full Article
ntra Pre-stressed haptic for accommodating intraocular lens By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An intraocular lens is disclosed with an optic that changes shape in response to forces exerted by the zonules of the eye. A haptic with an inner and outer ring couples the optic to the capsular bag of the eye. The haptic stresses the optic when the intraocular lens is in a natural state such that the internal stress is present throughout the accommodation range in order to prevent ripples and/or waves in the optic. Full Article
ntra Accommodating intraocular lens using trapezoidal phase shift By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An accommodating intraocular lens (AIOL) includes an optic adapted to produce a trapezoidal phase shift and a plurality of haptics. Each haptic extends from a haptic-optic junction to at least one transverse arm contacting a capsular bag of the eye, and each haptic has sufficient length and rigidity to stretch a capsular bag of the eye to contact ciliary muscles of the eye. The haptic-optic junctions vault the optic forward relative to the haptics and compression of the haptics by the ciliary muscles moves the anterior optic forward. A combined accommodative power produced by the motion of the anterior optic and the trapezoidal phase shift is at least 0.5 Diopters. Full Article
ntra GO-Gd-DTPA complex, preparation method thereof, and MRI contrast agent comprising the same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EDT Disclosed herein is a GO-Gd-DTPA (gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic-graphene oxide) complex, which is formed by an ester bond of graphene oxide (GO) and gadopentetic acid (Gd-DTPA). Since the GO-Gd-DTPA can stably exist in the body because it has high stability in water, it is expected that it can be effectively used as an MRI contrast agent. Full Article
ntra Nitroimidazole-amino acid hypoxia contrast medium, preparation method and use thereof By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A hypoxia contrast medium including nitroimidazole-amino acid chelate with a positively charged radioactive nuclide, a preparation method and use thereof. The contrast medium can be used in imaging cerebral thrombosis, tumors or other diseases such as ulceration, thrombosis, and so on. Full Article
ntra Induction of gene expression using a high concentration sugar mixture By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Described herein is a composition useful for inducing expression of genes whose expression is under control of an inducible promoter sequence and methods for the compositions preparation and use. Full Article
ntra Contraction joint installer for concrete slabs By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An apparatus and method to install contraction joints in concrete slabs. The method uses a device, which inserts a strip of plastic or paper tape into freshly laced concrete, as the device is driven across a concrete slab. The tape is folded immediately prior to being inserted into freshly placed concrete, and functions to weaken the slab at the contraction joint location for the purpose of causing a crack to form in the slab. Plastic tape can be used, which functions as a moisture vapor retarder, and thereby, protects floor coverings from moisture damage, such as mold and mildew, at contraction joint locations. Full Article
ntra Adjustable jig and method for targeting interlocking holes of an intramedullary nail By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 03 Mar 2015 08:00:00 EST A targeting jig apparatus for targeting interlocking holes of an intramedullary nail. The targeting jig includes a support-arm extending substantially parallel to the intramedullary nail. A targeting mechanism including a pair of targeting mechanism drill-guide orifices is adjustably disposed on the support arm for aligning the targeting mechanism drill-guide orifice with the interlocking holes of the intramedullary nail. The targeting mechanism includes a saddle having a U-shape including a base and parallel legs that are slidable along the support-arm. A connection mechanism includes a horizontal slot on the support-arm aligned with a vertical slot on the targeting mechanism and a pivot screw extending through the slots for facilitating adjustment of the targeting mechanism relative to the support arm. Full Article
ntra Molecularly imprinted polymer for detecting the pentraxin, and method for preparing same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present disclosure relates to a molecularly imprinted structure for detection of a pentraxin protein and a method for preparing the same by synthesizing a reactive group-pentraxin protein ligand complex specifically reacting with the pentraxin protein and being polymerizable with a crosslink agent to detect a pentraxin protein by using the complex. The present disclosure also provides a chip for detection of a C-reactive protein and a method for preparing the same, the chip including a molecularly imprinted layer having excellent sensitivity to a C-reactive protein and an improved binding force to a metal substrate by using click chemistry. Full Article
ntra Apparatus and method for measuring concentrations of scale-forming ions By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT This invention relates to methods and apparatus for determination of ion concentrations, particularly in downhole water from hydrocarbon wells, aquifers etc. It is useful in a wide range of applications, including predicting the formation of scale and fingerprinting waters from different sources. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of ligands whose electronic configuration is altered by the binding of the scaling ions within a water sample. These alterations are detected electrochemically by applying varying potential to electrodes and measuring current flow as potential is varied, from which is derived the concentration of scaling ions in the fluid. Full Article
ntra Resonator with intracavity transformation of a Gaussian into a top-hat beam By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The invention relates to an optical resonator, laser apparatus and a method of generating a laser beam inside an optical resonator. The optical resonator (100) includes an optical cavity (102) and an optical element (104.1, 104.2) at either end thereof, operable to sustain a light beam (108) therein, characterized in that each optical element (104.1, 104.2) is a phase-only optical element operable to alter a mode of the beam (108) as it propagates along the length of the optical resonator (100), such that in use the beam (108) at one end of the optical resonator (100) has a Gaussian profile while the beam (108) at the other end of the optical resonator (100) has a non-Gaussian profile. Full Article
ntra Intramedullary fixation assembly and method of use By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A method for applying compression to a joint includes providing an intramedullary fixation assembly having a proximal screw member positioned at a proximal end of the intramedullary fixation assembly and a lag screw member positioned at a distal end of the intramedullary fixation assembly. Medullary canals are drilled in a first and second bone and the medullary canals are reamed. The proximal screw member is inserted into the first bone and a drill is used create a dorsal hole in the first bone. The lag screw member is slideably coupled to the dorsal hole and to the proximal screw member and into the second medullary canal. A torque is applied to the lag screw member to apply compression to the joint. Full Article
ntra Protein concentrate and an aqueous stream containing water-soluble carbohydrates By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 05 Jan 2016 08:00:00 EST Disclosed are process for contacting a protein containing material with one or more wet-mill streams. The protein content of the protein containing material is increased. Full Article
ntra Central frequency adjustment device and adjustable inductor layout using trimmable wire By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EDT The present invention provides a central frequency adjustment device and adjustable inductor layout; wherein, the central frequency adjustment device is applied in an inductor/capacitor tank (LC tank) for adjusting the central frequency of the LC tank. The device comprises a first inductor with a first end and a second end; a second inductor with one end coupled with the second end of the first inductor; and, a first trimmable wire connected to the first inductor in parallel and to the second inductor in series, which adjusts the central frequency by cutting off the first trimmable wire. Full Article
ntra Method for X-ray phase contrast and dark-field imaging using an arrangement of gratings in planar geometry By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An X-ray arrangement is suitable to record absorption, phase contrast, and dark field images of an object. The visibility of low absorbing specimens is improved and required radiation dose is reduced. The assembly includes an X-ray source; two or more gratings; a position-sensitive detector with spatially modulated detection sensitivity; a recorder for recording the images; an evaluator for evaluating the intensities for each pixel to identify the characteristic of the object for each individual pixel as an absorption and/or a differential phase contrast and/or an x-ray scattering dominated pixel. Images are collected by rotating from 0 to n or 2n either the sample or the assembly. The gratings are produced with planar geometry. The X-rays pass through the gratings parallel to the substrate. The grating structures extend along the X-ray path which determines the phase shift. The attenuation of the X-rays caused by the grating structures is no longer given by the thickness, but by the length of the grating structures. Full Article
ntra System and method for measuring the thickness of a zinc layer on steel and for measuring the iron concentration in a zinc layer By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A Compton radiation detection device for determining of Compton radiation of iron, includes a sensor and a filter arrangement. The filter arrangement is adapted such that the radiation emitted by a test object due to Compton scattering passes a nickel layer and an iron layer before being detected by the sensor. A dispersive ionization chamber includes an ionization chamber having a plurality off ionization volumes and a window. Each ionization volume includes an electrode. Radiation can enter through the window. The ionization volumes are arranged in a beam propagation direction behind each other. Radiation having lower energy is statistically absorbed in ionization volumes located more proximal to the window. Radiation having higher energy is statistically absorbed in the ionization volumes located more distal from the window. Full Article
ntra High-contrast soap film magnification device By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:00 EDT A surfactant film viewing apparatus having a chassis, film wand, and film wand positioning means. The chassis is opaque and has a magnifying lens and a light aperture to allow ambient light into the interior of the chassis. The chassis, with the exception of the light aperture and the magnifying lens, forms an substantially closed surface. The film wand has a hoop suitable for supporting a surfactant film across its span. The apparatus includes a means for positioning of said hoop in said interior of said chassis such that the position of said hoop relative to the magnifying lens is stable but manually adjustable so the surfactant film can be positioned for viewing by said magnifying lens. The apparatus may include a reservoir for the surfactant/water mixture, and the means for positioning may also include a means for dipping the hoop in the surfactant/water mixture. In an alternate embodiment the wand has multiple hoops each of which is capable of supporting a surfactant film, rotation of the wand bringing the surfactant films sequentially into view. Full Article