Author: claimsbot

1. A process for effecting biocidal activity in an aqueous well fracturing fluid, which process comprises blending with said aqueous well fracturing fluid a biocidally-effective amount of a sulfamate stabilized, bromine-based biocide formed from (A) a halogen source which is (i) bromine chloride, (ii) bromine and chlorine, (iii) bromine, or (iv) a mixture of any two or more of (i), (ii), and (iii), (B) a source of sulfamate anions, (C) alkali metal base, and (D) water, in amounts so that prior to blending said biocide has an active bromine content of at least 50,000 ppm, and an atom ratio of nitrogen to active bromine originating from (A) and (B) that is greater than about 0.93.
2. A process as in claim 1 wherein said biocidally-effective amount provides in the range of about 1 to about 10 ppm of active bromine species in said aqueous well fracturing fluid.
3. A process as in claim 1 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a gel-type aqueous well fracturing fluid.
4. A process as in claim 3 wherein said gel-type aqueous well fracturing fluid comprises a guar gum gelation agent.
5. A process as in claim 1 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a slickwater-type aqueous well fracturing fluid.
6. A process as in claim 5 wherein said slickwater-type aqueous well fracturing fluid comprises a polyacrylamide viscosity reducing agent.
7. A process as in claim 1 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid contains anaerobic bacteria.
8. A process as in claim 1 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid contains sulfate-reducing bacteria.
9. A process as in claim 1 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid contains aerobic bacteria.
10. A process as in claim 1 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid contains acid-producing bacteria.
11. A process as in claim 1 wherein said active bromine content is at least 100,000 ppm and said atom ratio is at least about 1.0.
12. A process as in claim 1 wherein said alkali metal base comprises a sodium base.
13. A process as in claim 1 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is blended with from about 4 to about 80 ppm of active bromine as said biocide.
14. A process as in claim 1 wherein said halogen source consists essentially of bromine chloride, wherein said alkali metal base is sodium hydroxide, wherein the active bromine content of the biocide composition is at least 140,000 ppm, wherein the atom ratio of nitrogen to active bromine originating from (A) and (B) is at least about 1.1, and wherein the pH of the biocide is at least about 13.
15. A process as in claim 1 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is injected into a well which contains a consumable amount of hydrogen sulfide.
16. A process as in any of claims 11, 14, or 15 wherein said biocidally-effective amount provides in the range of about 1 to about 10 ppm of active bromine species in said aqueous well fracturing fluid.
17. A process as in claim 16 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a gel-type fracturing fluid.
18. A process as in claim 17 wherein said gel-type fracturing fluid comprises a guar gum gelation agent.
19. A process as in any of claim 11 or 14 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a slickwater-type fracturing fluid.
20. A process as in claim 19 wherein said slickwater-type fracturing fluid comprises a polyacrylamide viscosity reducing agent.
21. A process as in claim 11 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid contains anaerobic bacteria.
22. A process as in claim 11 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid contains sulfate-reducing bacteria.
23. A process as in claim 11 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid contains aerobic bacteria.
24. A process as in claim 11 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid contains acid-producing bacteria.
25. A process as in claim 11 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a gel-type fracturing fluid.
26. A process as in claim 14 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a gel-type fracturing fluid.
27. A process as in claim 16 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a slickwater-type fracturing fluid.
28. A process as in any of claim 2, 7, 8, or 9 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a slickwater-type fracturing fluid.
29. A composition for use in work over of subterranean oil and gas wells, said composition being an aqueous well slickwater-type fracturing fluid blended with a biocidally-effective amount of an aqueous sulfamate stabilized, bromine-based biocide formed from (A) a halogen source which is (i) bromine chloride, (ii) bromine and chlorine, (iii) bromine, or (iv) a mixture of any two or more of (i), (ii), and (iii), (B) a source of sulfamate anions, (C) alkali metal base, and (D) water, in amounts so that prior to blending said biocide has an active bromine content of at least 50,000 ppm, and an atom ratio of nitrogen to active bromine originating from (A) and (B) that is greater than about 0.93.
30. A composition as in claim 29 wherein said slickwater-type fracturing fluid comprises a polyacrylamide viscosity reducing agent.
31. A composition as in claim 29 wherein said halogen source consists essentially of bromine chloride, wherein said alkali metal base is sodium hydroxide, wherein the active bromine content of the biocide composition is at least 140,000 ppm, wherein the atom ratio of nitrogen to active bromine originating from (A) and (B) is at least about 1.1, and wherein the pH of the biocide is at least about 13.
32. A composition as in claim 31 wherein said slickwater-type fracturing fluid comprises a polyacrylamide viscosity reducing agent.
33. A composition as in any of claim 29 or 30 wherein said alkali metal base comprises a sodium base, said active bromine content is at least 100,000 ppm, said atom ratio is at least about 1, and the pH of said biocide is at least about 13.
34. A composition as in any of claims 29, 30, or 31 wherein said aqueous well slickwater-type fracturing fluid is blended with from about 4 to about 80 ppm of active bromine as said biocide.
35. A process of producing an aqueous well fracturing fluid of the gel type or the slickwater type, which process comprises including as a component thereof a biocidally-effective amount of a sulfamate stabilized, bromine-based biocide formed from (A) a halogen source which is (i) bromine chloride, (ii) bromine and chlorine, (iii) bromine, or (iv) a mixture of any two or more of (i), (ii), and (iii), (B) a source of sulfamate anions, (C) alkali metal base, and (D) water, in amounts so that prior to blending said biocide has an active bromine content of at least 50,000 ppm, and an atom ratio of nitrogen to active bromine originating from (A) and (B) that is greater than about 0.93.
36. A process as in claim 35 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a gel-type fracturing fluid, and wherein said gel-type fracturing fluid comprises a guar gum gelation agent.
37. A process as in claim 35 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is a slickwater-type fracturing fluid, and wherein said slickwater-type fracturing fluid comprises a polyacrylamide viscosity reducing agent.
38. A process as in claim 35 wherein said alkali metal base comprises a sodium base, said active bromine content is at least 100,000 ppm, said atom ratio is at least about 1, and the pH of said biocide is at least about 13.
39. A process as in claim 35 wherein said halogen source consists essentially of bromine chloride, wherein said alkali metal base is sodium hydroxide, wherein the active bromine content of the biocide composition is at least 140,000 ppm, wherein the atom ratio of nitrogen to active bromine originating from (A) and (B) is at least about 1.1, and wherein the pH of the biocide is at least about 13.
40. A process as in claim 35 wherein said aqueous well fracturing fluid is blended with from about 4 to about 80 ppm of active bromine as said biocide.
41. A process as in claim 35 wherein said biocidally-effective amount provides in the range of about 1 to about 10 ppm of active bromine species in said aqueous well fracturing fluid.

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 staple implant for influencing the growth in bone regions bordering an epiphyseal plate, said staple implant comprising
a transverse web and
anchoring limbs provided at the ends of the transverse web, oriented parallel to each other and terminating in points, wherein the anchoring limbs, after they have been inserted into the bone, form fixation points on one side of said bone, to both sides of the epiphyseal plate,
wherein the transverse web comprises at least one tapered zone, which is plastically deformable under a flexural load and which is configured in any desired position and shape without abrupt transitions between the fixation points.
2. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, made of a superplastic material having grain sizes of between 1 nm and 1 \u03bcm.
3. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one tapered zone is provided centrally in the transverse web, and its bending area is provided substantially symmetrically thereto.
4. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one tapered zone is provided on the transverse web symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis.
5. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein blind bores with internal threading are provided, in alignment with the limb axes, in order to allow an impaction or extraction instrument to be secured releasably with a force-fit connection in the transverse web.
6. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transverse web is provided with recesses or beads for securing an impaction instrument by clamping.
7. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bending area of the at least one tapered zone is provided with a cross section that can be easily separated with a separating instrument.
8. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transverse web and the anchoring limbs are provided with different cross-sectional shapes.
9. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the anchoring limbs are each provided with a through-channel extending in the longitudinal direction of the anchoring limbs.
10. The staple implant as claimed in claim 9, wherein the through-channel, in one or both, anchoring limbs, has an internal thread at least in part.
11. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the anchoring limbs, at least on parts of their outer surface, have anchoring means with protruding surface contours.
12. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transverse web is formed, at least in a central area, with a flat profile in cross section.
13. (canceled)
14. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transverse web, viewed from above, is wider at least in the central area compared to the ends of the transverse web.
15. The staple implant as claimed in claim 1, wherein the anchoring limbs, viewed from the front, are offset parallel to each other in such a way that the anchoring limbs are arranged with the transverse web in a trapezoid shape.

1. A method of forming a prioritized itinerary for teleportation of an avatar in a virtual universe in response to an event, said method comprising:
receiving, at a location in said virtual universe, an indication of an event;
determining a plurality of locations in said virtual universe and one or more tasks which correspond to said event at respective locations of said plurality of locations in said virtual universe;
prioritizing said plurality of locations and tasks at respective locations of said plurality of locations in accordance with said event to form a prioritized list of said locations as said prioritized itinerary; and
issuing teleportation invitations corresponding to said locations in sequence in accordance with a result of said prioritizing step.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 further including
modifying a result of said prioritizing step in response to a further event.
3. The method as recited in claim 1, further including
collecting information regarding said tasks and locations which complete a resolution of said event, and
correlating said information collected in said collecting step with said event.
4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein said prioritizing is adaptively altered based on said correlation of said collected data and said event.
5. The method as recited in claim 3, further including detecting the last task and location in said prioritized list and wherein said collecting is performed in response to said detecting.
6. The method as recited in claim 1, further including rejecting a said teleportation invitation from said prioritized list based on user input.
7. A computer program product for forming a prioritized itinerary for teleportation of an avatar in a virtual universe in response to an event, said computer program product comprising a computer readable medium storing non-transitory signals comprising a computer program; which computer program, when run on a data processor, causes said data processor to perform steps of:
receiving, at a location in said virtual universe, an indication of an event;
determining a plurality of locations in said virtual universe and one or more tasks which correspond to said event at respective locations of said plurality of said locations in said virtual universe;
prioritizing said plurality of locations and tasks at respective locations of said plurality of locations in accordance with said event to form a prioritized list of said locations as said prioritized itinerary; and
issuing teleportation invitations corresponding to said locations in sequence in accordance with a result of said prioritizing step.
8. The computer program product as recited in claim 7, wherein said signals further provide:
modifying a result of said prioritizing step in response to a further event.
9. The computer program product as recited in claim 7, wherein said signals further provide:
collecting information regarding said tasks and locations which complete a resolution of said event; and
correlating said information collected in said collecting step with said event.
10. The computer program product as recited in claim 9 wherein said prioritization step is adaptively altered based on said correlation of said collected data and said event.
11. The computer program product as recited in claim 9, wherein said signals further provide:
detecting the last task and location in said prioritized list and wherein said collecting step is performed in response to said detecting step.
12. A virtual universe system including:
an alert detector to detect an event in said virtual universe system;
a resource table for indicating portions of said virtual universe related to said event;
one or more lists of tasks corresponding to locations based on portions of said virtual universe indicated to be related to said event by said resource table;
priority logic for prioritizing entries in said lists forming a stack of prioritized locations and associated tasks at respective locations of said plurality of locations in accordance with said event; and
a stack output to output contents of said stack, in order, as teleportation invitations.
13. The virtual universe system as recited in claim 12, wherein said priority logic modifies an order of contents of said stack in response to a further event.
14. The virtual universe system as recited in claim 12, further including:
storage means for collecting information regarding said tasks and locations which complete a resolution of said event wherein said information is correlated with said event.
15. The virtual universe system as recited in claim 14 wherein said priority logic is adaptively altered based on said correlation of said collected data and said event.
16. The virtual universe system as recited in claim 14 further including:
means for detecting the last task and location in said prioritized list and wherein said collecting step is performed in response to said detecting step.
17. The Virtual universe system as recited in claim 12, further including:
means for rejecting a said teleportation invitation from said prioritized list based on user input.
18. A method of responding to an event using a virtual universe emulating real world persons andor real world objects, said method comprising:
generating lists of locations and one or more corresponding tasks, said locations and said tasks corresponding to said event at respective locations of said plurality of locations;
prioritizing in accordance with said event said lists of said locations into an ordered sequence of locations in said virtual universe to create a prioritized itinerary;
issuing teleportation invitations to an avatar in accordance with said ordered sequence of locations in said virtual universe as tasks at said respective locations in said virtual universe are completed; and
automating or otherwise facilitating tasks corresponding to said tasks performed at locations in said virtual universe for determining a solution to said event.
19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein said prioritizing is adaptively altered based on determination of solutions to respective events.
20. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein a virtual object represents a real world object.
21. A method of operating a virtual universe system on a plurality of networked data processors to provide a service, said method comprising configuring at least one data processor of said plurality of data processors to provide
an alert detector to detect an event in said virtual universe system;
a resource table for indicating portions of said virtual universe related to said event;
one or more lists of tasks corresponding to locations based on portions of said virtual universe indicated to be related to said event by said resource table;
priority logic for prioritizing entries in said lists forming a stack of prioritized locations and associated tasks at respective said locations in accordance with said event; and
a stack output to output contents of said stack, in order, as teleportation invitations.

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 polymer electrolyte membrane comprising:
a) a fluorinated polymer electrolyte;
b) a polyoxometalate; and
c) a counterion to the polyoxometalate;
wherein the polyoxometalate comprises a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Mn and Ce.
2. The polymer electrolyte composition according to claim 1 wherein the polyoxometalate comprises Mn.
3. The polymer electrolyte composition according to claim 1 wherein the polyoxometalate comprises Ce.
4. The polymer electrolyte composition according to any of claims 1-3 wherein the polyoxometalate is a heteropolyacid.
5. A fuel cell polymer electrolyte membrane comprising the polymer electrolyte composition of claim 1.
6. A fuel cell membrane electrode assembly comprising the polymer electrolyte composition of claim 1.
7. A polymer electrolyte which comprises first pendent groups which comprise a covalently bound polyoxometalate accompanied by a counterion to the polyoxometalate, wherein the polyoxometalate comprises Ce.
8. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 7 wherein the counterion to the polyoxometalate is selected from the group consisting of Mn cations and Ce cations.
9. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 7 wherein the counterion to the polyoxometalate is a Mn cation.
10. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 7 wherein the counterion to the polyoxometalate is a Ce cation.
11. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 7 which is fluorinated.
12. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 7 which comprises a second acidic functional group other than a polyoxometalate.
13. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 12 wherein the second acidic functional group is selected from the group consisting of phosphonic acids, sulfonic acids and bissulfonyl imides.
14. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 7 wherein the polyoxometalate is covalently bound to the polymer through a Ti or Zr atom.
15. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 7 wherein the polyoxometalate is covalently bound to the polymer through a silane group.
16. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 7 wherein the polyoxometalate is covalently bound to the polymer through a phosphonate group.
17. A fluorinated polymer electrolyte which comprises first pendent groups which comprise a covalently bound polyoxometalate.
18. A polymer electrolyte which comprises first pendent groups which comprise a covalently bound polyoxometalate and a second acidic functional group other than a polyoxometalate.
19. The polymer electrolyte according to claim 18 wherein the second acidic functional group is selected from the group consisting of phosphonic acids, sulfonic acids and bissulfonyl imides.
20. A polymer electrolyte which comprises first pendent groups which comprise a covalently bound polyoxometalate wherein the polyoxometalate is covalently bound to the polymer through a phosphonate group.
21. A fuel cell polymer electrolyte membrane comprising the polymer electrolyte of claim 7.
22. A fuel cell membrane electrode assembly comprising the polymer electrolyte of claim 7.
23. A method of making a polymer electrolyte comprising a step of copolymerizing:
a) a monomer comprising a covalently bound polyoxometalate which comprises Ce; with
b) at least one comonomer.
24. A method of making a polymer electrolyte comprising the steps of:
a) providing a polymer comprising three or more functional groups which may serve as binding sites for lacunary heteropolyacids; and
b) covalently attaching a polyoxometalate to the polymer.
25. The method according to claim 24 comprising the steps of:
a) providing a polymer comprising three or more silane groups; and
b) covalently attaching a polyoxometalate to a silane group of the polymer.
26. A method of making a polymer electrolyte comprising the steps of:
a) providing a polymer comprising phosphonic acid groups; and
b) covalently attaching a polyoxometalate to a phosphonic acid group of the polymer.
27. A polymer electrolyte which comprises first pendent groups which comprise a covalently bound polyoxometalate accompanied by a counterion to the polyoxometalate, wherein the counterion to the polyoxometalate is selected from the group consisting of Mn cations and Ce cations.
28. The polymer electrolyte of claim 27, wherein the counterion to the polyoxometalate is a Mn cation.
29. The polymer electrolyte of claim 27, wherein the counterion to the polyoxometalate is a Ce cation.