Author: claimsbot

1. A filtration cassette comprising:
one or more filter membranes, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow;
one or more filtrate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for retentate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the filtrate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for retentate flow on the filtrate flow screen may be selectively blocked; and
one or more retentate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for filtrate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the retentate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for filtrate flow on the retentate flow screen may be selectively blocked;
wherein the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are assembled and encapsulated about the periphery thereof by sealant; and
wherein the sealant contemporaneously seals the respective channels of the one or more filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens to selectively block one or more ports in proximity thereto.
2. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the channels are cut from the respective edges of the one or more filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens.
3. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens further comprises one or more sealant holes to enhance sealing of the respective channels.
4. The filtration cassette of claim 3, wherein the sealant holes of the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are in respective alignment with each other.
5. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the ports of each of the filter membrane, filtrate flow screen and retentate flow screen components are in respective alignment with each other.
6. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the filter membrane is positioned, respectively, between the filtrate flow screen and the retentate flow screen.
7. The filtration cassette of claim 1, further comprising a first and second end plate attached at either end thereof.
8. The filtration cassette of claim 7, wherein the first and second end plates are encapsulated into the cassette.
9. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the filter membrane is selected from the group consisting of ultrafiltration, microporous, nanofiltration or reverse osmosis filters formed from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polysulfone, polyethersulfone, regenerated cellulose, polyamide, polypropylene, polyethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, cellulose acetate, polyacrylonitrile, vinyl copolymer, polyacrylonitrile, vinyl copolymer, polyacrylonitrile, vinyl copolymer, polycarbonate, PFA, and blends thereof.
10. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the filter membranes comprise a porous polymer material.
11. The filtration cassette of claim 10, wherein the porous polymer material comprises a polysulfone membrane.
12. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens comprise a mesh material.
13. The filtration cassette of claim 12, wherein the mesh material comprises polyester or polypropylene.
14. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the sealant is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic materials and thermoset elastomers.
15. The filtration cassette of claim 14, wherein the thermoplastic material is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic olefin elastomers, thermoplastic polyurethane, plastomer, polypropylene, polyethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, fluourinated polypropylene and polystyrene.
16. The filtration cassette of claim 14, wherein the thermoset elastomers are selected from the group consisting of epoxy resins, urethanes, silicones, fluorosilicones, and vinyl esters.
17. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are cut to roughly the same shape and perimeter.
18. A filtration stack assembly comprising one or more filtration cassettes and a first and a second end plate attached at either end thereof, wherein each filtration cassette comprises:
one or more filter membranes, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow;
one or more filtrate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for retentate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the filtrate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for retentate flow on the filtrate flow screen may be selectively blocked; and
one or more retentate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for filtrate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the retentate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for filtrate flow on the retentate flow screen may be selectively blocked;
wherein the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are assembled and encapsulated about the periphery thereof by sealant; and
wherein the sealant contemporaneously seals the respective channels of the one or more filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens to selectively block one or more ports in proximity thereto.
19. A method of fabricating a filtration cassette comprising:
providing one or more filter membranes, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow;
providing one or more filtrate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for retentate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the filtrate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for retentate flow on the filtrate flow screen may be selectively blocked; and
providing one or more retentate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for filtrate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the retentate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for filtrate flow on the retentate flow screen may be selectively blocked;
introducing a sealant about the periphery of the filter membrane, the filtrate flow screen, and the retentate flow screen wherein the sealant conteporaneously encapsulates the periphery thereof and seals the one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the ports for retentate flow and the port for filtrate flow.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the filter membrane, filtrate flow screen and retentate flow screen components comprise sealant holes to enhance sealing of the respective channels.
21. The method of claim 19, further comprising assembling the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens such that their respective ports are in alignment prior to introducing the sealant about the periphery thereof.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein a series of filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are assembled such that each respective membrane filter is positioned between a respective filtrate flow screen and respective retentate flow screen.
23. The method of claim 19, further comprising attaching a first and second end plate at either end of the cassette thereof.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising encapsulating the end plates into the cassette.
25. The method of claim 19, further comprising encapsulating the filtration cassette about the periphery thereof and sealing the respective channels using injection molding or vacuum assisted resin transfer molding processes.

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 fencing data transfers in a parallel active messaging interface (\u2018PAMI\u2019) of a parallel computer, the parallel computer comprising a plurality of compute nodes that execute a parallel application; the PAMI comprising data communications endpoints, each endpoint comprising a specification of data communications parameters for a thread of execution on a compute node, including specifications of a client, a context, and a task; the compute nodes coupled for data communications through the PAMI and through data communications resources including a deterministic data communications network through which data communications are delivered to target endpoints in the same order in which the communications are transmitted from origin endpoints; the method comprising:
initiating execution through the PAMI of an ordered sequence of active SEND instructions for SEND data transfers between two endpoints, a designated origin endpoint on an origin compute node and a designated target endpoint on a target compute node, each SEND instruction effecting a deterministic SEND data transfer, from the designated origin endpoint to the designated target endpoint, through the deterministic data communications network in which the SEND data transfers are effected according to the ordered sequence of the SEND instructions; and
executing through the PAMI, with no FENCE accounting for SEND data transfers, an active FENCE instruction, the FENCE instruction completing execution only after completion of all SEND instructions initiated prior to execution of the FENCE instruction for SEND data transfers between the two endpoints.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the client comprises a collection of data communications resources dedicated to the exclusive use of an application-level data processing entity;
the context comprises a subset of the collection of data processing resources, context functions, and a work queue of data transfer instructions to be performed by use of the subset through the context functions operated by an assigned thread of execution; and
the task comprises a process of execution for the parallel application.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein each context carries out, through post and advance functions, data communications for the application on data communications resources in the exclusive possession of that context.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein each context carries out data communications operations independently and in parallel with other contexts.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein executing a FENCE instruction further comprises:
receiving in the PAMI through the origin endpoint the FENCE instruction, the FENCE instruction specifying a FENCE done callback function;
transmitting by the PAMI the FENCE instruction to the target endpoint, the FENCE instruction specifying a dispatch callback function;
executing by the PAMI in the target compute node the dispatch callback function for the FENCE instruction, sending to the origin a FENCE synchronization message;
responsive to the FENCE synchronization message, transmitting by the PAMI from the origin endpoint to the target endpoint a transfer completion notification message after completion of all SEND data transfers previously initiated between the two endpoints, the transfer completion notification message specifying a FENCE acknowledgment callback function;
executing by the PAMI in the target node the FENCE acknowledgment call back function, including transmitting from the target to the origin a FENCE acknowledgment message; and
executing by the PAMI in the origin node the FENCE done callback function.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein executing a FENCE instruction further comprises:
receiving in the PAMI through the origin endpoint the FENCE instruction, the FENCE instruction specifying a FENCE done callback function;
transmitting by the PAMI, after completion of all SEND data transfers previously initiated between the two endpoints, the FENCE instruction to the target endpoint, the FENCE instruction specifying a dispatch callback function;
executing by the PAMI in the target compute node the dispatch callback function for the FENCE instruction, including sending to the origin a FENCE synchronization message;
responsive to the FENCE synchronization message, transmitting by the PAMI from the origin endpoint to the target endpoint a transfer completion notification message, the transfer completion notification message specifying a FENCE acknowledgment callback function;
executing by the PAMI in the target node the FENCE acknowledgment call back function, including transmitting from the target to the origin a FENCE acknowledgment message; and
executing by the PAMI in the origin node the FENCE done callback function.
7-18. (canceled)

1. A method for characterizing a physical retail space based on automatic measurement of a demographic composition of a plurality of shoppers in the physical retail space, comprising the following steps of:
a) dividing said physical retail space into a plurality of sub-regions, the sub-regions comprising at least one of aisles, entry points, exit points, or predefined areas of said physical retail space,
b) capturing a plurality of input video images of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions over a specified period of time by a plurality of cameras,
c) automatic measuring demographic information of each shopper in said plurality of shoppers in said plurality of input video images using a computer, said demographic information comprising age, gender and ethnicity information,
d) determining statistics of said demographic information and measuring said demographic composition of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions, said demographic composition comprising categories defining entity with a group of products, a group of product types, spaces, areas or display of a group of products, and
e) characterizing said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions based on said demographic measuring and said demographic statistics, said physical retail space characterization comprising at least one of the following:
a characterization of said demographic composition of shoppers in said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions; or
a characterization of said physical retail space or said retail space sub-regions by product match or media match based on said demographic composition; or
a characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions according to a media effectiveness measurement based on said demographic composition measuring; and

f) outputting, by a computer, said physical retail space characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of repeating the steps from a) to d) for a plurality of physical spaces in a network of spaces,
whereby said network of spaces comprises a large number of stores.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of taking samples from the universe of the plurality of shoppers for measuring the statistics of demographic information,
wherein the step of characterizing said physical space uses the sample statistics of demographic information.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of dividing said physical space into a plurality of sub-regions and characterizing said physical space per sub-region based on the demographic statistics and composition in each sub-region of said plurality of sub-regions in said physical space.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of re-zoning said physical space based on the demographic characterization in said physical space.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of measuring a pattern of changes in demographics due to changes in the product match or media match as a part of the physical space characterization.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of measuring media effectiveness based on the demographic characterization of said physical space,
whereby the measurement of the media effectiveness is achieved by analyzing what drives the plurality of shoppers in a certain demographic composition to buy a certain category of products.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of enabling actual verification of demographic composition for the physical space characterization, by measuring the demographic composition for those who actually visited the physical space.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of applying the physical space characterization to different servicing strategies, so that the application attracts a specific demographic group, based on the actually measured demographic data, by matching needs for the specific demographic group.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of providing web-based reporting of an aggregated demographic characterization data,
whereby the aggregated demographic characterization data comprises visualization of the aggregated demographic characterization data.
11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of positioning said plurality of cameras near an entrance and exit or a plurality of entrances and exits in said physical space,
wherein an aggregated measurement of the demographic composition at all of the entrances and exits of the physical space provides a solution for characterizing the entire physical space.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of positioning said plurality of cameras in the vicinity of a plurality of aisles in said physical space,
wherein the physical space characterization is performed to characterize the aisles, and wherein the demographic composition measurement at the vicinity of the plurality of aisles provides information for finer level of interest of the demographics for particular products at the specific aisle area.
13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of placing said plurality of cameras in a place within a predefined open space where a plurality of the fields of view from said plurality of cameras cover said predefined open space, wherein the physical space characterization is performed to characterize the predefined open space.
14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of automatically delimiting a predefined area in the views of said plurality of cameras, so that the method selects and processes only the faces of said plurality of shoppers dwelling in the delimited predefined area,
wherein placement of the cameras is dependent on the kind of physical space that needs to be characterized.
15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of positioning said plurality of cameras in the vicinity of a plurality of entry points in said physical space,
wherein the physical space characterization is performed to characterize the entry points, and wherein an entry point is defined as an area where people’s traffic exists although the area is not a hot spot in a physical space.
16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of segmenting body images of each shopper of said plurality of shoppers in the captured plurality of input images, so that the physical floor position of said each shopper is estimated,
whereby a lowest end of the segmented body image is marked as the footfall of said each shopper,
whereby when the footfall of said each shopper is within the region of interest in the views of said plurality of cameras, the shopper’s facial image and body image are sent to a demographics classification module, and
whereby when the footfall of said each shopper is not within the region of interest in the views of said plurality of cameras, the shopper’s facial image and body image are not sent to a demographics classification module.
17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of segmenting out the regions having human skin-like color pixel values in the captured plurality of input images.
18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of detecting faces of said plurality of shoppers in a crowded and complex indoor scene and a step of providing the locations and sizes of detected faces.
19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of detecting locations of facial features and estimating the position, size, and orientation of a facial image detected from a face detection scheme.
20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of aligning a facial image detected from a face detection step using a facial geometry estimation.
21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the method further comprises a step of automatically classifying the gender of a shopper in said plurality of shoppers based on a gender score of an aligned face image.
22. The method according to claim 20, wherein the method further comprises a step of automatically classifying the ethnicity of a shopper in said plurality of shoppers among multiple designated classes of ethnicity based on an ethnicity score of an aligned facial image.
23. The method according to claim 20, wherein the method further comprises a step of automatically classifying the age of a shopper in said plurality of shoppers among multiple designated classes of age groups based on an age score of an aligned facial image.
24. An apparatus for characterizing a physical retail space based on automatic measurement of a demographic composition of a plurality of shoppers in the physical retail space, comprising:
a) means for dividing said physical retail space into a plurality of sub-regions, the sub-regions comprising at least one of aisles, entry points, exit points, or predefined areas of said physical retail space,
b) means for capturing a plurality of input video images of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions over a specified period of time by a plurality of means for capturing images,
c) means for automatic measuring demographic information of each shopper in said plurality of shoppers in said plurality of input video images using a means for control and processing, said demographic information comprising age, gender and ethnicity information,
d) means for determining statistics of said demographic information and measuring said demographic composition of said plurality of shoppers in said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions, said demographic composition comprising categories defining entity with a group of products, a group of product types, spaces, areas or display of a group of products, and
e) means for characterizing said physical retail space and said retail space sub-regions based on said demographic measuring and said demographic statistics, said physical retail space characterization comprising at least one of the following:
a characterization of said demographic composition of shoppers in said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions; or
a characterization of said physical retail space or said retail space sub-regions by product match or media match based on said demographic composition; or
a characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions according to a media effectiveness measurement based on said demographic composition measuring; and

f) means for outputting said physical retail space characterization of said physical retail space and retail space sub-regions.
25. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for repeatedly using the means from a) to d) for a plurality of physical spaces in a network of spaces,
whereby said network of spaces comprises a large number of stores.
26. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for taking samples from the universe of the plurality of shoppers for measuring the statistics of demographic information,
wherein the means for characterizing said physical space uses the sample statistics of demographic information.
27. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for dividing said physical space into a plurality of sub-regions and characterizing said physical space per sub-region based on the demographic statistics and composition in each sub-region of said plurality of sub-regions in said physical space.
28. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for re-zoning said physical space based on the demographic characterization in said physical space.
29. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for measuring a pattern of changes in demographics due to changes in the product match or media match as a part of the physical space characterization.
30. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for measuring media effectiveness based on the demographic characterization of said physical space,
whereby the measurement of the media effectiveness is achieved by analyzing what drives the plurality of shoppers in a certain demographic composition to buy a certain category of products.
31. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for enabling actual verification of demographic composition for the physical space characterization, by measuring the demographic composition for those who actually visited the physical space.
32. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for applying the physical space characterization to different servicing strategies, so that the application attracts a specific demographic group, based on the actually measured demographic data, by matching needs for the specific demographic group.
33. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for providing web-based reporting of an aggregated demographic characterization data, whereby the aggregated demographic characterization data comprises visualization of the aggregated demographic characterization data.
34. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for positioning said plurality of means for capturing images near an entrance and exit or a plurality of entrances and exits in said physical space, wherein an aggregated measurement of the demographic composition at all of the entrances and exits of the physical space provides a solution for characterizing the entire physical space.
35. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for positioning said plurality of means for capturing images in the vicinity of a plurality of aisles in said physical space, wherein the physical space characterization is performed to characterize the aisles, and wherein the demographic composition measurement at the vicinity of the plurality of aisles provides information for finer level of interest of the demographics for particular products at the specific aisle area.
36. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for placing said plurality of means for capturing images in a place within a predefined open space where a plurality of the fields of view from said plurality of means for capturing images cover said predefined open space, wherein the physical space characterization is performed to characterize the predefined open space.
37. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for automatically delimiting a predefined area in the views of said plurality of means for capturing images, so that the apparatus selects and processes only the faces of said plurality of shoppers dwelling in the delimited predefined area, wherein placement of the means for capturing images is dependent on the kind of physical space that needs to be characterized.
38. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for positioning said plurality of means for capturing images in the vicinity of a plurality of entry points in said physical space,
wherein the physical space characterization is performed to characterize the entry points, and wherein an entry point is defined as an area where people’s traffic exists although the area is not a hot spot in a physical space.
39. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for segmenting body images of each shopper of said plurality of shoppers in the captured plurality of input images, so that the physical floor position of said each shopper is estimated, whereby a lowest end of the segmented body image is marked as the footfall of said each shopper, whereby when the footfall of said each shopper is within the region of interest in the views of said plurality of means for capturing images, the shopper’s facial image and body image are sent to a demographics classification module, and
whereby when the footfall of said each shopper is not within the region of interest in the views of said plurality of means for capturing images, the shopper’s facial image and body image are not sent to a demographics classification module.
40. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for segmenting out the regions having human skin-like color pixel values in the captured plurality of input images.
41. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for detecting faces of said plurality of shoppers in a crowded and complex indoor scene and means for providing the locations and sizes of detected faces.
42. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for detecting locations of facial features and estimating the position, size, and orientation of a facial image detected from a face detection scheme.
43. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for aligning a facial image detected from a face detection using a facial geometry estimation.
44. The apparatus according to claim 43, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for automatically classifying the gender of a shopper in said plurality of shoppers based on a gender score of an aligned face image.
45. The apparatus according to claim 43, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for automatically classifying the ethnicity of a shopper in said plurality of shoppers among multiple designated classes of ethnicity based on an ethnicity score of an aligned facial image.
46. The apparatus according to claim 43, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for automatically classifying the age of a shopper in said plurality of shoppers among multiple designated classes of age groups based on an age score of an aligned facial image.

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 tomographic examination of objects, which comprises: scanning of an object with a beam of electromagnetic radiation, the object angular position being discretely changed with reference to the electromagnetic radiation beam, registration of the intensity of radiation passed through the object during scanning, and processing of the obtained information on the basis of which reconstruction of the object structure is carried out, differing in that: during scanning, formation of an electromagnetic radiation beam with discretely variable cross-sectional dimensions of the beam is performed, wherein, the measure of each modification of one of the beam cross-sectional dimensions should correspond to the required resolution characteristic; registration of the radiation intensity is accomplished after each change of a cross-sectional dimension of the beam, and in the course of processing a difference of two registered intensity values is found with obtaining a plurality of values to be applied for reconstruction of the object structure.
2. The method according to claim 1, differing in that cross section of electromagnetic radiation beam represents a rectangle the width of which is significantly smaller than its lengths.
3. The method according to claim 1, differing in that the width of the beam cross section is varied discretely by shifting one of the borders of the beam in successive steps from the minimum to the maximum value or by shifting one of the borders of the beam in successive steps from the maximum to the minimum, accordingly.
4. The method according to claim 1, differing in that discrete variations of the width of the beam cross-section dimensions are executed through codirectional alternate shifts of opposite borders of the beam, which enables transposition of the beam over an object.
5. A scanning microscope comprising a radiation source, as well as, positioned along the radiation rays, an opaque screen with a slit, an object stage with a mobility device for disposing of and maneuvering with an object under examination within the scan plane, a radiation detector connected to an information processing unit, differing in that the opaque screen is supplied with at least one slit shutter movable in the plane of the opaque screen, the slit shutter providing the variability of cross-sectional dimensions of the slit.
6. The scanning microscope according to claim 5, differing in that the opaque screen is equipped with a mobility device for the table transference in the plane parallel to the plane of scanning.
7. The scanning microscope according to claim 5, differing in that the microscope object stage is adapted to turn in the scan plane.