Author: claimsbot

1. A capsule comprising a fluid, and a fluid encapsulating member encapsulating the fluid, wherein the fluid encapsulating member comprises a light transmissive encapsulating portion to encapsulate the fluid, and securing means on the encapsulating portion to secure the capsule to a support arrangement.
2. A capsule according to claim 1 wherein the encapsulating portion is transparent and the securing means comprises a securing portion extending from the encapsulating portion.
3. A capsule according to claim 2 wherein the securing portion comprises a web extending from the encapsulating member, the web comprising one or more flanges extending outwardly around the encapsulating members and a bridge extending inwardly of the encapsulating member, and the encapsulating member comprises a frame adapted to be arranged around the support, the frame defining a central space across which the bridge extends.
4. A capsule according to claim 2 wherein the securing portion comprises a web extending from the encapsulating member, the web comprising one or more flanges extending outwardly around the encapsulating member and a bridge extending inwardly of the encapsulating member, and the securing portion extends substantially wholly around the encapsulating member.
5. A capsule according to claim 1 wherein the encapsulating member is formed of a flexible material, and the securing means is formed of a flexible material.
6. A capsule according to claim 1, wherein the encapsulating member comprises a plurality of compartments, and each compartment is separated from the, or each, adjacent compartment by inner walls, each compartment holding a liquid, and the liquid in each compartment being of a different colour to the liquid in other compartments.
7. A capsule according to claim 1 wherein the encapsulating member includes decorative elements thereon, the decorative elements comprising a decorated inner face of an outer skin of the encapsulating member.
8. A capsule according to claim 1 wherein a stiffening member is provided on the encapsulating member to provide rigidity to the encapsulating member, the stiffening member extending across the encapsulating member.
9. A capsule according to claim 8 wherein the stiffening member extends across the encapsulating portion and across the securing means.
10. A capsule according to claim 8 wherein the encapsulating member has a face which is generally planar, the face extending across the encapsulating member and the securing portion, and the stiffening member is provided on the face and extends wholly across the face, and the stiffening member extends outwardly from the encapsulating member and extends substantially wholly around the encapsulating member.
11. A capsule according to claim 8 wherein display means is provided on the encapsulating portion andor on the stiffening member.
12. A support assembly comprising a capsule as claimed in claim 1 and a support arrangement configured to receive the securing portion of the capsule.
13. A support assembly according to claim 12 wherein the support arrangement comprises a formation to receive the capsule, the formation being in the form of an aperture in which the capsule is arranged.
14. A support assembly according to claim 13 wherein the support arrangement defines a recess extending from the capsule to receive the securing means of the capsule.
16. A support assembly according to claim 12 wherein the support arrangement comprises a plurality of support members, arranged upon one another, including an inner and outer support member, each of said inner and outer support member having holding portions to hold the aforesaid securing portion of the encapsulating member.
17. A support assembly according to claim 16 wherein the holding portions comprise inner edge regions of the aforesaid inner and outer support members that extend over the securing portion.
18. A support assembly according to claim 16 wherein the support arrangement comprises at least one spacer member arranged between the inner and outer support members to space the inner and outer support members from one another.
19. A support assembly according to claim 16 including a stiffening member, the stiffening member being received in the recess, and the inner support member including a shoulder extending around the aperture, wherein the stiffening member abuts against the shoulder.
20. A support assembly according to claim 12 wherein the capsule extends around the support arrangement, and constitutes a frame for the support arrangement.
21. A support assembly according to claim 23 wherein the capsule defines an aperture, the securing means comprises a bridge extending across the aperture, and the support arrangement comprises a flap formation to cooperate with the bridge.
22. A support assembly according to claims 20 wherein attachment means is provided to attach the support assembly to a carrier.
23. A support assembly according to claim 22 wherein the attachment means comprises a sucker mounted on the capsule.
24. A support assembly according to claim 20 wherein a stand member is provided to allow the support assembly to stand in an upright condition.
25. A support assembly according to claim 24 wherein the stand member comprises an easel formation hingedly attached to the support arrangement.
26. A support assembly according to claim 20 wherein the capsule is substantially devoid of a stiffening member capable of transmitting light therethrough, the encapsulating member being mounted on the support arrangement, and the support arrangement extending beneath the encapsulating member.
27. A support assembly according to claim 26 wherein the securing portion constitutes a rear face of the encapsulating portion.

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 of optimizing a network configuration, the network including a plurality of switching nodes and a plurality of intermediate transport nodes, each of the plurality of intermediate transport nodes being assigned to one of the plurality of switching nodes, a location of at least one of the plurality of switching nodes being fixed, the method comprising:
reassigning the plurality of intermediate transport nodes to a nearest switching node;
modifying locations of those of the plurality of switching nodes that are not fixed; and
repeating the steps of reassigning and modifying such that a sum of distances between the plurality of intermediate transport nodes and the respective switching nodes to which each of the intermediate transport nodes are assigned is minimized and no further reassignments of the plurality of intermediate transport nodes take place.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
during modification of the locations of the plurality of central switching nodes, centering each of those of the plurality of switching nodes that are not fixed among a plurality of intermediate transport nodes assigned to the respective switching node.
3. A method of optimizing a network including switching nodes and base stations, comprising the steps of:
a) obtaining an initial network configuration of n switching nodes and a plurality of base stations, a number m of the n central nodes being movable;
b) calculating a distance from each base station to each switching node;
c) determining a nearest switching node to each base station;
d) assigning each base station to the corresponding nearest switching node;
e) centering each of the m moveable switching nodes among the base stations assigned to the respective switching node; and
f) repeating steps b) through e) until none of the base stations are reassigned from one switching node to another during assignment.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:
before calculation of distances, determining coordinates of each of the switching nodes and base stations in the network; and
during centering, for each movable switching node, determining a central location by calculating an average latitude and average longitude for the base stations assigned to the switching node.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the distances are great circle distances along the earth’s surface.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the network is a fixed wireless telecommunications network.
7. An article comprising a computer-readable medium which stores computer-executable instructions for causing a computer system coupled to a system memory to:
a) obtain an initial network configuration of n switching nodes and a plurality of base stations, a number m of the n central nodes being movable;
b) calculate a distance from each base station to each switching node;
c) determine a nearest switching node to each base station;
d) assign each base station to the corresponding nearest switching node;
e) center each of the m moveable switching nodes among the base stations assigned to the respective switching node; and
f) repeat steps b) through e) until none of the base stations are reassigned from one switching node to another during assignment.
8. The article of claim 7, further causing a computer system to:
before calculation of distances, determine coordinates of each of the switching nodes and base stations in the network; and
during centering, for each movable switching node, determine a central location by calculating an average latitude and average longitude for the base stations assigned to the switching node.
9. The article of claim 7, wherein the distances are great circle distances along the earth’s surface.
10. A network comprising:
at least one fixed central node located in at least one fixed location;
at least one moveable central node; and
a plurality of intermediate transport nodes, each end node initially coupled and assigned to one of:
a) one of the at least one fixed central nodes; and
b) one of the at least one moveable central nodes;

wherein the network is optimized by iteratively recoupling and reassigning each of the plurality of intermediate transport nodes to a nearest central node and relocating the movable central nodes to a central location among respectively assigned intermediate transport nodes.
11. The network of claim 10, wherein the network arrangement is configured such that a sum of distances between the plurality of intermediate transport nodes and the respective central nodes to which each of the intermediate transport nodes are assigned is minimized.
12. The network of claim 11, wherein the distances are great circle distances along the earth’s surface.
13. A method of optimizing a network configuration, the network including a plurality of switching nodes and a plurality of base stations, each of the plurality of base stations being assigned to one of the plurality of switching nodes, a location of at least one of the plurality of switching nodes being fixed, the method comprising:
reassigning each one of the plurality of base stations to a switching node with which a communication cost factor is minimized;
modifying locations of those of the plurality of switching nodes that are not fixed; and
repeating the steps of reassigning and modifying such that the cost factor for communications between the plurality of base stations and the respective switching nodes to which each of the base stations are assigned is minimized and no further reassignments of the plurality of base stations take place.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein minimizing the cost factor of communications includes the step of minimizing a sum of distances between the plurality of base stations and the respective switching nodes to which each of the base stations are assigned.

1. A bone-repair composition comprising a micro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix; a nonmicro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix; and a hydrating material.
2. The bone-repair composition of claim 1, wherein the micro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix has a particle size of 0.05 to 250 \u03bcm.
3. The bone-repair composition of claim 1, wherein the nonmicro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix has a particle size of 250 to 2000 \u03bcm.
4. The bone-repair composition of claim 1, wherein the hydrating material is one or more selected from the group consisting of distilled water, saline solution, concentrated saline solution and ion solution.
5. The bone-repair composition of claim 4, wherein the hydrating material contains a liquid polyhydroxy compound.
6. The bone-repair composition of claim 5, wherein the liquid polyhydroxy compound is glycerol or glycerol ester.
7. The bone-repair composition of claim 4, wherein the hydrating material contains a biocompatible binder.
8. The bone-repair composition of claim 7, wherein the biocompatible binder is one or more selected from the group consisting of fibrin adhesive, fibrinogen, thrombin, mussel adhesive protein, silk, elastin, collagen, casein, gellatin, albumin, keratin, chitin and chitosan.
9. The bone-repair composition of claim 7, wherein the biocompatible binder is one or more selected from the group consisting of starch, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, polylactic-co-glycolic acid, polydioxanone, polycaprolactone, polycarbonate, polyoxoester, polyamino acid, poly-anhydride, polyhydroxybutylate, polyhydroxyvalerate, poly(propylene glycol-co-fumaric acid), tyrosine-based-polycarbonate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, cellulose, ethyl cellulose and carboxy methyl cellulose.
10. The bone-repair composition of claim 4, wherein the hydrating material contains one or more selected from the group consisting of antibiotic, vitamins, glucosamine, cytokine and growth factors.
11. The bone-repair composition of claim 1, wherein the weight ratio of the micro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix: the nonmicro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix: the hydrating material is 0.1 to 3:1:1 to 10.
12. The bone-repair composition of claim 11, wherein the weight ratio of the micro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix: the nonmicro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix: the hydrating material is 0.5 to 1:1:3 to 5.
13. The bone-repair composition of claim 1, further comprising one or more selected from the group consisting of cancellous bone chips, compact bone chips, hydroxyapatite (HA, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2), carbonic acid apatite (CA, Ca10(PO4)6CO3), tricalcium phosphate (TCP, Ca3(PO4)2), calcium pyrophosphate (Ca2P2O7), anorganic bone, dental tooth enamel, aragonite, calcite, nacre, graphite, pyrolytic carbon, calcium-silicate-based bioglass, Al2O3 and ZrO2.
14. The bone-repair composition of claim 1, wherein the micro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix and the nonmicro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix are those which have been treated with an enzyme.
15. The bone-repair composition of claim 14, wherein the enzyme used for the treatment is one or more selected from the group consisting of pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin and papain.
16. The bone-repair composition of claim 1, wherein the micro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix and the nonmicro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix are those which have been prepared under refrigeration at 1 to 10.C.
17. The bone-repair composition of claim 1, wherein the amount of residual calcium in the micro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix and the nonmicro-pulverized demineralized bone matrix is 8% or less.

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:
sequentially applying an input supply voltage to each of a plurality of storage devices in turn in a first time-staggered sequence; and then
forwarding a storage device enable signal to each of the storage devices in turn in a second time-staggered sequence different from the first sequence, wherein responsive to receipt of said storage device enable signal the associated storage device draws a magnitude of current that is greater than an amount of current drawn during the sequentially applying step.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the forwarding step, a status signal is provided by each of the plurality of storage devices in turn to indicate that the input supply voltage has been received by each said device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein upon receipt of said storage device enable signal the associated storage device initiates rotation of a rotatable storage medium from rest to an operational velocity.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of storage devices store data in accordance with a selected RAID configuration.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein a power supply is configured to supply respective first and second direct current (dc) voltages to each of the plurality of storage devices, and wherein the sequentially applying step comprises connecting said voltages to the storage devices in a selected sequential order corresponding to the first time-staggered sequence.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein a switching device is connected to each of the storage devices, and wherein the sequentially applying step comprises altering a gate voltage of the switching device associated with each storage device in turn in accordance with a selected time-varying profile to transition a source-drain conductivity of the switching device from a non-conductive state to a conductive state.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein said gate voltage is altered by coupling a resistor and a capacitor to the switching device to form an RC network, and applying a voltage to the RC network to increase said gate voltage.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein said gate voltage is altered by applying a sequence of table values from a profile table to a digital to analog converter (DAC), wherein an output of the DAC is coupled to a gate of the switching device.
9. An apparatus comprising:
a multi-device array with a plurality of storage devices; and
a circuit which changes an input power state of each said storage device in a time-staggered sequence to transition the array between an operationally deactivated state and an operationally activated state, the circuit comprising:
a plurality of switching devices, each switching device connected between an associated storage device and a power supply; and
a profile generator which applies a time-varying gate voltage profile to each of the switching devices in the time-staggered sequence in turn to transition the associated switching device from a selected conductive or non-conductive state to a remaining non-conductive or conductive state.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the circuit changes the input power state to transition the array from the operationally deactivated state to the operationally activated state.
11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the circuit changes the input power state to transition the array from the operationally activated state to the operationally deactivated.
12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the multi-device array further comprises a controller which stores data across the plurality of storage devices in accordance with a selected RAID configuration while the array is in the operationally activated state.
13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the multi-device array further comprises a power supply which provides respective first and second direct current (dc) voltages to each of the plurality of storage devices, and wherein the circuit connects said voltages to said storage devices in a selected sequential order.
14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the profile generator comprises a resistor and a capacitor arranged to form an RC network coupled to a gate of a selected switching device, the RC network defining said time-varying gate voltage profile.
15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the profile generator comprises a table of profile values and a digital to analog converter (DAC) coupled to a gate of a selected switching device, wherein the time-varying gate voltage profile is applied to said gate by the DAC responsive to the table of profile values.
16. An apparatus comprising:
a multi-device array with a plurality of storage devices;
a power supply; and
a power control circuit configured to sequentially apply an input supply voltage from the power supply to each of the storage devices in turn in a first time-staggered sequence, and then to forward a storage device enable signal to each of the storage devices in turn in a different, second time-staggered sequence, wherein each storage device, upon receipt of said storage device enable signal, initiates rotation of a storage medium from rest to an operational velocity using the applied input supply voltage.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the power control circuit comprises a control block, a profile generator and a plurality of switching devices, wherein during the first time-staggered sequence, for each of the storage devices in turn the profile generator applies a selected time-varying profile to a gate of the switching device associated with said each storage device to alter a source-drain conductivity of the switching device.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the profile generator comprises a resistor and a capacitor arranged to form an RC network coupled to a gate of a selected switching device, the RC network defining said time-varying gate voltage profile.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the profile generator comprises a table of profile values and a digital to analog converter (DAC) coupled to a gate of a selected switching device, wherein the time-varying gate voltage profile is aplied to said gate by the DAC responsive to the table of profile values.
20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the power supply provides respective first and second direct current (dc) voltages to each of the plurality of storage devices, and wherein the power control circuit is configured to connect said voltages to said storage devices in the first time-staggered sequence.