Author: claimsbot

1. An invalid hoist comprising a support member, a bar pivotally connected to the support member, drive means for driving the bar for pivotal movement relative to the support member and damper means, independent of the drive means, for damping movement of the arm relative to the support member.
2. A hoist according to claim 1, wherein the damper means comprises a housing connected to one of the support member and the bar, and a rod connected to the other of the support member and the bar, the rod extending into the housing and being connected to a moveable partition which divides the housing into two chambers.
3. A hoist according to claim 2, further comprising a restrict flow path to allow fluid to flow, at a restricted rate, between the chambers.
4. A hoist according to claim 3, wherein the restricted flow path is defined by at least one small opening provided in the partition.
5. A hoist according to claim 1, further comprising at least a second damper means located adjacent the said damper means.

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 taste-modifying kit for facilitating cleansing the gastrointestinal tract of a subject comprising: a premeasured amount of at least one pH-modifying agent, at least one taste-modifying substance, and instruction material indicating that the gastrointestinal tract of the subject is to be cleansed by a method comprising the steps of:
(a) determining the pH of a gastrointestinal tract preparation composition, wherein the pH ranges from about 1 to about 6.9 or is adjusted to range from about 1 to about 6.9 using the at least one pH-modifying agent;
(b) providing the at least one taste-modifying substance to the subject; and
(c) administering orally the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition to the subject after step (b).
2. The kit of claim 1, wherein the pH-modifying agent is an acid selected from the group consisting of citric acid, acetic acid and ascorbic acid, phosphoric acid, malic acid, succinic acid, formic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid, adipic acid, butyric acid, glyconic acid, lactic acid, oxalic acid, tartaric acid and mixtures thereof.
3. The kit of claim 1, wherein the pH-modifying agent is selected from the group consisting of ammonium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, carbon dioxide, and mixtures thereof.
4. The kit of claim 1, wherein the taste-modifying substance is a sour taste-modifying agent.
5. The kit of claim 4, wherein the sour taste-modifying substance is miraculin.
6. The kit of claim 5, wherein miraculin comprises miracle fruit, flesh of miracle fruit, miracle fruit granules, miracle berry, miracle berry extracts, miracle fruit tablets, miracle berry tablets, or miraculin produced by a genetically modified organism.
7. The kit of claim 1, wherein the premeasured amount of the pH-modifying agent is sufficient to adjust the pH of the gastrointestinal tract preparation solution to a pH ranging from about 3 to about 6.4.
8. The kit of claim 1, wherein the taste-modifying substance is provided to the subject from about 1 minute to about 1 hour before the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition is administered.
9. The kit of claim 8, wherein the taste-modifying substance is provided from about 5 minutes to about 30 minutes before the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition is administered.
10. The kit of claim 1, wherein the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition has a salty taste, and wherein the salty taste is reduced by at least 20% compared to the salty taste of the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition had the taste-modifying substance not been provided.
11. The kit of claim 1, wherein the gastrointestinal tract is the intestine and the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition is a bowel preparation solution.
12. The kit of claim 11, wherein the intestine is the colon.
13. The kit of claim 1, wherein the gastrointestinal tract is cleansed prior to carrying out a diagnostic, therapeutic andor surgical procedure on the patient.
14. The kit of claim 1, wherein the gastrointestinal tract is cleansed prior to an endoscopy.
15. The kit of claim 14, wherein the endoscopy is a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy.
16. The kit of claim 1, wherein the gastrointestinal tract is cleansed prior to a barium enema examination, capsule endoscopy, virtual colonoscopy, colon surgery or gastrointestinal tract surgery.
17. The kit of claim 1, wherein the taste-modifying substance is selected from the group consisting of thaumatin, monellin, mabinlin, brazzein, pentadin, curculin, neuculin, miraculin and mixtures thereof.
18. A method for cleansing the gastrointestinal tract of a patient comprising the steps of:
(a) determining the pH of a gastrointestinal tract preparation composition which has a salty taste, wherein the pH ranges from about 1 to about 6.9 or is adjusted to range from about 1 to about 6.9;
(b) providing a taste-modifying substance to the patient; and
(c) reducing the salty taste of the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition by at least 20% compared to the salty taste of the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition had the taste-modifying substance not been provided, by administering orally the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition to the patient after step (b), wherein the gastrointestinal tract preparation composition is for preparing the gastrointestinal tract of the patient for an endoscopy, a gastrointestinal tract surgery or a barium enema.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the taste-modifying substance is a sour taste-modifying agent.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the sour taste-modifying agent is miraculin.

1. A method of resolving individual signals in a radiation detector output data, the method comprising:
obtaining a signal form characterizing the detector;
obtaining digitized detector output data in a form of a digital time series;
making parameter estimates of one or more parameters of at least one signal present in the detector output data, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least a signal temporal position of the at least one signal;
forming a mathematical model based on the digital time series and as a function of at least the signal form, the temporal position of the at least one signal, and an amplitude of the at least one signal; and
determining the amplitude of the at least one signal based on said mathematical model, the amplitude being indicative of a radiation event.
2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein obtaining the signal form comprises receiving data about the signal form from a memory.
3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein obtaining the signal form comprises deriving the signal form based on at least one signal present in the detector output data.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising determining energy of the at least one signal based on at least the signal form and the parameter estimates.
5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining accuracy of the parameter estimates based on a comparison between the detector output data and the mathematical model.
6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein obtaining the signal form comprises determining the signal form by measuring a response of the detector to one or more detections.
7. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising interpolating the detector output data with a function to generate an expected signal form, wherein the function comprises a polynomial, exponential or spline function.
8. An apparatus for resolving individual signals in a radiation detector output data, the apparatus comprising a processor configured to:
obtain a signal form characterizing the detector;
obtain digitized detector output data in a form of a digital time series;
make parameter estimates of one or more parameters of at least one signal present in the detector output data, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least a signal temporal position of the at least one signal;
form a mathematical model based on the digital time series and as a function of at least the signal form, the temporal position of the at least one signal, and an amplitude of the at least one signal; and
determine the amplitude of the at least one signal based on the mathematical model, the amplitude being indicative of a radiation event.
9. The apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the signal form from a memory.
10. The apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the signal form by deriving the signal form based on at least one signal present in the detector output data.
11. The apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to determine energy of the at least one signal based on at least the signal form and the parameter estimates.
12. The apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to determine accuracy of the parameter estimates based on a comparison between the detector output data and the mathematical model.
13. The apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the signal form by measuring a response of the detector to one or more detections.
14. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to interpolate the detector output data with a function to generate an expected signal form, wherein the function comprises a polynomial, exponential or spline function.
15. A data storage medium storing instructions, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to perform a method of resolving individual signals in a radiation detector output data, the method comprising:
obtaining a signal form characterizing the detector;
obtaining digitized detector output data in a form of a digital time series;
making parameter estimates of one or more parameters of at least one signal present in the detector output data, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least a signal temporal position of the at least one signal;
forming a mathematical model based on the digital time series and as a function of at least the signal form, the temporal position of the at least one signal, and an amplitude of the at least one signal; and
determining the amplitude of the at least one signal based on said mathematical model, the amplitude being indicative of a radiation event.
16. The data storage medium as recited in claim 15, wherein obtaining the signal form comprises receiving data about the signal form from a memory.
17. The data storage medium as recited in claim 15, wherein obtaining the signal form comprises deriving the signal form based on at least one signal present in the detector output data.
18. The data storage medium as recited in claim 15, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to determine energy of the at least one signal based on at least the signal form and the parameter estimates.
19. The data storage medium as recited in claim 15, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to determine accuracy of the parameter estimates based on a comparison between the detector output data and the mathematical model.
20. The data storage medium as recited in claim 15, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to determine the signal form by measuring a response of the detector to one or more detections.

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.-20. (canceled)
21. A patient support surface comprising
a cover having a head end, a foot end, a left side, and a right side, and
a cushion encased in the cover and including a first foam pad and a second foam pad arranged below the first foam pad, the second foam pad formed to include a plurality of perforations extending through the second foam pad.
22. The patient support apparatus of claim 21, wherein the cushion includes a third foam pad extending from the foot end of the cover toward the head end of the cover, wherein the second foam pad is arranged between the third foam pad and the head end of the cover.
23. The patient support surface of claim 22, wherein the third foam pad is formed to include a plurality of perforations.
24. The patient support surface of claim 21, wherein the cushion includes a first bolster arranged to extend along a first side of the second foam pad and a second bolster arranged along a second side of the second foam pad.
25. The patient support surface of claim 24, wherein the first and the second bolsters are each formed to include slits extending upwardly from a bottom side of the left and the right bolsters toward a top side of the left and the right bolsters.
26. The patient support surface of claim 25, wherein the first and the second bolsters are each formed to include slits extending downwardly from the top side of the left and the right bolsters toward the bottom side of the left and the right bolsters.
27. The patient support surface of claim 21, wherein the cover includes a head section, a foot section, and an expandable section coupled between the head section and the foot section.
28. The patient support surface of claim 27, wherein the expandable section includes an elastic material arranged to extend from the left side to the right side of the cover over a portion of a bottom surface of the cover.
29. The patient support surface of claim 27, wherein the expandable section includes a plurality of expandable folds arranged to extend from the left side to the right side of the cover over a portion of a bottom surface of the cover.
30. The patient support surface of claim 21, further comprising a plurality of lugs extending downwardly from the cover, each lug including a stem extending from the cover and a ball spaced apart from the cover.
31. The patient support surface of claim 21, further comprising an overlay arranged to extend over a top side of the cover, wherein the overlay includes a head portion arranged to extend from the head end of the cover toward the foot end of the cover, a foot portion arranged to extend from the foot end of the cover toward the head end of the cover, and an expandable portion coupled between the head portion and the foot portion.
32. The patient support surface of claim 31, wherein the expandable portion includes a plurality of expandable folds arranged to extend from a left side to a right side of the overlay over a portion of a bottom surface of the overlay.
33. A patient support system comprising
a patient support apparatus movable from a first configuration to a second configuration,
a patient support surface mounted on the patient support apparatus, the patient support surface including a cover and a plurality of inflatable bladders encased in the cover, and
a controller configured to adjust the pressure in at least one of the inflatable bladders during movement of the patient support apparatus from the first configuration to the second configuration, to monitor the pressure in the at least one of the inflatable bladders during movement of the patient support apparatus from the first position to the second position, and to adjust the speed of movement from the first configuration to the second configuration of the patient support apparatus based on the monitored pressure.
34. The patient support system of claim 33, wherein the controller is configured to stop movement from the first configuration to the second configuration of the patient support apparatus based on the monitored pressure if the rate of change of the monitored pressure is below a threshold.
35. The patient support system of claim 33, wherein the controller is configured to trigger an alarm if the rate of change of the monitored pressure is below a threshold.
36. The patient support system of claim 33, wherein the first position is a lie-flat configuration.
37. The patient support system of claim 33, wherein the second position is a chair-egress position.
38. The patient support system of claim 33, further comprising a plurality of sensors configured to detect pressure in the plurality of bladders and the position of the patient support apparatus, the sensors coupled to the controller.