Systems and methods for extracting keywords in language learning
Patent No. 9,262,935
Systems, methods, and products for language learning that may extract text from various resources having text, using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a resource, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning and academic exercises. Metadata describing various aspects of resources from which keywords are extracted may be associated with keywords. Metadata describing various aspects of keywords may also be associated with keywords. Extracted keywords may be stored into a keyword store along with any metadata associated with keywords.
Inventors: Katherine Nielson (Richmond), Kasey Kirkham (New York, N.Y.), Na’im Tyson (Mount Vernon, N.Y.), Andrew Breen (New York, N.Y.)
Assignee: Voxy Inc. (New York, N.Y.)
Feb. 16, 2016
Bivalent multifunctional ligands targeting A.beta. oligomers as treatment for Alzheimer’s disease
Patent No. 9,260,473
Bivalent multifunctional A.beta. oligomerization inhibitors (BMAOIs) that target multiple risk factors involved in Alzheimer’s disease are provided. The BMAOIs are useful for the treatment and/or prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as for diagnostic imaging of A.beta. plaques in brain tissue. The BMAOIs comprise i) an A.beta. oligomer (ApO)-inhibitor moiety which may have antioxidant activity (e.g. curcumin, curcumin derivatives, curcumin hybrids, resveratrol, etc.); ii) a cell membrane/lipid raft (CM/LR) anchoring moiety (e.g. cholesterol, cholesterylamine, a steroid, etc.); and iii) a spacer or linker moiety that stably links i) and ii) together.
Inventors: Shujin Zhang (Richmond), Tai Liang Guo (Athens, Ga.)
Assignee: Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
Feb. 16, 2016
Reclosable multi-part blister
Patent No. 9,260,232
A package (100) is disclosed which includes a blister with two halves (150,160) that rotate apart, the blister flanges being sealed within two paperboard cards (110, 120). The package may be opened by tearing across the paperboard cards, then rotating or tilting the blister halves apart.
Inventors: Linh Li Kooc (Richmond), Charlotte Hanks (Toronto, Canada), Kyle Schumaker (Greer, S.C.)
Assignee: WestRock MWV LLC (Norcross, Ga.)
Feb. 16, 2016
Remotely deployable vapor delivery device
Patent No. 9,259,499
A remotely deployable vapor delivery device is described that is conveniently and effectively deployed in a hard-to-reach location. The device is approximately spherical in shape, and includes an integrated reservoir containing the desired vapor producing substance, an evaporative surface and means for continuous flow of the vapor producing substance from the integrated reservoir to the evaporative surface which provides an approximately constant vapor delivery rate. The advantages of the embodiments include a device that can be conveniently tossed or rolled, is compact in size, provides a maximal amount of stored vapor producing substance, has an efficient usage rate of the stored vapor producing substance and provides a long operating lifetime. Other advantages of the embodiments described include hands-free activation, self-righting after deployment, tamper resistance, non-energized operation, a modest number of low cost parts that are readily manufactured and assembled, and easy retrieval.
Inventors: Gary M. Atkinson (Henrico, Va.), Glenn Willoughby (Richmond)
Assignee: SimpleTek LLC (Richmond, Va.)
Feb. 16, 2016
Dining plate and method for use to provide customizable and personalized dining experiences
Patent No. 9,259,109
A dining plate includes a top portion with a substantially transparent window therein. The plate also includes a bottom portion with a bottom surface having a first outside receiving groove and second inside receiving groove. The bottom portion has a generally planar shape that corresponds generally to the shape of the top portion. The bottom portion also has a top surface with a continuous inner standing rib and an outward rim. The top and bottom portions are joined together so that the inner standing rib is releaseably positioned in the inside receiving groove and the outward rim is releaseably positioned in the outside receiving groove. A substantially watertight cavity is formed between a central section of each of the top and bottom portions. The cavity is aligned with the window in the top portion.
Inventors: Ann Samenuk (Ridgefield, Conn.), Sean W. Higgins (Richmond), Bruce S. Ferris (Richmond)
Assignee: You Cann & Co. LLC (Ridgefield, Conn.)
Feb. 16, 2016
Fabrication of core/shell capsules of different geometries and treatment thereafter
Patent No. 9,259,030
Multi-shelled capsules are made by co-extruding a first liquid flavorant composition and a first shell-forming polymeric material to form droplets which are hardened to form an inner shell containing a first liquid flavorant composition, and then coated with a second shell-forming polymeric material which is hardened to form an outer shell. The result is a capsule where the inner surface of the outer shell is separate and/or separable from the outer surface of the inner shell to define a space, wherein a second liquid flavorant composition may be located.
Inventors: Hongwei Liu (Appleton, Wisc.), Georgios D. Karles (Richmond), Shuzhong Zhuang (Richmond), Jose Nepomuceno (Beaverdam, Va.)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond)
Feb. 16, 2016
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for image guided ablation
Patent No. 9,265,572
The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for image guided ablation. One system for image guided ablation includes an ultrasound transducer for producing a real-time ultrasound image of a target volume and of surrounding tissue. The system further includes an ablation probe for ablating the target volume. The system further includes a display for displaying an image to guide positioning of the ablation probe during ablation of the target volume. The system further includes at least one tracker for tracking position and orientation of the ablation probe during the ablation of the target volume. The system further includes a rendering and display module for receiving a pre-ablation image of the target volume and for displaying a combined image on the display, where the combined image includes a motion tracked, rendered image of the ablation probe and an equally motion tracked real-time ultrasound image registered with the pre-ablation image.
Inventors: Henry Fuchs (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Hua Yang (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Tabitha Peck (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Anna Bulysheva (Richmond), Andrei State (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Assignee: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Feb. 23, 2016
Solid oral sensorial products including stain inhibitor
Patent No. 9,265,282
A solid oral sensorial product includes at least one botanical material and at least one phosphate containing stain inhibitor. The botanical material is selected from the group consisting of tobacco, tea, coffee, cocoa, and combinations thereof.
Inventors: Donald E. Miser (Chesterfield, Va.), William R. Sweeney (Richmond), Qinglin Li (Richmond), Jerome A. Merski (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA, Inc. (Richmond)
Feb. 23, 2016
Chewable pouch for flavored product delivery
Patent No. 9,265,272
Provided is a disintegrable or non-disintegrable oral flavor delivery product. The product includes a disintegrable or non-disintegrable chewable pouch with a plurality of perforations. The pouch encloses a non-tobacco flavor product that can be in a gel, semi-liquid, and/or liquid form. A user chews, sucks, and/or manipulates the pouch to cause the enclosed flavor product to leach out of the perforations into the user’s mouth.
Inventors: Shon Gedevani (Richmond), Dennis Geib (Richmond), Bruce Waymack (Prince George, Va.), William R. Sweeney (Richmond), Cindy Hayes (Midlothian, Va.), Danielle R. Crawford (Chester, Va.)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond)
Feb. 23, 2016
Carton with handle
Patent No. 9,266,656
A carton includes a handle (160) for carrying the carton. The handle includes a handle flap (162a) with a main portion (174a), first (178a) and second (180a) gussets, and an end portion (176a). The main portion is hingedly connected to the first gusset along a first fold line (182a), the first gusset is hingedly connected to the second gusset along a second fold line (184a), and the second gusset is hingedly connected to the first end portion along a third fold line (120).
Inventors: Bradford J. Walling (Chesterfield, Va.), Aaron L. Bates (Moseley, Va.)
Assignee: WestRock Packaging Systems LLC (Norcross, Ga.)
Feb. 23, 2016
System and method for determining string similarity
Patent No. 9,269,028
Provided are string similarity assessment techniques. In one embodiment, the techniques include receiving a plurality of input strings comprising characters from a character set and generating hashtables for each respective input string using a hash function that assigns the characters as keys and character positions in the strings as values. The techniques may also include determine a character similarity index for at least two of the input strings relative to each other by comparing a similarity of the values for each key in the their respective hashtables; determining a total disordering index based representative of an alignment of the at least two input strings by determining differences between a plurality of index values for each individual key in their respective hashtables and determining the total disordering index based on the differences; and determining a string similarity metric based on at least one character similarity index and the total disordering index.
Inventors: Jake Matthew Kurzer (Glen Allen, Va.), Brett Csorba (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: General Electric Co. (Schenectady, N.Y.)
Feb. 23, 2016
Methods for providing steel-on-steel friction and/or steel-on-paper friction with lubricant compositions for power transmitting fluids
Patent No. 9,267,093
An additive composition may comprise at least one phosphorus- and boron-containing dispersant, at least one boron-containing dispersant, and at least one detergent. Such composition may be useful in power transmissions to provide improved anti-shudder performance and/or improved friction durability.
Inventors: Ramnath N. Iyer (Glen Allen, Va.), Samuel H. Tersigni (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: Afton Chemical Corp. (Richmond)
Feb. 23, 2016
Systems and methods for extracting keywords in language learning
Patent No. 9,262,935
Systems, methods, and products for language learning that may extract text from various resources having text, using various natural-language processing features, which can be combined with custom-designed learning activities to offer a needs-based, adaptive learning methodology. The system may receive a resource, extract keywords pedagogically valuable to non-native language learning and academic exercises. Metadata describing various aspects of resources from which keywords are extracted may be associated with keywords. Metadata describing various aspects of keywords may also be associated with keywords. Extracted keywords may be stored into a keyword store along with any metadata associated with keywords.
Inventors: Katherine Nielson (Richmond), Kasey Kirkham (New York, N.Y.), Na’im Tyson (Mount Vernon, N.Y.), Andrew Breen (New York, N.Y.)
Assignee: Voxy Inc. (New York, N.Y.)
Feb. 16, 2016
Bivalent multifunctional ligands targeting A.beta. oligomers as treatment for Alzheimer’s disease
Patent No. 9,260,473
Bivalent multifunctional A.beta. oligomerization inhibitors (BMAOIs) that target multiple risk factors involved in Alzheimer’s disease are provided. The BMAOIs are useful for the treatment and/or prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as for diagnostic imaging of A.beta. plaques in brain tissue. The BMAOIs comprise i) an A.beta. oligomer (ApO)-inhibitor moiety which may have antioxidant activity (e.g. curcumin, curcumin derivatives, curcumin hybrids, resveratrol, etc.); ii) a cell membrane/lipid raft (CM/LR) anchoring moiety (e.g. cholesterol, cholesterylamine, a steroid, etc.); and iii) a spacer or linker moiety that stably links i) and ii) together.
Inventors: Shujin Zhang (Richmond), Tai Liang Guo (Athens, Ga.)
Assignee: Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
Feb. 16, 2016
Reclosable multi-part blister
Patent No. 9,260,232
A package (100) is disclosed which includes a blister with two halves (150,160) that rotate apart, the blister flanges being sealed within two paperboard cards (110, 120). The package may be opened by tearing across the paperboard cards, then rotating or tilting the blister halves apart.
Inventors: Linh Li Kooc (Richmond), Charlotte Hanks (Toronto, Canada), Kyle Schumaker (Greer, S.C.)
Assignee: WestRock MWV LLC (Norcross, Ga.)
Feb. 16, 2016
Remotely deployable vapor delivery device
Patent No. 9,259,499
A remotely deployable vapor delivery device is described that is conveniently and effectively deployed in a hard-to-reach location. The device is approximately spherical in shape, and includes an integrated reservoir containing the desired vapor producing substance, an evaporative surface and means for continuous flow of the vapor producing substance from the integrated reservoir to the evaporative surface which provides an approximately constant vapor delivery rate. The advantages of the embodiments include a device that can be conveniently tossed or rolled, is compact in size, provides a maximal amount of stored vapor producing substance, has an efficient usage rate of the stored vapor producing substance and provides a long operating lifetime. Other advantages of the embodiments described include hands-free activation, self-righting after deployment, tamper resistance, non-energized operation, a modest number of low cost parts that are readily manufactured and assembled, and easy retrieval.
Inventors: Gary M. Atkinson (Henrico, Va.), Glenn Willoughby (Richmond)
Assignee: SimpleTek LLC (Richmond, Va.)
Feb. 16, 2016
Dining plate and method for use to provide customizable and personalized dining experiences
Patent No. 9,259,109
A dining plate includes a top portion with a substantially transparent window therein. The plate also includes a bottom portion with a bottom surface having a first outside receiving groove and second inside receiving groove. The bottom portion has a generally planar shape that corresponds generally to the shape of the top portion. The bottom portion also has a top surface with a continuous inner standing rib and an outward rim. The top and bottom portions are joined together so that the inner standing rib is releaseably positioned in the inside receiving groove and the outward rim is releaseably positioned in the outside receiving groove. A substantially watertight cavity is formed between a central section of each of the top and bottom portions. The cavity is aligned with the window in the top portion.
Inventors: Ann Samenuk (Ridgefield, Conn.), Sean W. Higgins (Richmond), Bruce S. Ferris (Richmond)
Assignee: You Cann & Co. LLC (Ridgefield, Conn.)
Feb. 16, 2016
Fabrication of core/shell capsules of different geometries and treatment thereafter
Patent No. 9,259,030
Multi-shelled capsules are made by co-extruding a first liquid flavorant composition and a first shell-forming polymeric material to form droplets which are hardened to form an inner shell containing a first liquid flavorant composition, and then coated with a second shell-forming polymeric material which is hardened to form an outer shell. The result is a capsule where the inner surface of the outer shell is separate and/or separable from the outer surface of the inner shell to define a space, wherein a second liquid flavorant composition may be located.
Inventors: Hongwei Liu (Appleton, Wisc.), Georgios D. Karles (Richmond), Shuzhong Zhuang (Richmond), Jose Nepomuceno (Beaverdam, Va.)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond)
Feb. 16, 2016
Methods, systems, and computer readable media for image guided ablation
Patent No. 9,265,572
The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for image guided ablation. One system for image guided ablation includes an ultrasound transducer for producing a real-time ultrasound image of a target volume and of surrounding tissue. The system further includes an ablation probe for ablating the target volume. The system further includes a display for displaying an image to guide positioning of the ablation probe during ablation of the target volume. The system further includes at least one tracker for tracking position and orientation of the ablation probe during the ablation of the target volume. The system further includes a rendering and display module for receiving a pre-ablation image of the target volume and for displaying a combined image on the display, where the combined image includes a motion tracked, rendered image of the ablation probe and an equally motion tracked real-time ultrasound image registered with the pre-ablation image.
Inventors: Henry Fuchs (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Hua Yang (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Tabitha Peck (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Anna Bulysheva (Richmond), Andrei State (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Assignee: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Feb. 23, 2016
Solid oral sensorial products including stain inhibitor
Patent No. 9,265,282
A solid oral sensorial product includes at least one botanical material and at least one phosphate containing stain inhibitor. The botanical material is selected from the group consisting of tobacco, tea, coffee, cocoa, and combinations thereof.
Inventors: Donald E. Miser (Chesterfield, Va.), William R. Sweeney (Richmond), Qinglin Li (Richmond), Jerome A. Merski (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA, Inc. (Richmond)
Feb. 23, 2016
Chewable pouch for flavored product delivery
Patent No. 9,265,272
Provided is a disintegrable or non-disintegrable oral flavor delivery product. The product includes a disintegrable or non-disintegrable chewable pouch with a plurality of perforations. The pouch encloses a non-tobacco flavor product that can be in a gel, semi-liquid, and/or liquid form. A user chews, sucks, and/or manipulates the pouch to cause the enclosed flavor product to leach out of the perforations into the user’s mouth.
Inventors: Shon Gedevani (Richmond), Dennis Geib (Richmond), Bruce Waymack (Prince George, Va.), William R. Sweeney (Richmond), Cindy Hayes (Midlothian, Va.), Danielle R. Crawford (Chester, Va.)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond)
Feb. 23, 2016
Carton with handle
Patent No. 9,266,656
A carton includes a handle (160) for carrying the carton. The handle includes a handle flap (162a) with a main portion (174a), first (178a) and second (180a) gussets, and an end portion (176a). The main portion is hingedly connected to the first gusset along a first fold line (182a), the first gusset is hingedly connected to the second gusset along a second fold line (184a), and the second gusset is hingedly connected to the first end portion along a third fold line (120).
Inventors: Bradford J. Walling (Chesterfield, Va.), Aaron L. Bates (Moseley, Va.)
Assignee: WestRock Packaging Systems LLC (Norcross, Ga.)
Feb. 23, 2016
System and method for determining string similarity
Patent No. 9,269,028
Provided are string similarity assessment techniques. In one embodiment, the techniques include receiving a plurality of input strings comprising characters from a character set and generating hashtables for each respective input string using a hash function that assigns the characters as keys and character positions in the strings as values. The techniques may also include determine a character similarity index for at least two of the input strings relative to each other by comparing a similarity of the values for each key in the their respective hashtables; determining a total disordering index based representative of an alignment of the at least two input strings by determining differences between a plurality of index values for each individual key in their respective hashtables and determining the total disordering index based on the differences; and determining a string similarity metric based on at least one character similarity index and the total disordering index.
Inventors: Jake Matthew Kurzer (Glen Allen, Va.), Brett Csorba (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: General Electric Co. (Schenectady, N.Y.)
Feb. 23, 2016
Methods for providing steel-on-steel friction and/or steel-on-paper friction with lubricant compositions for power transmitting fluids
Patent No. 9,267,093
An additive composition may comprise at least one phosphorus- and boron-containing dispersant, at least one boron-containing dispersant, and at least one detergent. Such composition may be useful in power transmissions to provide improved anti-shudder performance and/or improved friction durability.
Inventors: Ramnath N. Iyer (Glen Allen, Va.), Samuel H. Tersigni (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: Afton Chemical Corp. (Richmond)
Feb. 23, 2016