Author: claimsbot

1. A grip garment for assisting a user in carrying an item, said garment comprising:
an article of clothing adapted to be worn on the torso of the user and at least partially covering a user’s shoulders, said article comprising a flexible material having an inside surface and outside surface, said article having a left side, a right side, a back side and a front side, the right side and left side being generally parallel to the sagittal plane of a torso, at least one lateral grip area, a serratus anterior area and an external oblique area located on the right side and left side of said article, wherein said lateral grip area has an overall length that extends from the serratus anterior area to the external oblique area and said lateral grip area extends from said front side to said back side; and
a. friction material applied to said lateral grip area to form a frictional surface extending above said outside surface of said article, said frictional surface adapted to be in contact with an item carried under the arm of a user to resist the relative motion of the item with respect to said grip area.
2. The grip garment of claim 1, wherein said article is selected from the group consisting of a vest, a short sleeve shirt, and a long sleeve shirt.
3. The grip garment of claim 1, wherein said article has a frictional surface on a right lateral grip area and a left lateral grip area.
4. The grip garment of claim 1, further comprising a reinforcing material, operatively attached to said flexible material, said reinforcing material covering said lateral grip area and extending around at least one of the user’s shoulders to distribute a load to the shoulder and resist deformation of said flexible material.
5. The grip garment of claim 1, further comprising a support belt fixedly attached to a lower torso area of said article, said belt including a relatively wide back portion and two relatively narrow straps extending from first and second ends of said back portion, said belt having fastening means for coupling said straps at distal ends.
6. The grip garment of claim 1, wherein said grip area has frictional material applied in a spaced pattern.
7. The grip garment of claim 6, wherein said frictional material is applied in a polka of pattern.
8. A grip garment for assisting a user in carrying an item, said garment comprising:
a vest comprising a flexible material having an inside surface and outside surface, said vest having a left side, a right side, a back side and a front side, the sides being generally parallel to the sagittal plane of a torso, a right lateral grip area located on the right side and a left lateral grip area located on the left side, a right serratus anterior area located on the right side and a left serratus anterior area located on the left side, a right external oblique area located on the right side and a left external oblique area located on the left side, wherein each of said lateral grip areas have an overall length that extends from the serratus anterior area to the external oblique area and said lateral grip area extends from said front side to said back side; and
a friction material applied to each of said lateral grip areas to form a frictional surface extending above said outside surface of said vest, said frictional surface being in contact with an item carried under the arm of a user to resist the relative motion of the item.
9. The grip garment of claim 8, further comprising selectively detachable right and left arm sections.
10. The grip garment of claim 9, wherein said right arm section has a right brachial grip area and said left arm section has a left brachial grip area, said arm sections have friction material applied to said right brachial grip area and said left brachial grip area to form right and left brachial frictional surfaces for further resisting the relative motion of the item.
11. The grip garment of claim 8, wherein said vest has a friction material applied to an anterior grip area to form an anterior frictional surface; said anterior frictional surface being in contact with an item held against the ventral portion of the torso of a user to resist the relative motion of the item.
12. The grip garment of claim 8, further comprising a support belt fixedly attached to a lower torso area of said vest, said belt including a relatively wide back portion and two relatively narrow straps extending from first and second ends of the back portion, said belt having fastening means for coupling said straps at distal ends.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method comprising:
forming a tunnel oxide layer on a substrate;
depositing via atomic layer deposition a first layer of silicon nitride over said tunnel oxide layer, said first layer of silicon nitride comprises a first silicon richness; and
depositing via atomic layer deposition a second layer of silicon nitride over said first layer of silicon nitride, said second layer of silicon nitride comprises a second silicon richness that is different than said first silicon richness.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said second silicon richness is less than said first silicon richness.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said second silicon richness is greater than said first silicon richness.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein said first layer of silicon nitride comprises a stoichiometric silicon nitride film.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein said second layer of silicon nitride comprises a stoichiometric silicon nitride film.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said second layer of silicon nitride comprises a stoichiometric silicon nitride film.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said first layer of silicon nitride and said second layer of silicon nitride are part of a non-volatile memory.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises silicon.
9. An integrated circuit memory device comprising:
a substrate;
a tunnel oxide layer disposed over said substrate;
a first layer of silicon nitride disposed over said tunnel oxide layer via atomic layer deposition, said first layer of silicon nitride comprises a first silicon richness; and
a second layer of silicon nitride disposed over said first layer of silicon nitride via atomic layer deposition, said second layer of silicon nitride comprises a second silicon richness that is different than said first silicon richness.
10. The integrated circuit memory device of claim 9, wherein said second silicon richness is less than said first silicon richness.
11. The integrated circuit memory device of claim 9, wherein said second silicon richness is greater than said first silicon richness.
12. The integrated circuit memory device of claim 9, wherein said substrate comprises silicon.
13. The integrated circuit memory device of claim 9, further comprising:
a third layer of silicon nitride disposed over said second layer of silicon nitride via atomic layer deposition, said third layer of silicon nitride comprises a third silicon richness that is different than said second silicon richness.
14. The integrated circuit memory device of claim 13, wherein said third silicon richness is less than said second silicon richness.
15. The integrated circuit memory device of claim 13, wherein said third silicon richness is greater than said second silicon richness.
16. The integrated circuit memory device of claim 13, wherein said third layer of silicon nitride comprises a stoichiometric silicon nitride film.
17. A method comprising:
forming a tunnel oxide layer on a silicon substrate;
depositing via atomic layer deposition a first layer of silicon nitride over said tunnel oxide layer, said first layer of silicon nitride comprising a first silicon richness; and
depositing via atomic layer deposition a second layer of silicon nitride over said first layer of silicon nitride, said second layer of silicon nitride comprising a second silicon richness that is less than said first silicon richness.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:
depositing via atomic layer deposition a third layer of silicon nitride over said second layer of silicon nitride, said third layer of silicon nitride comprising a third silicon richness that is less than said second silicon richness.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein said third layer of silicon nitride comprises a stoichiometric silicon nitride film.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein said first layer of silicon nitride and said second layer of silicon nitride are part of an integrated circuit non-volatile memory.

1. A method comprising:
retrieving from one or more databases a first set of information, the first set of information comprising payment card transaction sales data associated with each of a plurality of merchants;
retrieving from one or more data bases a second set of information, the second set of information comprising securities market data associated with each of the plurality of merchants;
generating one or more groupings of merchants based on the first set of information and the second set of information;
ranking each of the merchants, relative to the other merchants, in the one or more groupings into a hierarchy based on selection criteria;
identifying a predetermined number of merchants ranked at different levels of the hierarchy in the one or more groupings;
selecting the identified merchants from the one or more groupings; and
combining the selected merchants into an index.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more groupings is one or more units selected from the group consisting of a sector, a market, a market sector, an industry sector, a geographic sector, an international sector, a government issue sector, and a tax-exempt sector.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more groupings is one or more sectors selected from the group consisting of a construction industry sector; manufacturing industry sector; wholesale trade industry sector; retail trade industry sector; transportation or warehousing industry sector; information industry sector; finance or insurance industry sector; real estate or rental or leasing industry sector; professional, scientific, or technical services industry sector; management of companies or enterprises industry sector; administrative or support or waste management or remediation services industry sector; education services industry sector; health care or social assistance industry sector; arts, entertainment, or recreation industry sector; accommodation or food services industry sector; agriculture, forestry, fishing or hunting industry sector; mining industry sector; utilities industry sector; other services industry sector; and public administration industry sector.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection criteria comprises (i) payment card transaction sales gross dollar volume (GDV) at each of the plurality of merchants for a defined time period andor (ii) number of payment card transaction sales at each of the plurality of merchants for a defined time period.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
retrieving from one or more data bases a third set of information, the third set of information comprising financial reported data associated with each of the plurality of merchants; and
generating the one or more groupings of merchants based on the first set of information, the second set of information, and the third set of information.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:
retrieving from one or more databases a fourth set of information, the fourth set of information comprising social media information indicative of consumer sentiment of a merchant for a defined time period; and
generating the one or more groupings of merchants based on the first set of information, the second set of information, the third set of information, and the fourth set of information.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising rebalancing the index on a periodic basis.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving, generating, ranking, identifying, selecting and combining steps use one or more algorithms.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the relative ranking of each of the merchants in the one or more groupings provides relative weightings of the merchants that comprise the index, and are rebalanced when the weighting of one or more of the merchants exceeds 25% of the size of the index, based on merchant payment card transaction sales (GDV) for a defined time period.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the relative ranking of each of the merchants in the one or more groupings is from largest to smallest, based on merchant payment card transaction sales (GDV) for a defined time period.
11. A system comprising:
one or more databases configured to store a first set of information, the first set of information comprising payment card transaction sales data associated with each of a plurality of merchants;
one or more data bases configured to store a second set of information, the second set of information comprising securities market data associated with each of the plurality of merchants;
a processor configured to:
generate one or more groupings of merchants based on the first set of information and the second set of information;
rank each of the merchants, relative to the other merchants, in the one or more groupings into a hierarchy based on selection criteria;
identify a predetermined number of merchants ranked at different levels of the hierarchy in the one or more groupings;
select the identified merchants from the one or more groupings; and
combine the selected merchants into an index.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more groupings is one or more units selected from the group consisting of a sector, a market, a market sector, an industry sector, a geographic sector, an international sector, a government issue sector, and a tax-exempt sector.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more groupings is one or more sectors selected from the group consisting of a construction industry sector; manufacturing industry sector; wholesale trade industry sector; retail trade industry sector; transportation or warehousing industry sector; information industry sector; finance or insurance industry sector; real estate or rental or leasing industry sector; professional, scientific, or technical services industry sector; management of companies or enterprises industry sector; administrative or support or waste management or remediation services industry sector; education services industry sector; health care or social assistance industry sector; arts, entertainment, or recreation industry sector; accommodation or food services industry sector; agriculture, forestry, fishing or hunting industry sector; mining industry sector; utilities industry sector; other services industry sector; and public administration industry sector.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the selection criteria comprises (i) payment card transaction sales gross dollar volume (GDV) at each of the plurality of merchants for a defined time period andor (ii) number of payment card transaction sales at each of the plurality of merchants for a defined time period.
15. The system of claim 11, further comprising:
one or more data bases configured to store a third set of information, the third set of information comprising financial reported data associated with each of the plurality of merchants; and
a processor configured to:
generate the one or more groupings of merchants based on the first set of information, the second set of information, and the third set of information.
16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:
one or more databases configured to store a fourth set of information, the fourth set of information comprising social media information indicative of consumer sentiment of a merchant for a defined time period; and
a processor configured to:
generate the one or more groupings of merchants based on the first set of information, the second set of information, the third set of information, and the fourth set of information.
17. The system of claim 11, further comprising a processor configured to rebalance the index on a periodic basis.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to retrieve, generate, rank, identify, select and combine use one or more algorithms.
19. The system of claim 11, wherein the relative ranking of each of the merchants provides relative weightings of the merchants that comprise the index, and are rebalanced when the weighting of one or more of the merchants exceeds 25% of the size of the index, based on merchant payment card transaction sales (GDV).
20. An index comprising:
a plurality of merchants, wherein:
each merchant is associated with a payment card company;
each merchant is ranked relative to the other merchants of the plurality of merchants based on selection criteria; and
wherein the selection criteria comprises (i) payment card transaction sales gross dollar volume (GDV) at each of the plurality of merchants for a defined time period andor (ii) number of payment card transaction sales at each of the plurality of merchants for a defined time period.
21. The index of claim 20, wherein the index is rebalanced, based on merchant payment card transaction sales (GDV), by at least one computer processor when a threshold value is exceeded.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A positionable seat assembly for an aircraft, comprising:
(a) a movable seat pan and a movable backrest,
(b) a fixed seat base frame having a first slide and a second slide, wherein the first slide and the second slide are generally non-parallel to one another, wherein the movable seat pan is attached to the first slide and wherein the movable backrest is linked to a carriage that guides movement of the backrest along the second slide, and wherein the seat pan and the backrest pivot with respect to one another about a pivot point; and
(c) a single linear actuator having one end associated with the seat pan and one end associated with the backrest carriage, such that both ends of the actuator are associated with moving parts;

wherein any change in the length of the linear actuator will force the seat pan and the backrest carriage to move along the slide which they are respectively attached to, to a unique possible position, modifying the seat pan position and the back rest recline angle.
2. The seat assembly of claim 1, wherein the seat assembly is configured to be positionable in an upright position, in a bed-like position, and in any number of positions therebetween.
3. The seat assembly of claim 1, wherein the backrest is linked to the carriage about a pivot point.
4. The seat assembly of claim 1, wherein the first slide is generally horizontal.
5. The seat assembly of claim 1, wherein the second slide has a generally upward incline toward a back of the seat assembly.
6. The seat assembly of claim 1, further comprising a footrest that extends when the seat assembly is in a bed-like position.
7. The seat assembly of claim 1, further comprising a second actuator associated with the backrest, configured to provide back adjustment independent from the seat pan adjustment.
8. The seat assembly of claim 1, wherein the seat is configured to have an angled rake during adjustment between an upright position and a bed-like position.
9. The seat assembly of claim 1, wherein the seat assembly is installed in a cabin of an aircraft.