Author: claimsbot

1. A biocompatible ceramic composition comprised of powdered calcium aluminate phases of the following composition:
less than 50 vol. %, but greater than zero, of CA2, based on the total volume of the calcium aluminate phases;
more than 50 vol. % of a mixture of CA and C12A7 together based on the total volume of the calcium aluminate phases;
less than 10 vol. %, but greater than zero, of C3A, based on the total volume of the calcium aluminate phases; and
optionally additives, wherein,
the sum of all components amounts to 100%, and wherein the CA-phases amounts to at least 50%, and
the biocompatible ceramic composition generates temperatures of 30\u2013150\xb0 C. when cured in a living human body.
2. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, further comprising the hydraulic powders calcium silicate andor calcium sulphate in an amount less than 50 vol. % of the total volume of hydraulic ingredients.
3. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, further comprising particles or powder of one or more biocompatible materials selected from the group consisting of calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, apatite, fluoroapatite, carbonates-apatites, and hydroxyapatite in a total amount less than 30 vol. % of the total volume of the ceramic ingredients.
4. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, further comprising a component which is a water reducing agent selected from the group consisting of polycarboxylic acids, polyacrylic acids, and superplasticisers.
5. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, further comprising expansion controlling additives.
6. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, further comprising a water-based curing liquid.
7. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 6, wherein the curing liquid further comprises an accelerator agent which accelerates the hardening process, which accelerator agent is selected from the group consisting of lithium chloride, lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate, lithium sulphate, lithium nitrate, lithium citrate, calcium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate and sulphuric acid.
8. The biocompatible ceramic material according to claim 7, wherein LiCl is present in an amount of 10\u2013500 mg in 100 g of curing liquid.
9. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 6, wherein the curing liquid further comprises a retarder agent which retards the hardening process, which retarder agent is selected from the group consisting of polysaccharide, glycerine, sugars, starch, and cellulose-based thickeners.
10. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, wherein the grain size of the powdered material used is predominately less than 20 microns.
11. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, having a compressive strength of at least 100 MPa.
12. The biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, the composition being cured.
13. A method for manufacturing a biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1, comprising the steps of:
preparing a calcium aluminatepowder mixture of selected phase composition and grain size; and
curing said mixture by treating the biocompatible ceramic composition with a curing agent, or by preparing a slurry from said water-based curing liquid and the biocompatible ceramic composition, wherein,
the amount of CA2 and the amount of C3A is selected for achieving temperatures up to 150\xb0 C. during use and so that the biocompatible ceramic composition generates a controlled amount of heat at temperatures of 30\u2013150\xb0 C. when cured in a living human body.
14. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1.
15. An orthopaedic implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 1.
16. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 2.
17. An orthopaedic implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 2.
18. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 3.
19. An orthpaedic implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 3.
20. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 4.
21. An orthopaedic implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 4.
22. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 5.
23. An orthopaedic implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 5.
24. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 6.
25. An orthopaedic implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 6.
26. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 7.
27. An orthopaedic implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 7.
28. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 8.
29. An orthopaedic implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 8.
30. A medical implant comprising the biocompatible ceramic composition according to claim 9.
31. The biocompatible ceramic composition of claim 1, with at least an effective amount for achieving high temperatures during use and less than 3 vol. % of C3A, based on the total volume of the of calcium aluminate phases.
32. A biocompatible ceramic composition comprised of powdered calcium aluminate phases of the following composition:
less than 50 vol. %, but greater than zero, of CA2, based on the total volume of the calcium aluminate phases;
more than 50 vol. %, but groator than zora, of a mixture of CA and C12A7 together based on the total volume of the calcium aluminate phases;
at least an effective, non-zero, amount of C3A for achieving temperatures up to 150\xb0 C. during use and less than 10 vol. %, but greater than zero, of C3A, based on the total volume of the calcium aluminate phases; and
optionally additives, wherein,
the sum of all components amounts to 100%, and wherein the CA-phases amounts to at least 50%, and
the biocompatible ceramic composition generates temperatures of 30\u2013150\xb0 C. when cured in a living human body.

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:
receiving a product identifier that identifies a product,
in which the product is associated with a transaction;

receiving, at a terminal of a merchant, a credit card number from a customer as payment for the transaction,
in which the credit card number is for use only one time,
in which the credit card number is for use in place of an account number that identifies a credit card account, and
in which the credit card number has the same number of digits as the account number;

transmitting, by the terminal, the credit card number for authorization of the transaction;
receiving, by the terminal, information indicating whether the transaction is authorized; and
providing the product to the customer if the transaction is authorized.
2. A method comprising:
receiving a product identifier that identifies a product,
in which the product is associated with a transaction;

receiving, at a terminal of a merchant, a single-use credit card number from a cardholder,
in which the single-use credit card number is for use only one time,
in which the single-use credit card number is for use in place of an account number that identifies the cardholder, and
in which the single-use credit card number has the same number of digits as the account number;

determining a transaction amount that is associated with the transaction;
after receiving the single-use credit card number from the cardholder, transmitting, by the terminal, the single-use credit card number and the transaction amount to a credit card issuer for authorization of the transaction;
receiving, by the terminal, information from the credit card issuer indicating whether the credit card account has sufficient credit available for the transaction; and
providing the product to the customer based on the information from the credit card issuer.
3. A method comprising:
receiving, at a terminal of a merchant, a single-use credit card number,
in which the single-use credit card number is for use only one time,
in which the single-use credit card number is for use in place of an account number that identifies a credit card account, and
in which the single-use credit card number has the same number of digits as the account number;

receiving, at the terminal, an indication of an amount of a purchase;
after receiving the single-use credit card number at the terminal, transmitting, from the terminal, the single-use credit card number and the amount of the purchase to a credit card issuer for authorization of the purchase; and
receiving, at the terminal, information from the credit card issuer indicating whether the purchase is authorized.
4. The method of claim 3, in which receiving the single-use credit card number comprises:
receiving the single-use credit card number via the Internet.
5. The method of claim 3, in which receiving the single-use credit card number comprises:
receiving the single-use credit card number via a telephone.
6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
providing the product to a customer if the purchase is authorized.
7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving, at the terminal, information from the credit card issuer indicating whether the credit card account has sufficient credit available for the purchase.
8. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving, at the terminal, information from the credit card issuer indicating whether the single-use credit card number is valid.

1. A disk controller comprising:
a reader configured to execute a plurality of read operations with respect to a first area on the magnetic disk while offsetting a head configured to read data from the magnetic disk, when the reader retries reading data from a magnetic disk;
a selector configured to select data from a plurality of pieces of read data from results of the read operations based on a predetermined index with respect to each data length shorter than a data length of the area; and
a combining module configured to combine pieces of read data selected for the data lengths, respectively.
2. The disk controller of claim 1, wherein
the selector comprises:
a decoder configured to execute maximum likelihood decoding on the pieces of read data from the results of the read operations based on a Viterbi algorithm;
a storage module configured to store the pieces of read data decoded by the decoder;
a waveform calculator configured to convolute each piece of read data decoded by the decoder in order to calculate a waveform signal representing the read data before the maximum likelihood decoding; and
a difference calculator configured to calculate a difference between the waveform signal and the read data before the maximum likelihood decoding with respect to each piece of read data, and

the selector is configured to select the data based on the difference.
3. The disk controller of claim 2, wherein the difference calculator is configured to calculate a noise component as the difference from the waveform signal and the read data before the maximum likelihood decoding.
4. The disk controller of claim 2, wherein the difference calculator is configured to calculate a signal power as the difference from the waveform signal and the read data before the maximum likelihood decoding.
5. The disk controller of claim 2, wherein the difference calculator is configured to calculate a signal-to-noise ratio as the difference from the waveform signal and the read data before the maximum likelihood decoding.
6. The disk controller of claim 2, further comprising a filter configured to execute finite impulse response filtering on each piece of read data from the results of the read operations using a predetermined parameter, wherein
the decoder is configured to execute the maximum likelihood decoding on each piece of read data after the filtering based on the Viterbi algorithm, and
the waveform calculator is configured to convolute each piece of read data decoded by the decoder using the predetermined parameter used in the filtering in order to calculate the waveform signal representing the read data before the maximum likelihood decoding.
7. The disk controller of claim 1, wherein
the reader is configured to execute the read operations with respect to a physical sector as the area on the magnetic disk, and
the selector is configured to select the data with respect to each section of the physical sector.
8. A disk drive device comprising:
a magnetic disk;
a reader configured to execute a plurality of read operations with respect to a first area on the magnetic disk while offsetting a head configured to read data from the magnetic disk when the reader retries reading data from a magnetic disk;
a selector configured to select data from a plurality of pieces of read data from results of the read operations based on a predetermined index with respect to each data length shorter than a data length of the area; and
a combining module configured to combine pieces of read data selected for the data lengths, respectively.
9. A disk control method comprising:
reading a first area on the magnetic disk a plurality of times while offsetting a head that reads data from the magnetic disk in retrying reading data from a magnetic disk;
selecting data from a plurality of pieces of read data from results of the read operations based on a predetermined index with respect to each data length shorter than a data length of the area; and
combining pieces of read data selected for the data lengths, respectively.

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 for electronically communicating a correct Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the method comprising:
detecting a copying of a URL from a browser to be placed in an electronic communication;
obtaining one of a fully qualified domain name and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a computing device hosting a resource referenced by said URL in response to said URL specifying an address of a loopback interface of said computing device via a localhost; and
replacing, by a processor, said localhost in said URL with one of said fully qualified domain name and said IP address of said computing device.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:
providing said URL with one of said fully qualified domain name and said IP address of said computing device to be available to be shared with other users via said electronic communication.
3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein said electronic communication comprises one of the following: electronic mail and instant messaging.
4. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:
querying an operating system of said computing device for one of said fully qualified domain name and said IP address of said computing device.
5. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:
obtaining said IP address of said computing device from a proxy component.
6. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:
accessing a domain name system server for translating said fully qualified domain name into said IP address in response to said computing system being relocated.
7. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable storage medium for electronically communicating a correct Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the computer program product comprising the programming instructions for:
detecting a copying of a URL from a browser to be placed in an electronic communication;
obtaining one of a fully qualified domain name and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a computing device hosting a resource referenced by said URL in response to said URL specifying an address of a loopback interface of said computing device via a localhost; and
replacing said localhost in said URL with one of said fully qualified domain name and said IP address of said computing device.
8. The computer program product as recited in claim 7 further comprising the programming instructions for:
providing said URL with one of said fully qualified domain name and said IP address of said computing device to be available to be shared with other users via said electronic communication.
9. The computer program product as recited in claim 8, wherein said electronic communication comprises one of the following: electronic mail and instant messaging.
10. The computer program product as recited in claim 7 further comprising the programming instructions for:
querying an operating system of said computing device for one of said fully qualified domain name and said IP address of said computing device.
11. The computer program product as recited in claim 7 further comprising the programming instructions for:
obtaining said IP address of said computing device from a proxy component.
12. The computer program product as recited in claim 7 further comprising the programming instructions for:
accessing a domain name system server for translating said fully qualified domain name into said IP address in response to said computing system being relocated.
13. A method for electronically communicating a correct Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the method comprising:
detecting a copying of a URL from a browser to be placed in an electronic communication;
obtaining one or more of a list of possible URLs and a list of possible Media Access Control (MAC) addresses encoded as a single URL for accessing a computing device hosting a resource referenced by one or more of said list of possible URLs and said list of possible MAC addresses in response to said URL specifying an address of a loopback interface of said computing device via a localhost; and
replacing, by a processor, said URL containing said localhost with said single encoded URL.
14. The method as recited in claim 13 further comprising:
providing said single encoded URL to be available to be shared with other users via said electronic communication.
15. The method as recite din claim 14 further comprising:
decoding said single encoded URL into said list of possible URLs to access said resource hosted by said computing device.
16. The method as recited in claim 15 further comprising:
accessing each potential URL in said list of possible URLs.
17. The method as recited in claim 16 further comprising:
accessing said resource hosted by said computing device in response to said computing device being reachable by a URL in said list of possible URLs.
18. The method as recited in claim 16 further comprising:
decoding said single encoded URL into said list of possible MAC addresses in response to said computing device not being reachable by any URL in said list of possible URLs.
19. The method as recited in claim 18 further comprising:
querying a domain name system server to obtain a current Internet Protocol (IP) address for each MAC address in said list of possible MAC addresses.
20. The method as recited in claim 19 further comprising:
accessing each obtained IP address; and
accessing said resource hosted by said computing device in response to said computing device being reachable by an IP address obtained from said domain name system server.