Abstract: The present invention refers to a method for establishing a communication network that connects a group or community of users using wireless equipments according to their defined interests. These equipments are preferentially portable, low cost, and user-friendly, where each equipment must be configurable using its user's profile, which contains a small amount of the user's personal data, namely the miniprofile. The method uses a collection of such miniprofiles to transparently set a communication network among the associate users to establish a virtual community. In addition, each profile will contain further information on user's interests, which the method will propagate across the communication network to the established virtual community in a way that their members will be able to form groups based on common interests while allowing for interaction among their members. The user profile can be set identifiable or anonymous, may or not be shareable in relation to the other members of a group.

Abstract: The invention is related to a composition destined to protect steels against corrosion by utilization of the steel's own rust as a passivating element, the rust being removed from the steel and/or being synthetically prepared and agglutinated with a resin, where the resin can have or cannot have as an electric conductivity promoter material an intrinsically conductor polymer (ICP), in this case polyaniline, in its conducting form (emeraldine salt) or non conducting (emeraldine base), besides filler(s) and a dispersant oil.

Abstract: A Distributed Video System provides a scalable and interactive video-on-demand service with VCR operations over a communication network includes a video server and video clients, each of which includes a memory buffer, called a client buffer. The System provides a method of managing video frames of client buffers in a cooperative way with video frames held in the video server allows the video frames of the client buffers to be shared among the video clients. Requests for a video are primarily served by the video clients that have the requested video frames in their client buffers and only requests that the video clients are unable to attend to will be provided by the video server.

Abstract: The novelty proposed herein describes the application of niobium-based compositions and coatings, niobium oxides and their alloys capable of associations with other oxides and alloys by means of the thermal spraying technique for the purpose of an anticorrosive protection in highly corrosive environments, mainly those which present high temperatures, show presence of gases such as H2S, SO2, CO2, as well as organic and inorganic acids, commonly found in industrial centers.

Abstract: The present invention refers to a global clock system for clusters or networks of computers implemented entirely in hardware. The system uses a specifically designed hierarchical network to distribute clock pulses that are used to increment time counters in the cluster' nodes. In addition, this network enables any node of the cluster to send a reset signal to the other nodes so that all local time counters are initialized simultaneously and remain automatically synchronized afterwards. In this way, each processor in the cluster is able to obtain the value of the global clock whenever accessing its own local time counter. The reset signal is the only function that is implemented in software.

Abstract: The present invention refers to compositions and coatings, having the niobium, its oxides and possible associations with other oxides as a pigment, and its utilization carried out by the usual techniques of painting, acting as an anticorrosive to organic acids, particularly the naphthenic acids in sulfide medium, persistently present in the petrochemical industry.