07th week of 2012 patent applcation highlights part 52 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20120041727 | METHOD, COMPUTER-ACCESSIBLE MEDIUM AND SYSTEMS FOR SCORE-DRIVEN WHOLE-GENOME SHOTGUN SEQUENCE ASSEMBLE - Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to methods, computer-accessible medium and systems for assembling haplotype and/or genotype sequences of at least one genome, which can be based upon, e.g., consistent layouts of short sequence reads and long-range genome related data. For example, a processing arrangement can be configured to perform a procedure including, e.g., obtaining randomly located short sequence reads, using at least one score function in combination with constraints based on, e.g., the long range data, generating a layout of randomly located short sequence reads such that the layout is globally optimal with respect to the score function, obtained through searching coupled with score and constraint dependent pruning to determine the globally optimal layout substantially satisfying the constraints, generating a whole and/or a part of a genome wide haplotype sequence and/or genotype sequence, and converting a globally optimal layout into one or more consensus sequences. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041728 | COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED TOOL BOX SYSTEMS AND METHODS - According to the preferred embodiments, a system or method is provided that involves the programming of a computer or other processing device with a software, hardware or firmware configured to create a processing tool (i.e., referred to herein as a tool box) that can be configured to provide one or more operational function based on new mathematical principles described herein for the purposes of, e.g., synthesizing or analyzing shapes and the like. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041729 | LOOSE COUPLING METHOD BETWEEN A STESS ANALYSIS SYSTEM AND A CONVENTIONAL RESERVOIR SIMULATOR - Methods for loosely coupling a stress analysis system to a conventional reservoir simulator by adjusting the flow equation of the conventional reservoir simulator. The solution is obtained by using the methods in a loose, iterative coupling system such than when convergence is reached, the results obtained are close to those of the full coupling system. A system for implementing the methods on a digitally readable medium. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041730 | POWER-SUPPLY DESIGN SYSTEM, POWER-SUPPLY DESIGN METHOD, AND PROGRAM FOR POWER-SUPPLY DESIGN - Provided is a power-supply design system that supports a power-supply design by applying a random model based on an outline of an operation circuit of an electronic device to calculate a value representing a power-supply fluctuation with a statistical technique, and by outputting a statistical value representing the power-supply fluctuation. The power-supply design system calculates a statistical value representing a power-supply fluctuation in a power supply of an electronic device based on input design data of the electronic device and a random model representing a current fluctuation due to operation/non-operation of each circuit in the electronic device, and outputs the statistical value. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041731 | TO PREVENT FIBER CUTTING AND DAMAGE OF SEGMENTS - A method for controlling a refining zone and to measure process variables directly in the refining zones of refiners in the pulp and paper industry is provided, the difference between the distributed axial force and the distributed steam force for high consistency refiners, or alternatively the liquid and pulp phase related forces for low consistency refiners, along the radius of the segments within the refiner is used to prevent fiber cutting and plate clash of the segments. The method of the present invention is also applicable to continuous control of the refining process close to limits of the machinery involved. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041732 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING DATA - A computer-implemented method, computer program product, and computing system for obtaining a simulation modeling file. One or more values is associated with one or more variables included within the simulation modeling file. The simulation modeling file is executed to generate at least one result set. The at least one result set is iteratively rendered while the at least one result set is generated. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041733 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING DATA - A computer-implemented method, computer program product, and computing system for generating one of more executions of a scenario concerning a simulation modeling file. One of the one or more executions of the scenario is defined as a child of the scenario, wherein one or more values are associated with one or more variables included within the child of the scenario. The scenario and the child of the scenario are graphically rendered. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041734 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COLLABORATIVE BUILDING OF A SURROGATE MODEL FOR ENGINEERING SIMULATIONS IN A NETWORKED ENVIRONMENT - A system and method for collaborative building of a shared self-refining surrogate model for engineering simulations are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes running a reduced order engineering simulation model on a complex system, and querying a shared self-refining surrogate model upon receiving a request for a higher order simulation for a reduced order simulated item. The method also includes estimating a required higher order simulation result having a desired confidence interval for the reduced order simulated item, and determining whether the required higher order simulation result having the desired confidence interval is in the shared self-refining surrogate model. If not, then the method includes performing the higher order simulation to obtain the required higher order simulation result, enriching the shared self-refining surrogate model with the obtained higher order simulation result, and sending the obtained higher order simulation result to the reduced order engineering simulation model. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041735 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PATIENT-SPECIFIC MODELING OF BLOOD FLOW - Embodiments include a system for determining cardiovascular information for a patient. The system may include at least one computer system configured to receive patient-specific data regarding a geometry of the patient's heart, and create a three-dimensional model representing at least a portion of the patient's heart based on the patient-specific data. The at least one computer system may be further configured to create a physics-based model relating to a blood flow characteristic of the patient's heart and determine a fractional flow reserve within the patient's heart based on the three-dimensional model and the physics-based model. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041736 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING DATA - A computer-implemented method, computer program product, and computing system for obtaining an oil field modeling file. One or more values are associated with one or more variables included within the oil field modeling file. The oil field modeling file is executed to generate one or more result sets. A portion of each of the one or more result sets is compared with empirically-derived data related to the portion. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041737 | Dynamic reservoir characterization - Method for dynamic reservoir characterization by generating, and visually presenting a three-dimensional reservoir model defined by a data set of cells, each cell describing a geometric shape in space and time having an array of physical properties. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041738 | Method For Upscaling A Reservoir Model Using Deep Reading Measurements - A method of upscaling for reservoir simulation is disclosed, comprising: inverting a set of deep reading measurements constrained by upscaled multi-well data, and, in response to the inverting step, upscaling for reservoir simulation. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041739 | Method and System for Patient-Specific Modeling of Blood Flow - Embodiments include a system for determining cardiovascular information for a patient. The system may include at least one computer system configured to receive patient-specific data regarding a geometry of the patient's heart, and create a three-dimensional model representing at least a portion of the patient's heart based on the patient-specific data. The at least one computer system may be further configured to create a physics-based model relating to a blood flow characteristic of the patient's heart and determine a fractional flow reserve within the patient's heart based on the three-dimensional model and the physics-based model. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041740 | DIGITISATION OF DENTAL PARTS - The surface of a dental part is scanned by a probe, to obtain a digital model of the surface in a dental CAD computer system. In the digital model, first and second boundary lines are defined, above and below a portion in which the scanned data is missing or unsatisfactory. One of the boundary lines may correspond to a margin line between prepared and unprepared portions of the patient's tooth. A transition surface is generated in the computer system, extending between the first and second boundary lines. This improves the representation of the dental part in the digital model, which may subsequently be used for manufacture of a dental restoration. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041741 | Dynamically Adjusting Simulation Fidelity in a Self-Optimized Simulation of a Complex System - Mechanisms are provided for controlling a fidelity of a simulation of a system. A model of the system is received, the model of the system having a plurality of individual components of the system. Fidelity values are assigned to models of the individual components of the system. A required fidelity value is assigned to transactions between components in the plurality of individual components of the system. A simulation of the system is executed using the model of the system and the models of the individual components of the system. The fidelity values of one or more of the models of the individual components of the system are dynamically adjusted during the execution of the simulation based on the required fidelity values assigned to the transactions. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041742 | Dynamically Adjusting Simulation Fidelity Based on Changes in Activity Levels of Components - Mechanisms are provided for controlling a fidelity of a simulation of a system. A model of the system is received, the model of the system having a plurality of individual components of the system. Fidelity values are assigned to models of the individual components of the system. A simulation of the system is executed using the model of the system and the models of the individual components of the system. For each component in the plurality of individual components of the system, an activity level of the component during execution of the simulation is determined. The fidelity values of one or more of the models of the individual components of the system are dynamically adjusted during the execution of the simulation based on changes in individual activity levels of the individual components. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041743 | Output Signal Behavior for a PLC in an Automation System - The present disclosure describes output signal behavior for a programmable logic controller. The output signal behavior may be modeled in an electrical sequence flow of an automation system. The modeling including a visual representation of the output signal behavior. After the modeling, at least one programmable logic controller of an automation system may be programmed based on the model. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041744 | HANDHELD FIELD MAINTENANCE TOOL WITH FIELD DEVICE SIMULATION CAPABILITY - A handheld field maintenance tool and associated method are provided. The handheld field maintenance tool includes a process communication module configured to communicate in accordance with a process industry communication standard. A controller is coupled to the process communication module and is configured to access a device description relative to a selected simulated field device. A user interface is configured to receive a user input relative to a parameter of the simulated field device. The controller generates communication through the process communication module to simulate the selected field device based on the user input. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041745 | PLAYBACK PIPELINE FOR TESTING WIRELESS DEVICES - Evaluation of a wireless device using a channel emulator is facilitated by validating a playback file; compensating for external loss; applying post processing changes; compiling the playback file; streaming playback file data to a channel emulator; and performing playback by the channel emulator. Validation is performed by operating directly on the user's editable playback file so that compilation of the playback file is not required for validation. User-supplied values indicative of the levels of external losses are used to automatically adjust the corresponding values in the playback file by the specified amount before the playback data is relayed to the channel emulator. Post processing changes indicative of alternate channel conditions may be used to augment or replace values in the playback file before the playback data is relayed to the channel emulator. The playback file is sequentially compiled as playback data is used by the channel emulator to allow playback to start sooner. Real-time streaming of playback data also allows an unlimited number of playback instructions to be processed within a fixed memory footprint. A power tracking loop detect changes in the transmit power level of a connected device during playback, and the channel emulator is automatically recalibrated to account for power level changes. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041746 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL EFFECTS ANALYSIS - An analysis tool analyzes a model to determine the digital effect of the model in a modeling or programming environment. With the analysis tool, a user can determine minimum hardware functionality needed to execute the software generated from the model. The hardware functionality may include the word size of the microprocessor that executes the software appropriately. The hardware functionality may also include the execution speed of the microprocessor executing the software. The hardware functionality may further include the functionality of other hardware elements, such as the word length of an Analog to Digital converter. The analysis tool enables a user to produce a system at a low cost while achieving necessary performance criteria. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041747 | Dynamically Adjusting Simulation Fidelity Based on Checkpointed Fidelity State - Mechanisms are provided for controlling a fidelity of a simulation of a system. A model of the system is received, the model of the system having a plurality of individual components of the system. Fidelity values are assigned to models of the individual components of the system. A simulation of the system is executed using the model of the system and the models of the individual components of the system. The fidelity values of one or more of the models of the individual components of the system are dynamically adjusted during the execution of the simulation by creating a checkpoint of a state of the simulation and modifying one or more fidelity values of one or more of the models of the individual components after generating the checkpoint, thereby generating a modified fidelity value state. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041748 | Design support apparatus and method - A design support apparatus includes an extraction part, a creation part, and a correction part. The extraction part extracts from among a power supply layer and a ground layer a range related to a signal transmission of a pair of signal transmission circuit models disposed in a predetermined layer of a substrate model having a plurality of layers. The creation part processes, based on given constrained conditions, the power supply layer and ground layer in a range extracted by the extraction part and creates a layer model. The correction part corrects the substrate model based on the created layer model. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041749 | Determining Simulation Fidelity in a Self-Optimized Simulation of a Complex System - Mechanisms are provided for controlling a fidelity of a simulation of a computer system. A model of the system is received that has a plurality of components. A representation of the plurality of individual components of the system is generated. A component is assigned to be a fidelity center having a highest possible associated fidelity value. Fidelity values are assigned to each other component in the plurality of individual components based on an affinity of the other component to the fidelity center. The system is simulated based on assigned fidelity values to the components in the plurality of individual components. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041750 | Dynamically Predicting Simulation Fidelity in a Self-Optimized Simulation of a Complex System - Mechanisms are provided for controlling a fidelity of a simulation of a system. A model of the system is received, where the model has a plurality of individual components of the system. Fidelity values are assigned to models of the individual components of the system and a simulation of the system is executed using the model of the system and the models of the individual components of the system. The simulation comprises a plurality of transactions targeting a receiver component. A history of mismatches between a fidelity value associated with the receiver component and required fidelity values of the plurality of transactions targeting the receiver component is maintained. A prediction of a fidelity value to be assigned to the receiver component based on the history of mismatches is performed. A fidelity value of the receiver component is adjusted based on results of predicting the fidelity value to be assigned to the receiver component. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041751 | Evaluating And Modifying Transliteration Rules - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for adjusting transliteration weights. One methods includes maintaining transliteration rules and a weight for each rule and receiving training pairs comprising a first word in a first writing system and a second word in a second writing system, where the second word is a transliteration of the first word. The method further includes processing the training pairs to determine, for each transliteration rule, one or more good weight adjustments and one or more bad weight adjustments, and for one or more of the transliteration rules, selecting a good weight adjustment for the transliteration rule that has a highest associated gain and updating the weight for the transliteration rule to reflect the selected good weight adjustment for the rule. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041752 | EXTENSION FRAMEWORK FOR INPUT METHOD EDITOR - Implementations of the present disclosure provide an input method editor (IME) extension framework for extending the functionality of (IMEs). In some implementations, a user input into a user interface of an (IME) is received and is provided to a script engine. A script is selected from a plurality of scripts electronically stored in a script repository. The user input is processed through the script using the script engine to generate one or more candidates, and the one or more candidates are provided to an (IME) engine. In some implementations, a script file is received, the script file being executable by an (IME) system to generate one or more candidates based on a user input into the (IME) system. The script file is electronically stored in a central registry, the central registry including a plurality of scripts, and the plurality of scripts are published for download to and installation on a user device, the user device including the (IME) system. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041753 | TRANSLATION SYSTEM COMBINING HIERARCHICAL AND PHRASE-BASED MODELS - A method comprises: receiving or generating bi-content including source content in a source language or format and corresponding target content in a target language or format, wherein the target language or format is different from the source language or format; generating a source weighted finite state automaton representing the source content of the bi-content; generating a target weighted finite state automaton representing the target content of the bi-content; and computing a bilateral intersection between (i) the source weighted finite state automaton, (ii) a synchronous weighted context-free grammar comprising synchronized grammars for the source language or format and the target language or format, and (iii) the target weighted finite state automaton to generate an enriched synchronous weighted context free grammar. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041754 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE ELECTRONIC APPARATUS AND TAPE PRINT APPARATUS - There is provided an electronic apparatus including a display unit configured to display a system language switching screen for selecting and switching a system language from a plurality of options and a display control unit configured to carry out display control of the display unit, and a selection manipulation unit configured to select an arbitrary option from a plurality of options, wherein the display control unit performs control such that a switching message screen for notifying the fact that the system language is switched is displayed on the display unit after manipulation is made to select an arbitrary option using the selection manipulation unit, the switching message screen including a language name of the system language represented using the system language corresponding to a selected arbitrary option and a language name of the system language represented using a predetermined language. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041755 | HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING SELECTABLE LANGUAGE INDICATOR FOR LANGUAGE SELECTION AND METHOD THEREFOR - A method of enabling the selection of a language to be employed as a method input language by a disambiguation routine of a handheld electronic device having stored therein a plurality of method input languages and disambiguation routine number, includes detecting a selection of a language, detecting as an ambiguous input an actuation of one or more input members, outputting at least a plurality of the language objects that corresponds to the ambiguous input, outputting an indicator which one of the method input languages is currently employed by the disambiguation function, and enabling an alternate one of the input language methods to be selected in response to a selection of the indicator in lieu of one of the plurality of language objects. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041756 | VOICE RECOGNITION DEVICE - Voice recognition is realized by a pattern matching with a voice pattern model, and when a large number of paraphrased words are required for one facility, such as a name of a hotel or a tourist facility, the pattern matching needs to be performed with the voice pattern models of all the paraphrased words, resulting in an enormous amount of calculation. Further, it is difficult to generate all the paraphrased words, and a large amount of labor is required. A voice recognition device includes: voice recognition means for applying the voice recognition to an input voice by using a language model and an acoustic model, and outputting a predetermined number of recognition results each including a set of a recognition score and a text representation; and N-best candidate rearrangement means for: comparing the recognition result to a morpheme dictionary held in a morpheme dictionary memory; checking whether a representation of the recognition result can be expressed by any one of combinations of the morphemes of the morpheme dictionaries; correcting the recognition score when the representation can be expressed; and rearranging an order according to the corrected recognition score so as to acquire recognition results. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041757 | HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH TEXT DISAMBIGUATION - A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special key of the keypad that enables a user to progressively select variants generally without changing the position of the user's hands on the device. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041758 | SYNCHRONIZATION OF AN INPUT TEXT OF A SPEECH WITH A RECORDING OF THE SPEECH - A method and system for synchronizing words in an input text of a speech with a continuous recording of the speech. A received input text includes previously recorded content of the speech to be reproduced. A synthetic speech corresponding to the received input text is generated. Ratio data including a ratio between the respective pronunciation times of words included in the received text in the generated synthetic speech is computed. The ratio data is used to determine an association between erroneously recognized words of the received text and a time to reproduce each erroneously recognized word. The association is outputted in a recording medium and/or displayed on a display device. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041759 | Mobile Replacement-Dialogue Recording System - A mobile replacement-dialogue recording system enables the creation of replacement-dialogue items by mobile users not at a media recording studio. Studio-users prepare guide media video, audio and text data which are made available to mobile users through a media server. A mobile user's mobile replacement-dialogue recording device obtains guide media and allows the user to view the guide media in rehearsal mode. The mobile replacement-dialogue recording device then records the mobile user's dialogue performance while presenting the mobile user with synchronized guide media. The mobile user can review, delete, and rerecord the resulting potential replacement dialogue, as well as create feedback media characterizing the replacement dialogue. Selected replacement dialogue items can be transmitted to the media server. A studio-module can then obtain the selected replacement dialogue items and feedback media from the media server so that they may be used in media-replacement. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041760 | VOICE RECORDING EQUIPMENT AND METHOD - In a voice recording equipment and method, voice data from a speaker is received using a microphone. Threshold values T | 2012-02-16 |
20120041761 | VOICE DECODING APPARATUS AND VOICE DECODING METHOD - Disclosed is a voice decoding apparatus wherein the processor may be continuously employed for other applications for a prescribed time but, in response to an urgent interrupt, the processor can generate synthesised sound even when being used for other applications, without interruption. In this apparatus, a packet receiving section ( | 2012-02-16 |
20120041762 | Dialogue Detector and Correction - An apparatus and method for tracking dialogue and other sound signals in film, television or other systems with multiple channel sound is described. One or more audio channels which is expected to carry the speech of persons appearing in the program or other particular types of sounds is inspected to determine if that channel's audio includes particular sounds such as MUEVs, including phonemes corresponding to human speech patterns. If an improper number of particular sounds such as phonemes are found in the channel(s) an action such as a report, an alarm, a correction, or other action is taken. The inspection of the audio channel(s) may be made in conjunction with the appearance of corresponding images associated with the sound, such as visemes in the video signal, to improve the determination of types of sounds such as phonemes. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041763 | RECOGNIZING THE NUMERIC LANGUAGE IN NATURAL SPOKEN DIALOGUE - A system and a method are provided. A speech recognition processor receives unconstrained input speech and outputs a string of words. The speech recognition processor is based on a numeric language that represents a subset of a vocabulary. The subset includes a set of words identified as being for interpreting and understanding number strings. A numeric understanding processor contains classes of rules for converting the string of words into a sequence of digits. The speech recognition processor utilizes an acoustic model database. A validation database stores a set of valid sequences of digits. A string validation processor outputs validity information based on a comparison of a sequence of digits output by the numeric understanding processor with valid sequences of digits in the validation database. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041764 | SPEECH PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A speech processing method, comprising:
| 2012-02-16 |
20120041765 | ELECTRONIC BOOK READER AND TEXT TO SPEECH CONVERTING METHOD - An electronic book reader includes a text obtaining module, a text analysis module, a speech synthesis module, a control module, and an audio output device. The text obtaining module is used for obtaining a selected segment of a text. The text analysis module is used for analyzing a time phrase of the selected segment to obtain a waiting time period according to meaning of the time phrase in the selected segment. The speech synthesis module is used for converting the selected segment into speech. The control module is used for sending the content of the selected segment to the speech synthesis module. Wherein the control module waits for the waiting time period after sending the time phrase to the speech synthesis. The audio output module is used for playing the speech. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041766 | VOICE-CONTROLLED NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD - In a voice-controlled navigation device and method, a voice command is received, and divided into voice segments Vi (i=1˜n) by comparing with one or more keywords. A voice segment Vi (i=1˜n) is obtained in sequence to be compared with tree nodes in a search tree of place names. A weight value of each tree node is computed according to a comparison, to select one or more tree nodes whose weight values are greater than a predetermined value. Routes formed by all the selected tree nodes are obtained to select a route whose total weight value is the greatest. A navigation to a destination is given by indicating the selected route on an electronic map according to place names represented by the tree nodes of the selected route. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041767 | Athletic Activity User Experience and Environment - User activity including both athletic activity (e.g., running, walking, etc.) and non-athletic activity (shopping, reading articles, etc.) may be monitored and tracked by an athletic monitoring and tracking device and service. The user activity may be used to award a user with an amount of virtual currency to encourage the user to continue various activities. In one example, users may use the virtual currency to purchase or otherwise acquire various products, services, discounts and the like. A user may track an amount currency earned and/or needed relative to an amount required to acquire a desired product or service. Additionally or alternatively, a visual appearance of a user device (e.g., a watch or athletic activity band) may change based on the user's activity level, an amount of virtual currency earned and the like. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041768 | Systems, Methods and Machine Readable Mediums to Select a Title for Content Production - Systems, methods and machine-readable mediums to identify web page titles for content production are provided. The systems may include a storage device and a processor. The storage device may store a plurality of titles, each title is associated with a respective one of a plurality of web pages. The processor may be programmed to select a title from the plurality of titles and determine a value for the selected title. The value may be based on the number of times that the selected title appears in the plurality of titles, and on the number of web pages that link to the selected title. If the value is greater than a first threshold level, the processor may be programmed to identify the selected title for online publication. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041769 | REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An RFP management system improves the process of matching researchers with relevant research projects as described in RFPs. The system creates a researcher profile based on a scan of the researcher's reports and past proposals, scans web-based and other databases for project opportunities that fit the profile, and produces a subset of RFPs for the researcher or an agent to consider. The system includes search and matching features that enable identification of expertise among researchers based on the profile content to facilitate collaboration, and to suggest research teams with the best-matched expertise for each RFP. User interfaces allow researchers to refine their profiles and give feedback to allow the system to learn and improve performance. The system also can be adapted for any application where objects with common features are to be matched and presented or visualized. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041770 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUS FOR PROVISIONING AND TRACKING MEDICAL SUPPLIES FOR MEDICAL PROCEDURES - According to one aspect, a system for provisioning medical supplies for medical procedures. The system includes at least one data storage device for storing data related to the provisioning of medical supplies, and at least one processor operably connected to the at least one data storage device. The at least one processor is configured to, for at least one medical procedure, generate a pick list including predictable medical supplies for that procedure based on a template for that procedure, receive data about predictable medical supplies picked at one or more storage locations for that procedure based on the pick list and store that data in the at least one data storage device, and receive data about unpredictable medical supplies picked at the one or more storage locations and store that data in the at least one data storage device. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041771 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR PATIENT MONITORING - Software, or a pathway assistant, can be utilized to facilitate assessment or treatment recommendations of a remotely monitored patient and can run in the background. The pathway assistant, which searches data for key information and creates pathways, provides an automated system that standardized the assessment, treatment, management and evaluation of patients being monitored. The pathways generated allow a user, nurse, or caregiver, to follow precise instructions and assessing a patient's condition. The pathways software limits human error associated with assessment and provide more cost-effective management for large patient populations thus providing an advantage over prior art. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041772 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING LONG-TERM PATIENT OUTCOME - A system and method for predicting patient prognosis includes a similarity module configured in program storage media to provide a similarity function for a data source and compute similarity scores for pairs of patients. An alignment module is configured to align a query patient to a best anchor timestamp of a similar patient or patients so that a comparison between the query patient and at least one similar patient is provided. A prediction module is configured to predict a long-term outcome measure of the query patient based on data from the at least one similar patient. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041773 | COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVE RADIATION THERAPY - In one embodiment of the invention, a computerized method for producing a treatment decision for adaptive radiation therapy (ART) is disclosed. The method comprises several steps. First, patient specific input data regarding a patient and general patient population data are input into a treatment decision engine. Next, this data is analyzed in order to adjust a set of interrelationships and thresholds to fit the ART regimen for which a decision is being processed. In a third step, the interrelationships and thresholds are applied to the data using a processing module which formulates a decision regarding the current ART regimen, and metadata regarding the medical condition of the patient. Finally, the decision and metadata are outputted such that they are accessible to a user. Using such a method, a treatment decision for ART is produced. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041774 | PATIENT-SPECIFIC CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT - Patient-specific clinical decision support is provided. When drug information is received, its relevance is determined based on received clinical information. If the drug information is relevant, an alert is communicated to the clinician. The alert may be a warning or may direct the clinician to perform an action related to patient care. A user interface is generated using the received drug and clinical information. A clinician may interact with the user interface by acknowledging or responding to various alerts. Clinical decision support is provided based on the relevancy of the drug information to the patient's clinical situation. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041775 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR PATIENT MONITORING - Software, or a pathway assistant, can be utilized to facilitate assessment or treatment recommendations of a remotely monitored patient and can run in the background. The pathway assistant, which searches data for key information and creates pathways, provides an automated system that standardized the assessment, treatment, management and evaluation of patients being monitored. The pathways generated allow a user, nurse, or caregiver, to follow precise instructions and assessing a patient's condition. The pathways software limits human error associated with assessment and provide more cost-effective management for large patient populations thus providing an advantage over prior art. Collecting data for the software may be performed by an interactive voice response (IVR) system. The patient may dial the IVR system or the IVR system may be configured to call the patient at predefined times. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041776 | CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST INFORMATION SYSTEM AND NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM - A clinical laboratory test information system comprising: a memory configured to store time information regarding a plurality of stages included in a clinical-laboratory-test-relating operation; an operating device; a display unit; and a controller configured to: cause the display unit to display, based on the time information stored in the memory, first information indicating a temporal transition of a required time for each of the plurality of stages, such that each stage is selectable; and if one of the plurality of stages is selected by the operating device indicated in the first information, cause the display unit to display second information indicating a temporal transition of the required time for the selected stage. Also, a non-transitory storage medium. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041777 | MOBILE APPLICATIONS FOR BLOOD CENTERS - Certain examples provide systems, methods, and apparatus to provide information regarding blood collection instruments via a mobile device. An example method for blood collection instrument management includes providing a graphical representation of one or more blood collection instruments with a visual indication of a status for each instrument. The graphical representation is to visually convey information regarding each of the one or more blood collection instruments and is selectable by a user to provide additional information regarding each of the one or more blood collection instruments. The method includes facilitating access to troubleshoot and interact with the one or more blood collection instruments via the mobile device. The method includes dynamically updating the status for each instrument via communication between the mobile device and one or more blood collection facilities at which the one or more blood collection instruments are located. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041778 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PERSONALIZED DRUG PRODUCTS - A system and method for determining an optimal combination drug product for a particular patient includes a processor that receives patient information and determines an optimal combination drug product based on the received information. A system which can provide information regarding predicted events or pathologies based on received patient information and guidance on subsequent steps to ameliorate, treat or intervent. A drug production device includes a plurality of drug containers, each of which are coupled to a drug dispensing channel. A controller controls the dispensing of drug through each channel, and a combination drug product is produced from the dispensed drugs. A combination drug product includes a plurality of discrete units of a first drug, and a plurality of discrete units of a second drug. A transdermal patch includes a plurality of drug compartments, each containing a quantity of drug product, and a controller for controlling the release of drugs from each compartment. Feedback loop elements can enable iterations to optimized personalized doses. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041779 | CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A clinical decision support (CDS) system comprises: a case grouping sub-system ( | 2012-02-16 |
20120041780 | PANEL DIAGNOSTIC METHOD AND SYSTEM INCLUDING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE STRATEGIES - A system and method for computerized medical self-diagnosis is disclosed. Beginning with direct interactive dialog between a patient and a computing device to obtain patient health items, the system automatically obtains a differential self-diagnosis using active and passive strategies based on an analysis of the patient health items in conjunction with known disease properties. In one embodiment, each strategy differential self-diagnosis is obtained with different analysis criteria of the patient health items. At least a portion of the strategy differential self-diagnoses are compared and a consensus self-diagnosis based on the compared differential self-diagnoses is determined and communicated to the patient. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041781 | PHARMACY TRACKING SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATICALLY-ENTERED CUSTOMER TRANSACTION INFORMATION - A method of conducting a transaction involving transfer of a filled prescription order from a pharmacy to a customer. The method includes detecting that the filled prescription order is available for transfer from the pharmacy to the customer. Upon detecting that the filled prescription order is available for transfer from the pharmacy to the customer, the method automatically completes at least one process for facilitating the transfer of the filled prescription order to the customer. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041782 | Medical Information Handling System and Method - A system and method used to create a longitudinal medical record for an injured person that in at least one embodiment begins a location remote from a medical facility. The system includes in at least one embodiment a plurality of mobile computing devices. In at least one embodiment, the mobile computing devices provide an interface for receiving information from a first responder or a medic. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041783 | Integrated Electronic Patient Health Care and Billing Coordination System - A patient care coordination system that includes a plurality of hand-held computers in communication with a cloud computing network or a remote server that has an accessible database of all patients and the health care information of each. The cloud computing network or remote server synchronizes, in real time, patient health care information input in any one of the plurality of hand-held computers with all the others of the plurality of hand-held computers. The hand-held computers are able to download and view the patient health care information in the database in a user friendly graphic user interface equipped with a touch screen for ease of user data navigation. The cloud computing network or remote server also receives, as input, data from patient care devices that are used to monitor patient condition periodically or continuously and store these in the database for the appropriate patient. In addition, the cloud computing network or remote server transmits encrypted electronic digital patient health care information to a third party and receives acknowledgment of third party receipt of the information. The cloud computing network or remote server monitors fee-bearing information exchanged with the third party and automatically assesses a predetermined fee based on fee-bearing information exchanged and stores the billing information to the appropriate patient in the database. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041784 | Computerized Surveillance of Medical Treatment - Medical treatment is automatically surveyed. Drugs or other treatments may be monitored post-market. This surveillance may be accomplished in two ways: (1) Identify patients that potentially match templates consistent with possible adverse reactions, possibly including adverse reactions not associated with the treatment. Potentially, if the match is good enough, a single patient may be sufficient to raise an alert. Alternately, multiple patients partially matching a template may cause an alert. (2) Identify patient clusters with unusual patterns. Multiple patients associated with greater rates of adverse events or event severity not expected with the treatment are identified. The data for surveillance is acquired from multiple sources, so may be more comprehensive for early recognition of adverse effects. Data gathering and surveillance are computerized, so early, cost effective recognition may be more likely. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041785 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, MEDICAL IMAGE GROUPING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - A medical image processing apparatus includes a control unit for grouping input medical images from every same examination of a same patient by using accompanying information of the input medical images, and for saving the grouped medical images in a storage unit. When a medical image is newly input, the control unit collates accompanying information of the newly input medical image with the accompanying information of the grouped medical images to thereby judge whether the newly input medical image has been obtained by additional radiography or by re-radiography. The control unit regroups the newly input medical image and the grouped medical images from a same examination of a same patient by using the accompanying information, when the control unit judges that the newly input medical image has been obtained by either additional radiography or re-radiography. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041786 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND DEVICES FOR MANAGING MEDICAL IMAGES AND RECORDS - The disclosure herein provides methods, systems, and devices for managing, transferring, modifying, converting and/or tracking medical files and/or medical system messages. In certain embodiments, the foregoing may generally be based on requesting medical files at a first medical facility, identifying the requested medical files at a second medical facility, initiating a secure network connection between the first and second medical facility, modifying a header portion of the medical files based on patient identification information created by the first medical facility, and other processing steps. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041787 | NOVEL METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PRESCRIBING SAMPLE PRESCRIPTIONS - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing sample prescriptions electronically and creating a complete data set of information regarding the life-cycle of the sample prescription. In one embodiment, a sample prescription system comprises a management module that stores files corresponding to sample prescriptions. Each corresponding file is linked to a unique sample code. The sample code and linked file together comprise an electronic history of the sample's life-cycle, which is built dynamically over time into a comprehensive code containing all information relevant to a prescribed sample and its path to consumption. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041788 | System and Method for Facilitating Outcome-Based Health Care - In an exemplary embodiment, a server receives from a communication device (i) an identifier of a patient and (ii) a login credential associated with an individual. The server makes a determination based on the login credential that the individual is authorized to access a patient record of the patient. Subsequent to making the determination, the server prepares an assessment based on the patient record, and provides the assessment to the communication device. The assessment includes a measurement. The server subsequently receives a measurement result from the communication device and updates the patient record based on the measurement result. The server prepares a care plan based on the patient record and provides the care plan to the communication device. The care plan includes a task. The server subsequently receives a task status from the communication device and updates the patient record based on the task status. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041789 | OPTIMIZATION OF TIMING FOR DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS IN ADVANCED PATIENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - Advanced patient management systems include a unit for collecting data from a device associated with a patient, and a host in communication with the unit, the host identifying a time for the device to update data on the device. The system can identify a time for the device to update data associated with the device by developing a histogram of the availability of the device for interrogation. The system can also optimize processing loads for the system by developing a histogram of the time at which the caregiver is most likely to access the system to review the collected and processed data. Methods for optimizing device data update and processing times are also included. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041790 | Insurance Transaction System and Method - The present invention is a system and method of creating insurance with a switching device that limits the liability of the insurer. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041791 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DE-IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONAL DATA - According to some embodiments, supplemental data may be retrieved from a supplemental data source. It may be automatically detected that a first personal insurance information value in the supplemental data source is correlated with a first personal insurance information value in the original insurance claim records source. A second personal insurance information value that was previously used to replace the first personal insurance information value in the original insurance claim records source may then be retrieved, and the first personal insurance information value in the supplemental data source may be automatically replaced with that same second personal insurance information value to provide referential integrity. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041792 | CUSTOMIZABLE POPULATION SEGMENT ASSEMBLY - The presently described technology provides a mechanism for allowing custom targeted segments to be defined by parties outside of a content delivery system. Segments include collections of users grouped together based on common characteristics wherein targeted content is provided to a user based on her assignment to a segment. The present technology allows a content provider, as an example, to define a custom segment, thereby creating a grouping of users suited to receive the content provider's content. In some embodiments, a user interface is provided to the content provider, which includes all available characteristics, and value ranges corresponding to the characteristics. The content provider selects from among the characteristics and values corresponding to the characteristics to create a definition of a custom segment. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041793 | INTERACTIVE ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD - Systems and methods for defining, booking and managing activities or services by a user of digital computer implemented applications and interactive displays based on time, location and theme as related to the user's local environment. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041794 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO VALIDATE COMPONENT-BASED IMPLEMENTATIONS OF BUSINESS PROCESSES - A computer-implemented method and system to validate component-based implementation of business processes are provided. The method comprises accessing an abstract business process and a specific business process. The specific business process includes sub-steps that refine a step in the abstract business process. A refinement between the abstract business process and the specific business process is validated using a first Petri Net. Component models are accesses, where the respective component models describe an operation performed by a component corresponding to the component model. A grounding between the sub-steps and the component models is validated using a second Petri Net. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041795 | DEMAND WEIGHTED AVERAGE POWER - A system, method, and computer program that provide demand weighted average power information. The information may be communicated to management in both graphical and report form. The information provides management with an immediate understanding of energy consumption in a time frame where the energy usage can be associated with underlying causes. The result is that the need to devote considerable time and expertise to obtain and understand important energy consumption data are eliminated. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041796 | TECHNICAL MATURITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - A system is provided to display the technical status of a program and provide quick access to the program information. The system may include milestone views, links to work products and schedule data, links to templates, specification, requirements, review criteria, links to event maturity criteria, and displays of technical maturity assessments. The system may be provided at an enterprise level in HTML form to access criteria for tailoring individual programs. The system may be downloadable to a program server from an enterprise server to provide the foregoing capabilities. The system may be configured to import specific program information from program master schedules in order to populate milestone views, assessment views, and search engines. The system may be configured to provide access control with user privileges, defined for each user. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041797 | PROGRESS MONITORING METHOD - The progress monitoring method is based on a critical path method (CPM) and conducts comparisons against multiple possible outcomes utilizing neural networks that classify planned progress at specified cut-off dates during a planning stage. The classifications are used to monitor and evaluate actual progress during the construction stage. The pattern recognition techniques generalize a virtual benchmark to represent planned progress based on multiple possible outcomes generated at each cut-off date. The generalization feature overcomes the problem of variation in the quality of data collected. Patterns are constructed to encode planned and actual progress at different cut-off dates. Patterns are readily manipulated within computer programs and substitute for photographs, which are not comprehensive in representing the work status of interior and hidden parts of the under-construction facilities. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041798 | Rough Planning System for Factories - In a method for designing a factory in particular the machinery inventory, required buildings, foundations and floor space are determined. The recognition of synergy potential between individual products and inter-factory capacity planning are to be enabled. The method has the steps of: inputting planning measurement data in a measurement data memory, linking the planning measurement data in a measurement data processing device by means of at least one algorithm for specifying factory parameters. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041799 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM - An information processing apparatus includes a difference calculation module, an addition module, and an output module. The difference calculation module calculates a difference between a first information amount that is generated between a first person in charge and a second person in charge when a business that constitutes a business process is finished and a second information amount that is estimated to be generated between the first person in charge and the second person in charge when the business that constitutes the business process is finished. The addition module adds the differences calculated by the difference calculation module in a combination of the first person in the business process and the second person in the business process or in other business process related to the business process. The output module outputs the sum of the differences calculated by the addition module as risks of the business processes. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041800 | Factorial Design Expert System - An automated expert system that uses split-run and factorial design methods to determine which factors are most important in an experiment. The expert system is architected into Design, Execute and Evaluate phases, to assist a user in developing a Factorial Design experiment in which one, two or three factors are tested simultaneously. In a preferred embodiment, a database infrastructure and web client, browser-based methodology functions as the expert system (a “wizard”) to design experiments, build control groups and evaluate results, all with the goal of discovering what values for which factors will yield the optimum response from subjects. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041801 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING PSYCHOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE PATTERN INFORMATION FOR MATCHING WITH TARGET INFORMATION - A computer-implemented system for creating a classification significance pattern for end users, and enabling end users to use their classification significance pattern to conduct custom searches for target information, such as information about products, services, and jobs, as well as enabling third parties, such as vendors and potential employers, to target their advertisements to groups of users meeting a certain classification. A classification significance pattern is created by having a user take a psychological test, for example, that includes a personality test, a design taste test, a recreation/travel test, a life satisfaction test, an interactive game module, or a career/job test, and having the system automatically score such test and classifying the user based on a defined abstract classification. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041802 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESS PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - Systems, methods, and computer program products for business transformation of business performance indicators. Exemplary embodiments include a method for business transformation of business performance indicators, the method including building and refining a process model in a process modeler, defining metrics, key performance indicators and events, and creating metrics for capturing working duration and decision paths, specifying and preparing the process model for deployment, deploying the process model, calculating the working durations, the decision paths and the key performance indicators, measuring the process model real-time and feeding the working duration and decision percentage data into the process modeler. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041803 | CUSTOMER VALUE OPPORTUNITY SYSTEM - A system determines one or more winning candidate bids and includes an offer receipt module that creates an offer which includes a request for a demand shaping tactic, a type of product, a demand opportunity group, and a desired demand response. A customer potential scoring module determines a customer potential score for the offer based on the demand opportunity group and the demand shaping tactic. A bid receipt module receives a plurality bids for a plurality of different offers including the offer. A bid matching module determines one or more matching bids of the plurality of bids based on the demand shaping tactic, the type of product, the demand opportunity group, and the desired demand response of the offer. A bid determination module determines one or more winning candidate bids based on the customer potential score, ad yield of the winning candidate bid, and customer lifetime value. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041804 | System and Method for Ad-Hoc Energy Exchange Network - A method for facilitating an operation of an ad-hoc energy exchange network is disclosed. The network includes a set of nomadic charging stations (NCSs) and an energy consumer (EC). Upon receiving a request from the EC for an energy exchange, wherein the request includes a current location and a destination location of the EC, an exchange location for performing the energy exchange between a nomadic charging station (NCS) and the EC is determined based on the current location of the EC, the destination location of the EC, and a current location of the NCS. The exchange location is transmitted to the NCS and the EC. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041805 | INTERACTIVE MARKETING NETWORK AND PROCESS USING ELECTRONIC CERTIFICATES - A data processing system issuing electronic certificates through “online” networks. Each electronic certificate includes transaction data and identification data, and can be printed out on a printing device linked to a consumer's personal input device, or electronically stored in a designated data base until a specified expiration date. Consumers access the data processing system online, browse among their choices, and make their selections. Certificate issuers have online access to the data processing system and can create or revise offers, and provide various instructions pertaining to the certificates, including limitations as to the number of certificates to be issued in total and to each individual consumer. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041806 | SOCIAL NEWS RANKING USING GOSSIP DISTANCE - Devices, systems, and methods are directed towards ranking of messages based on a hop distance a forwarded message travels through a social network. As a message is forwarded by a member of the social network the hop distance increases. As the message is forwarded, recipients and/or senders may view the hop distance in real-time. The hop distance may reflect a number of times the message is forwarded to reach a recipient, or the maximum number of times the message is forwarded. The message may be displayed to a member in a rank ordering based on the hop distance, and messages with hop distances below a defined value may be deleted from a displayed list after a period of time. In one embodiment, a message may be forwarded anonymously to, for example, encourage members to forward the message. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041807 | INCENTIVE-BASED SERVER COOPERATION SYSTEM, INCENTIVE-BASED SERVER COOPERATION METHOD AND INCENTIVE-BASED SERVER COOPERATION PROGRAM - Only a limited number of service servers have been provided with the function of feeding back profits obtained through cooperation of multiple service servers to developers of cooperation modules and business entities running the service servers as incentives. In the present invention, a cooperation server for achieving cooperation between the service servers includes: a business entity data storage means for storing business entity data of the respective service servers; a cooperation module storage means for storing cooperation modules used for achieving cooperation between the service servers; a developer data storage means for storing developer data related to developers of the cooperation modules; a cooperation history storage means for storing cooperation history data of the cooperation modules; and an incentive settlement means for performing calculation of amounts of incentives and payment of the incentives. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041808 | Mobile System and Method for Loyalty Currency Redemption - Systems and methods are disclosed for generating monetary currency using a mobile communications device for immediate use for the purchase of items, wherein the monetary currency comprises a credit instrument or a credit associated with a credit or debit card, the credit is valid for a defined period of time, and the credit is generated from converting non-monetary reward currency into monetary currency. The system and method are implemented by accessing a currency software module operating on the mobile communications device, which facilitates account log-in, entry of an item purchase amount and user selection of a loyalty program from which non-monetary currency can be redeemed and converted to monetary currency. The mobile communications device receives the credit from a payment provider server, typically via a currency server. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041809 | METHOD FOR INTEGRATING ONLINE AND OFFLINE VIRTUAL MONEY WITH AN ELECTRONIC GIFT CERTIFICATE, AND SYSTEM FOR SAME - The present invention relates a method for integrating on-line and off-line virtual currency into electric gift certificates. The present invention includes a step of receiving an identifying ID and an identifying authentication number of a business member providing virtual currency, and a reference denomination value of the virtual currency, a step of generating an electric gift certificate having the reference denomination value of the virtual currency, a step of sending a unique identification number of the generated electric gift certificate, a step of receiving a identification number of an owner to whom the electric gift certificate is to be sent, and a step of recording the identification number of the owner of the electric gift certificate and sending the generated electric gift certificate to the owner of the electric gift certificate. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041810 | Universal System and Method for Loyalty Currency Redemption - Systems and methods are disclosed for generating payment values of goods and services (rewards). The disclosed systems and methods can include dynamically calculating, based upon a received input, a plurality of payment pairs, each of the plurality of payment pairs comprising a non-monetary currency value and/or a monetary currency value. The monetary currency value is paid to a universal currency server provider. The non-monetary currency value is redeemed from a reward program and a credit based on the redeemed non-monetary currency value is paid to the provider of the universal currency server. The provider of the universal currency server can deduct a fee for its services from the combination of the monetary currency value and the non-monetary currency value and send a credit for the remaining value to the merchant providing the goods or services. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041811 | e-COMMERCE VOLUME PRICING - A system and method that facilitates e-commerce volume pricing is provided. According to one aspect of the present invention, the system includes an offers and orders component that receives and aggregates orders for a product from a plurality of buyers. The system also includes a logistics component that determines a shipping price for the product for a subset of the plurality of buyers. The shipping price is determined at least in part upon the subset of buyers sharing a shipping method. According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided in which buyers within an aggregated purchasing group may be subject to different pricing structures for the same product. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041812 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USING REWARD POINTS TO LIQUIDATE PRODUCTS - A user selects a product to be liquidated from a product provider and then designates to the transacting entity that reward points are to be used towards the purchase of the liquidated product. The transacting entity acts to decrease the number of reward points in the user's reward account by the required number of points. The reward account holder conveys consideration to the transacting entity equivalent to the par value of the reward points consumer obtains the product in exchange for reward points having a retail value equivalent to what he would have otherwise paid for the product, while the reward account holder is required to convey only the par value of the points. The product provider is able to liquidate the product and obtain payment equivalent to what it would otherwise have obtained in a prior art liquidation process, auction or trading environment. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041813 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NETWORKED LOYALTY PROGRAM - A system for implementing a loyalty program on a network-wide level is disclosed. The system associates UPC and SKU data on a network level to reward consumers and/or to analyze the data for a variety of business purposes, such as market segmentation analyses and/or analyses relating to consumer spending behaviors or patterns for example. The association of UPC and SKU data by the system facilitates implementation of an incentive or loyalty program by providing a universal rewards currency. This universal rewards currency may be “spent” by participants who have earned rewards and accepted by the other participants in the multi-tiered network created by the system. The network may comprise any number of participants, including consumers, retailers (and any of their employees), manufacturers, third-party providers, and the like. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041814 | METHOD OF CREATING A COMMUNITY USING SEQUENTIAL NUMBERING - The creation of a fan based community as an affinity marketing platform. The community members are classified by a user number linked to the priority of their claim for affinity with the organization. Their user numbers are posted on a web-page having a unique URL. The user is issued with a tag that displays the user number and a machine readable QR code that encodes the | 2012-02-16 |
20120041815 | Wallet Consolidator to Facilitate a Transaction - A wallet consolidator to warehouse information pertaining to at least one card and to retrieve the warehoused information to facilitate a transaction is provided. An embodiment of a Wallet consolidator can include a housing, one or more input devices positioned to receive information, and a memory device positioned to store at least a portion of the information received by the one or more input devices. The wallet consolidator can also include a radio frequency wireless communication interface associated with the housing and adapted to communicate with a point-of-sale terminal thereby to provide at least a portion of the Information stored in the memory device to the point-of-sale terminal, a display screen, and a controller positioned within the housing in communication with and to control each of the one or more input devices, the memory device, the radio frequency wireless communication interface, and the display screen. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041816 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING COMPETITIVE MARKET VALUES OF AN AD IMPRESSION - The present disclosure is directed to methods and systems for determining competitive market values for an ad impression on an advertiser exchange. An engine executing on a device may receive a candidate set of inputs associated with ad impressions. The engine may determine competitive market values for an ad impression on an advertiser exchange. The engine may determine candidate clearing prices based on the candidate set of inputs and history of clearing prices on the advertiser exchange. The engine may generate, based on the candidate clearing prices, a competitive market value prediction for the ad impression on the advertiser exchange. The competitive market value prediction may comprise a distribution function of predicted clearing prices on the advertiser exchange. The engine may generate, based on the competitive market value prediction, a fair market value bid for the ad impression in the context of a specific ad campaign. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041817 | PRIORITIZING POPULATION SEGMENT ASSIGNMENTS TO OPTIMIZE CAMPAIGN GOALS - The present technology prioritizes or ranks segments based on the content provider's or content delivery system's goals or priorities. The content delivery system can monitor its performance in meeting any known goals, and should the content delivery system recognize that its progress towards meeting a goal is not satisfactory, the content delivery system can prioritize some segments over others to meet one or more goals. Since prioritizing a selection of segments can impact other system and content provider goals, the system can also be provided with a performance predictor that can run a series of prediction models to predict the optimum prioritization of segments to result in the best performance of the system. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041818 | AD YIELD ARBITRATION ENGINE FOR ONLINE RETAILERS - A system for determining whether to present an online bid content from a prequalified value chain entity at a virtual point-of-decision on a web site includes an online customer database storing online customer data, a product manufacturer database storing prequalified value chain entity profiles and a dynamic arbitration engine. The dynamic arbitration engine determines whether a customer is at the virtual point-of-decision on the web site, a customer segment of the customer based on the online customer data, a next most profitable action based on the customer segment of the customer, prequalified value chain entities based on product manufactured and the bid content that may be presented to the customer at the virtual point-of-decision based on the customer segment of the customer and a product type. The dynamic arbitration engine also inserts the bid content at the virtual point-of-decision. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041819 | MOBILE CONTENT CROSS-INVENTORY YIELD OPTIMIZATION - A system for selecting among a plurality of advertising content from a first and second mobile content inventory for presentation of the advertising content on a mobile communication facility includes (a) receiving at a server a request for an advertisement associated with a user-action initiated at the mobile communication facility operated by a user; (b) searching the first and second mobile content inventory for a first and second advertisement, respectively, that corresponds to the request for an advertisement; (c) determining that the first advertisement is more relevant for presentation to the mobile communication facility than the second advertisement, wherein the determination is based at least on a respective yield optimization of the first and second advertisements; (d) determining that the yield associated with the first advertisement is greater than the yield associated with the second advertisement; (e) and transmitting the first advertisement instead of the second advertisement. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041820 | MACHINE TO STRUCTURE DATA AS COMPOSITE PROPERTY - Information pertinent to an item or product may be organized (e.g., structured) as a property of the item or product. The property may be represented (e.g., stored) as property data in a data structure of the item or product. A property may have one or more properties of its own. In this manner, information pertinent to items, products, properties, or any suitable combination thereof may be structured with any level of sophistication or complexity. Accordingly, a data structure may be generated to contain one or more properties of an item or product, as well as to contain one or more properties of those properties. A “composite property” refers to such a data structure and may be indexed based on a value contained therein. The value may be used to identify the item or the product, for example, as an instance of a virtual product. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041821 | Electronic System for Bargaining and Promoting - An electronic system for bargaining and promoting in a shopping area is disclosed. A mobile communication device carried by a customer may be connected to the electronic system at a point of display item through an ad hoc communication link. The customer may send an offering price for the displayed item. The retailer and the customer may negotiate using the electronic system as long as the mobile device is connected to the system in the shopping area. The customer may also send communication addresses to the system at the point of display item. The retailer may send promotional materials related to the displayed item to the customer through a public communication network. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041822 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROCESSING METADATA - Systems and methods for processing metadata are described. An application makes available a social networking application with an application programming interface (API) configured to receive social data from a social networking site for a user. The application publisher system receives advertisement metadata from a first system and social data from a social networking site system. Based at least in part on the advertisement metadata and the social data, the application publisher system identifies a suitable advertisement and transmits a request for the identified advertisement to the first system, wherein the social data for the user is not transmitted to the first system, to thereby retain the privacy of the user. The identified advertisement is then electronically provided to the user. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041823 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR PROVIDING AN ELECTRONIC ADVERTISEMENT TO A MOBILE DEVICE - According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes a method for providing an electronic advertisement to a mobile device. The method includes receiving, at an advertisement management server and from a mobile device, a request message for an electronic offer certificate associated with a touch point, the request message including an offer identifier associated with the touch point and a subscriber identifier associated with the mobile device, wherein the offer identifier was obtained by interfacing the mobile device with the touch point. The method also includes identifying, based on the offer identifier, an electronic offer certificate. The method further includes utilizing the subscriber identifier to communicate the identified electronic offer certificate to the mobile device. The method further includes identifying, based on the offer identifier, an electronic advertisement. The method further includes utilizing the subscriber identifier to communicate the identified electronic advertisement to the mobile device. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041824 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MOBILE ADVERTISING SERVICE IN MOBILE ADVERTISING SYSTEM - A method and apparatus is provided for providing a mobile advertising service in a mobile advertising system, and for sharing a preference to deliver a personalized advertisement requested by a particular group member to other users. In a method for providing a mobile advertising service by a server of a mobile advertising system, a group creation request message including a user list and a group user preference is received from an advertising engine, a group is created according to the user list and the group user preference in the group creation request message, a response message to the group creation request message is sent to the advertising engine, an advertisement request message is received from one of advertising engines included in the user list, an advertisement appropriate for the group user preference is selected, and the selected advertisement is delivered to at least one advertising engine included in the user list. The at least one advertising engine is included in the same group. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041825 | CONTEXTUAL TRANSLATION OF NON-INTERACTIVE ADVERTISEMENTS INTO INTERACTIVE ADVERTISEMENTS - Apparatus and methods trigger delivery of interactive advertisements to devices, such as wireless mobile devices, based upon exposure of a user to non-interactive advertisements. The non-interactive advertisements may include advertisements such as publicly displayed billboards or video advertisements embedded into broadcast programming There are many places and many instances where a device user may be exposed to an advertisement, and often the user does not have the ability to retain information associated with the advertisement. Rather than merely utilizing contextual information limited to user location or user profile information, the apparatus and methods correlate one or more behavioral context parameters to exposure, including exposure duration, in order to ascertain a user's interest in the non-interactive advertisement and thus suitability for receiving a corresponding interactive advertisement. | 2012-02-16 |
20120041826 | Method for Transformation of a Website - A method for websites to be transformed and repurposed into other forms of design, use, and functions for other purposes, to benefit the original websites, website purposes, and owners of websites. A user would first speak or type into a computer. The GUI is a website campaign manager located on/at a website URL. A user creates a campaign and submits their website URL. The system then information form the website or uses that entered by a user. A data processor module, running on a computer or equivalent machine, assembles the extracted information. The system provides a language selection option where the final product can be created using one or more languages and then published, publically or privately, printed, and submitted for creation. A website campaign or advertisement is created along with a complementary website search software application, which can later be edited. | 2012-02-16 |