All The Claims

1. Apparatus for providing fully integrated information processing, management and communication functions in a radiology departmenthealthcare environment, said apparatus comprising:
a database server;
a radiology information system (RIS) database residing on said database server;
a picture archive and communication system (PACS) database residing on said database server; and
a database engine residing on said database server to manage said RIS database and said PACS database by providing a brokerless interface between said RIS database and said PACS database.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a set of RIS application modules;
a set of PACS application modules; and
an application server running at least a subset of said set of RIS application modules and said set of PACS application modules.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
at least one Web connection interfacing said application server to at least one client workstation, said at least one client workstation being external to said apparatus.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
a TCPIP protocol-based interface connecting said application server to said database server thus providing access to information from said database server.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
at least one image server storing image data; and
at least one TCPIP protocol-based interface connecting said database server to said at least one image server thus providing access to said image data from said at least one image server.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a set of RIS application modules that are disabled;
a set of PACS application modules that are enabled; and
a Health Level Seven (HL7)-based interface providing communication between said set of PACS application modules and a RIS system that is external to said apparatus.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a set of PACS application modules that are disabled;
a set of RIS application modules that are enabled; and
a standard medical communications interface providing communication between said set of RIS application modules and a PACS system that is external to said apparatus.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server, wherein said application server is an Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)-based server;
a set of RIS application modules running on said application server; and
a set of PACS application modules running on said application server.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
a reporting module running on said application server and being dedicated to the management of diagnostic report functions.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
an administration module running on said application server and providing system administration and configuration functions.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
a central logging module running on said application server and providing application logging and audit logging functions.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
a central user login module running on said application server and providing central user account management support.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
a patient scheduling module running on said application server and providing automatic scheduling of procedures for patients based on clinical resources available to said patients.
14. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
a set of default display protocols (DDPs) stored on said database server and applied to a set of medical images for reading said set of medical images in a pre-defined display format.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
a mammography tracking module running on said application server, said mammography tracking module storing mammography related information on said database server and keeping track of notices sent out and to be sent out to referring doctors and patients, and maintaining all mammography related records for auditing purposes.
16. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an application server; and
a patient ordering module running on said application server, said patient ordering module tracking a patient based on a set of ordered procedures as said patient progresses through said set of ordered procedures.
17. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a visual user interface providing a unified and consistent look and feel for both RIS and PACS applications.
18. A method for providing fully integrated information processing, management and communication functions in a fully integrated RIS-PACS system for a radiology departmenthealthcare environment, said method comprising:
synchronizing patient and exam data entities in a radiology information system (RIS) database and a picture archive and communication system (PACS) database within said RIS-PACS system using brokerless interface methods; and
generating direct database calls to said RIS database and said PACS database using said brokerless interface methods.
19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
running at least one RIS application within said RIS-PACS system; and
accessing image information from said PACS database in response to said running of said at least one RIS application.
20. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
running at least one PACS application within said RIS-PACS system; and
accessing patientexam information from said RIS database in response to said running of said at least one PACS application.
21. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
initiating the running of at least one RIS application andor at least one PACS application within said RIS-PACS system from at least one client workstation over at least one Web interface; and
accessing information from said RIS database andor said PACS database at said at least one client workstation over said at least one Web interface in response to said running of said at least one RIS application andor said at least one PACS application.
22. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
disabling a set of RIS applications within said RIS-PACS system;
enabling a set of PACS applications within said RIS-PACS system; and
communicating between said set of PACS applications and an external RIS system over a HL7-based interface.
23. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
disabling a set of PACS applications within said RIS-PACS system;
enabling a set of RIS applications within said RIS-PACS system; and
communicating between said set of RIS applications and an external PACS system over a standard medical communications interface.
24. The method of claim 18 further comprising synchronizing master file data across implemental configurations of said RIS-PACS system, said implemental configurations comprising:
enabling a set of RIS applications and disabling a set of PACS applications within said RIS-PACS system;
enabling said set of PACS applications and disabling said set of RIS applications; and
enabling said set of RIS applications and said set of PACS applications.
25. The method of claim 18 further comprising presenting a user with a single access point for authentication and authorization of entry into both a set of RIS applications and a set of PACS applications within said RIS-PACS system when said set of RIS applications and said set of PACS applications are enabled.
26. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
creating diagnostic reports within said RIS-PACS system;
merging diagnostic reports within said RIS-PACS system;
amending diagnostic reports within said RIS-PACS system; and
approving diagnostic reports within said RIS-PACS system.
27. The method of claim 18 further comprising converting DICOM SR files to XML format for web-based use.
28. The method of claim 18 further comprising storing references to key images, within an SR object, that are selected on said RISPACS system.
29. The method of claim 18 further comprising displaying thumbnail images, corresponding to key images, within a report.
30. The method of claim 18 further comprising generating electronic sticky notes for a report.
31. The method of claim 18 further comprising flagging reports of highest priority.
32. The method of claim 18 further comprising supporting a report repository that may be queried from other systems that use DICOM.
33. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
changing an implemental configuration of said RIS-PACS system;
adding a new user to said RIS-PACS system; and
changing procedure types to be performed by said RIS-PACS system.
34. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
performing application logging functions within said RIS-PACS system; and
performing audit logging functions within said RIS-PACS system.
35. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
synchronizing user accounts in said RIS database and said PACS database; and
implementing password requirements for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance within said RIS-PACS system.
36. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
pre-defining a set of relationships between exam procedures;
storing said set of relationships on said RIS-PACS system; and
automatically scheduling at least a subset of said exam procedures for at least one patient based on said set of relationships and clinical resources available to said at least one patient.
37. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
defining a set of image display protocols for a set of medical images to be examined by a user;
storing said set of image display protocols on said RIS-PACS system in the form of default display protocol (DDP) objects; and
recalling said set of medical images for viewing by applying said DDP objects associated with said set of medical images.
38. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
entering and storing mammography related information in said RIS-PACS system from mammography related exams;
tracking mammography related notices sent out to and to be sent out to referring doctors and patients; and
maintaining mammography related records for auditing purposes.
39. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
pre-defining a set of relationships between procedures that occur during a patient exam;
storing said set of relationships in said RIS-PACS system;
ordering a set of procedures to be performed for at least one patient based on said set of relationships;
entering queried updates to said RIS-PACS system based on patient information during the performance of said set of procedures; and
tracking and billing said at least one patient through execution of said set of procedures in response to said queried updates to said RIS-PACS system.
40. The method of claim 18 further comprising providing a unified and consistent look and feel to a user within said RIS-PACS system for both a set of RIS applications and a set of PACS applications.
41. The method of claim 18 further comprising converting installed base (IB) reports to structured reports (SR) within said RIS-PACS system.
42. A RIS-PACS system providing fully integrated information processing, management and communication functions for a radiology departmenthealthcare environment, said RIS-PACS system comprising:
a database server, said database server including a RIS database, a PACS database, and a database engine providing a brokerless interface between said RIS database and said PACS database;
an application server hosting a set of RIS applications and a set of PACS applications and interfacing to said database server over a TCPIP protocol-based interface;
at least one image server interfacing to said database server over at least one TCPIP protocol-based interface providing access to image data from said at least one image server; and
at least one client workstation interfacing to said application server over at least one Web interface.
43. The RIS-PACS system of claim 42 further comprising a Health Level Seven (HL7)-based interface providing communication between said set of PACS applications and an external RIS system when said set of RIS applications are disabled.
44. The RIS-PACS system of claim 42 further comprising a standard medical communications interface providing communication between said set of RIS applications and an external PACS system when said set of PACS applications are disabled.
45. The RIS-PACS system of claim 42 wherein said at least one client workstation comprises a web browser.
46. The RIS-PACS system of claim 42 wherein said at least one client workstation is a standalone Java client.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

What is claimed is:

1. A computer program product comprising:
a computer usable medium having computer readable program code for enabling a player to wager on a random chance event embodied therein, said computer readable program code configured to:
present a gaming interface to said player;
obtain a wager from said player via said gaming interface;
obtain a predicted outcome from said player via said gaming interface;
execute a random number generator configured to simulate a random chance event when said player has completed entering said wager and said predicted outcome;
obtain an actual outcome using output from said random number generator;
inform said player of a win if said predicted outcome matches said actual outcome derived by said execution of said random number generator.
2. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said random number generator executes on a gaming engine separable from said gaming interface.
3. The computer program product of claim 2 wherein said gaming interface is coupled to said gaming engine via an interconnection fabric.
4. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said wager comprises an item having monetary value.
5. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said wager comprises credits earned by said player for performing at least one certain action.
6. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said wager comprises fun money having no monetary value.
7. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said wager activates a play button in said gaming interface when said wager exceeds a minimum amount.
8. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said play button in said gaming interface deactivates when said wager is above a certain threshold.
9. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said predicted outcome comprises a guess of said actual outcome derived by said random number generator.
10. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said gaming interface comprises an animation window for displaying a visual depiction of said random chance event simulated by said random number generator.
11. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said random chance event comprises a binary event.
12. The computer program product of claim 11 wherein said binary event comprises a simulated coin flip.
13. The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising computer readable program code configured to:
determine a win amount associated with said wager when said predicted outcome matches said actual outcome;
deduct a game fee from said win amount to derive a last win amount;
distribute said last win amount to an account associated with said player.
14. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein said game fee comprises a fixed amount.
15. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein said game fee comprises a variable amount.
16. The computer program product of claim 15 where said variable amount depends upon said wager obtained from said player.
17. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein said actual outcome generated by said random number generator is a first choice fifty percent of the time said random number generator is executed.
18. A method for enabling a player to wager on a random chance event comprising:
obtaining a wager from a player via a gaming interface;
obtaining a predicted outcome from said player via said gaming interface;
executing a random number generator configured to simulate a random chance event when said player has completed entering said wager and said predicted outcome;
obtaining an actual outcome using output generated by said random number generator;
informing said player of a win if said predicted outcome matches said actual outcome.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein said random number generator executes on a gaming engine separable from said gaming interface.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein said gaming interface is coupled to said gaming engine via an interconnection fabric.
21. The method of claim 18 wherein said wager comprises an item having monetary value.
22. The method of claim 18 wherein said wager comprises credits earned by said player for performing a certain action.
23. The method of claim 18 wherein said wager comprises fun money having no monetary value.
24. The method of claim 18 wherein said wager activates a play button in said gaming interface when said wager exceeds a minimum amount.
25. The method of claim 18 wherein said play button in said gaming interface deactivates when said wager is above a certain threshold.
26. The method of claim 18 wherein said predicted outcome comprises a guess of said actual outcome derived by said random number generator.
27. The method of claim 18 wherein said gaming interface comprises an animation window for displaying a visual depiction of said random chance event simulated by said random number generator.
28. The method of claim 18 wherein said random chance event comprises a binary event.
29. The method of claim 28 wherein said binary event comprises a simulated coin flip.
30. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
determining a win amount associated with said wager when said predicted outcome matches said actual outcome;
deducting a game fee from said win amount to derive a last win amount;
associating said last win amount with an account associated with said player.
31. The method of claim 30 wherein said game fee comprises a fixed amount.
32. The method of claim 30 wherein said game fee comprises a variable amount.
33. The method of claim 32 where said variable amount depends upon said wager obtained from said player.
34. The method of claim 18 wherein said actual outcome generated by said random number generator is a first choice fifty percent of the time said random number generator is executed.
35. An apparatus for enabling a player to wager on at least one random chance event comprising:
a processor;
memory coupled to said processor;
a gaming engine configured to interface with a gaming interface via an interconnection fabric, said gaming engine configured to:
obtain a wager from a player;
obtain a predicted outcome from said player;
simulate a random chance event by executing a random number generator when said gaming engine has obtained said wager and said predicted outcome;
obtain an actual simulated outcome of said random chance event using output generated by said random number generator;
inform said player of a win if said predicted outcome matches said actual outcome.
36. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein said wager comprises an item having monetary value.
37. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said wager comprises credits earned by said player for performing at least one predetermined action.
38. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said wager comprises fun money having no monetary value.
39. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said wager activates a play button in said gaming interface when said wager exceeds a minimum amount.
40. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said play button in said gaming interface deactivates when said wager is above a certain threshold.
41. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said predicted outcome comprises a guess of said actual outcome derived by said random number generator.
42. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said gaming interface comprises an animation window for displaying a visual depiction of said random chance event simulated by said random number generator.
43. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said random chance event comprises a binary event.
44. The apparatus of claim 43 wherein said binary event comprises a simulated coin flip.
45. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said gaming engine is further configured to:
determine a win amount associated with said wager when said predicted outcome matches said actual outcome;
deduct a game fee from said win amount to derive a last win amount;
credit or debit said last win amount to an account associated with said player.
46. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein said game fee comprises a fixed amount.
47. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein said game fee comprises a variable amount.
48. The apparatus of claim 47 where said variable amount depends upon said wager obtained from said player.
49. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said actual outcome generated by said random number generator is a first choice fifty percent of the time said random number generator is executed.
50. A method for enabling a player to wager on a random chance event comprising:
obtaining a wager from at least one player via a gaming interface;
obtaining a predicted outcome from said at least one player via said gaming interface;
executing a random number generator configured to simulate a random chance event when said at least one player has completed entering said wager and said predicted outcome; wherein said random chance event comprises multiple simulated coin tosses;
determining an actual outcome using output generated by said random number generator;
informing said at least one player of a win if said predicted outcome matches said actual outcome.
51. The method of claim 50 wherein a hosting entity deducts a fee from each of said at least one player’s account after said random number generator executes.
52. The method of claim 50 wherein said wager represents an item having monetary value.

1. A method of scheduling documents for crawling, performed on a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the method comprising:
receiving from a website a notification that includes a sitemap URL corresponding to a sitemap for the website;
in response to the notification:
accessing the sitemap at the sitemap URL; and
retrieving from the sitemap document location information and metadata for a plurality of documents associated with the website, wherein the metadata comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document update rate information indicating update frequencies associated with the respective documents;

scheduling for downloading documents, from among the plurality of documents, based at least in part on the metadata retrieved from the sitemap, wherein the scheduling includes scheduling a respective document for downloading when one of a date or date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded differs from a current date or a current date and time by an amount that is greater than a duration corresponding to the document update rate information for the respective document; and
downloading at least a subset of the documents scheduled for downloading.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document modification date information indicating when the respective documents were last modified; and
wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with the document modification date information for the respective documents.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the scheduling comprises deferring scheduling a respective document for downloading when the document modification date information for the respective document corresponds to a download date or a download date and time that is no later than a respective download date or a download date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded.
4. The method of claim 1, the metadata providing information related to at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling by a web crawler and selecting documents for inclusion in a crawl; the scheduling including at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling and selecting documents for crawling in accordance with the metadata.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein scheduling documents for downloading comprises generating a list of document identifiers that identify the scheduled documents.
6. A method of scheduling documents for crawling, performed on a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the method comprising:
receiving from a website a notification that includes a sitemap URL corresponding to a sitemap for the website;
in response to the notification:
accessing the sitemap at the sitemap URL; and
retrieving from the sitemap document location information and metadata for a plurality of documents associated with the website, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap includes, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document importance information indicating relative importance values associated with the respective documents;

scheduling for downloading documents, from among the plurality of documents, based at least in part on the metadata retrieved from the sitemap, wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with a score assigned to each document deemed eligible for downloading, and wherein the score assigned to a respective document is adjusted by a boost factor corresponding to the relative importance value indicated by the document importance information for the respective document; and
downloading at least a subset of the documents scheduled for downloading.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document modification date information indicating when the respective documents were last modified; and
wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with the document modification date information for the respective documents.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the scheduling comprises deferring scheduling a respective document for downloading when the document modification date information for the respective document corresponds to a download date or a download date and time that is no later than a respective download date or a download date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded.
9. The method of claim 6, the metadata providing information related to at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling by a web crawler and selecting documents for inclusion in a crawl; the scheduling including at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling and selecting documents for crawling in accordance with the metadata.
10. The method of claim 6, wherein scheduling documents for downloading comprises generating a list of document identifiers that identify the scheduled documents.
11. A system for scheduling documents for crawling, comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing one or more modules;
the one or more modules including instructions to:
receive from a website a notification that includes a sitemap URL corresponding to a sitemap for the website;
in response to the notification:
access the sitemap at the sitemap URL; and
retrieve from the sitemap document location information and metadata for a plurality of documents associated with the website, wherein the metadata comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document update rate information indicating update frequencies associated with the respective documents;

schedule for downloading documents, from among the plurality of documents, based at least in part on the metadata retrieved from the sitemap, wherein the scheduling includes scheduling a respective document for downloading when one of a date or date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded differs from a current date or a current date and time by an amount that is greater than a duration corresponding to the document update rate information for the respective document; and
download at least a subset of the documents scheduled for downloading.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document modification date information indicating when the respective documents were last modified; and
wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with the document modification date information for the respective documents.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the scheduling comprises deferring scheduling a respective document for downloading when the document modification date information for the respective document corresponds to a download date or a download date and time that is no later than a respective download date or a download date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded.
14. The system of claim 11, the metadata providing information related to at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling by a web crawler and selecting documents for inclusion in a crawl; the scheduling including at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling and selecting documents for crawling in accordance with the metadata.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions for scheduling documents for downloading comprise instructions for generating a list of document identifiers that identify the scheduled documents.
16. A system for scheduling documents for crawling, comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing one or more modules;
the one or more modules including instructions to:
receive from a website a notification that includes a sitemap URL corresponding to a sitemap for the website;
in response to the notification:
access the sitemap at the sitemap URL; and
retrieve from the sitemap document location information and metadata for a plurality of documents associated with the website, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap includes, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document importance information indicating relative importance values associated with the respective documents;

schedule for downloading documents, from among the plurality of documents, based at least in part on the metadata retrieved from the sitemap, wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with a score assigned to each document deemed eligible for downloading, and wherein the score assigned to a respective document is adjusted by a boost factor corresponding to the relative importance value indicated by the document importance information for the respective document; and
download at least a subset of the documents scheduled for downloading.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document modification date information indicating when the respective documents were last modified; and
wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with the document modification date information for the respective documents.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the scheduling comprises deferring scheduling a respective document for downloading when the document modification date information for the respective document corresponds to a download date or a download date and time that is no later than a respective download date or a download date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded.
19. The system of claim 16, the metadata providing information related to at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling by a web crawler and selecting documents for inclusion in a crawl; the scheduling including at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling and selecting documents for crawling in accordance with the metadata.
20. The system of claim 16, wherein scheduling documents for downloading comprises generating a list of document identifiers that identify the scheduled documents.
21. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising instructions for:
receiving from a website a notification that includes a sitemap URL corresponding to a sitemap for the website;
in response to the notification:
accessing the sitemap at the sitemap URL; and
retrieving from the sitemap document location information and metadata for a plurality of documents associated with the website, wherein the metadata comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document update rate information indicating update frequencies associated with the respective documents;

scheduling for downloading documents, from among the plurality of documents, based at least in part on the metadata retrieved from the sitemap, wherein the scheduling includes scheduling a respective document for downloading when one of a date or date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded differs from a current date or a current date and time by an amount that is greater than a duration corresponding to the document update rate information for the respective document; and
downloading at least a subset of the documents scheduled for downloading.
22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document modification date information indicating when the respective documents were last modified; and
wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with the document modification date information for the respective documents.
23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the scheduling comprises deferring scheduling a respective document for downloading when the document modification date information for the respective document corresponds to a download date or a download date and time that is no later than a respective download date or a download date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded.
24. The computer program product of claim 21, the metadata providing information related to at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling by a web crawler and selecting documents for inclusion in a crawl; the scheduling including at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling and selecting documents for crawling in accordance with the metadata.
25. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the instructions for scheduling documents for downloading comprise instructions for generating a list of document identifiers that identify the scheduled documents.
26. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising instructions for:
receiving from a website a notification that includes a sitemap URL corresponding to a sitemap for the website;
in response to the notification:
accessing the sitemap at the sitemap URL; and
retrieving from the sitemap document location information and metadata for a plurality of documents associated with the website, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap includes, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document importance information indicating relative importance values associated with the respective documents;

scheduling for downloading documents, from among the plurality of documents, based at least in part on the metadata retrieved from the sitemap, wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with a score assigned to each document deemed eligible for downloading, and wherein the score assigned to a respective document is adjusted by a boost factor corresponding to the relative importance value indicated by the document importance information for the respective document; and
downloading at least a subset of the documents scheduled for downloading.
27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the metadata retrieved from the sitemap comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document modification date information indicating when the respective documents were last modified; and
wherein the scheduling is performed in accordance with the document modification date information for the respective documents.
28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the scheduling comprises deferring scheduling a respective document for downloading when the document modification date information for the respective document corresponds to a download date or a download date and time that is no later than a respective download date or a download date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded.
29. The computer program product of claim 26, the metadata providing information related to at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling by a web crawler and selecting documents for inclusion in a crawl; the scheduling including at least one of prioritizing documents for crawling and selecting documents for crawling in accordance with the metadata.
30. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein scheduling documents for downloading comprises generating a list of document identifiers that identify the scheduled documents.
31. A system for scheduling documents for crawling, comprising
one or more processors; and
memory storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors;
the system including:
means for receiving from a website a notification that includes a sitemap URL corresponding to a sitemap for the website;
means for, in response to the notification:
accessing the sitemap at the sitemap URL; and
retrieving from the sitemap document location information and metadata for a plurality of documents associated with the website, wherein the metadata comprises, for at least a plurality of respective documents associated with the website, document update rate information indicating update frequencies associated with the respective documents;

means for scheduling for downloading documents, from among the plurality of documents, based at least in part on the metadata retrieved from the sitemap, wherein the scheduling includes scheduling a respective document for downloading when one of a date or date and time at which the respective document was last downloaded differs from a current date or a current date and time by an amount that is greater than a duration corresponding to the document update rate information for the respective document; and
means for downloading at least a subset of the documents scheduled for downloading.
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 vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus comprising:
a sound emitting device configured to emit a starting movement notification sound to outside of a vehicle to inform a person in an outside area surrounding the vehicle that the vehicle will transition from a stopped state to a moving state, and emit a moving notification sound to outside of the vehicle to inform a person in the outside area surrounding the vehicle that the vehicle is moving; and
a notification sound control device configured to operate the sound emitting device to selectively emit the starting movement notification sound, the notification sound control device including a notification sound emission timing section configured to set a start timing of the starting movement notification sound in response to a shift operation, which issues a vehicle movement command, having been performed and an additional start movement preparation operation of the vehicle having been performed, the notification sound control device being further configured to operate the sound emitting device to automatically emit the moving notification sound after the starting movement notification sound has been emitted, the moving notification sound being different from the starting movement notification sound.
2. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein
the notification sound emission timing section is further configured to include a brake release operation as part of the additional start movement preparation operation of the vehicle such that the starting movement notification sound is emitted after the shift operation and the brake release operation have both been completed.
3. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein
the notification sound control device is further configured to operate the sound emitting device to emit the moving notification sound after a brake release operation being completed while the vehicle was in a stopped state.
4. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein
the notification sound emission timing section is further configured to emit the starting movement notification sound for a prescribed amount of time after both the shift operation and the brake release operation have both been completed.
5. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein
the notification sound emission timing section is further configured to set the prescribed amount of time to correspond to a period occurring from when both the shift operation and the brake release operation have both been completed until a movement start operation is performed.
6. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein
the notification sound control device is further configured to operate the sound emitting device to emit the moving notification sound in response to the vehicle moving before the brake release operation is completed.
7. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein
the notification sound control device is further configured to operate the sound emitting device to emit the moving notification sound after a brake release operation being completed while the vehicle was in a stopped state.
8. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein
the notification sound emission timing section is further configured to emit the starting movement notification sound for a prescribed amount of time after both the shift operation and the brake release operation have both been completed.
9. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein
the notification sound emission timing section is further configured to set the prescribed amount of time to correspond to a period occurring from when both the shift operation and the brake release operation have both been completed until a movement start operation is performed.
10. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein
the notification sound control device is further configured to operate the sound emitting device to emit the moving notification sound in response to the vehicle moving before the brake release operation is completed.
11. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein
the notification sound control device is further configured to operate the sound emitting device to emit the moving notification sound in response to the vehicle moving before the brake release operation is completed.
12. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein
the notification sound control device is further configured to operate the sound emitting device to emit the moving notification sound in response to the vehicle moving before the brake release operation is completed.
13. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein
the notification sound control device is further configured to operate the sound emitting device to emit the moving notification sound in response to the vehicle moving before the brake release operation is completed.
14. The vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein
the notification sound control device is further configured to operate the sound emitting device to emit the moving notification sound in response to the vehicle moving before the brake release operation is completed.