Abstract: A cover suitable for use on a liquid containing reservoir. The cover is composed of an envelope of porous material. The envelope is subdivided into discrete independent compartments. The compartments each have access to the internal volume for purposes of receiving a charge of hollow spheres. A centrally disposed collection member is positioned at the intersection of the independent compartments. This position is effectively the centre of mass of the cover once charged with spheres and permits expedited positioning and adjustment of the cover on the surface of the liquid container. The independent compartments facilitate controlled consolidation of the spheres therein and allow for simple positioning and removal of the cover which was challenging with prior art arrangements. The latter typically had to be folded or rolled causing manipulation difficulties and causing potentially hazardous situations during manipulation.

Abstract: A liner system and method for installing the liner. The liner is composed of a synthetic material (HDPE or LLDPE). The liner has a base and walls and an undersurface. The undersurface includes integral therewith a plurality of discrete and independent radially disposed in spaced relation stabilizing members. The stabilizing members are exposed when the walls of the liner are positioned in a substantially vertical orientation relative to the base. This exposes the stabilizing members. The container may then be positioned in segments on top of the stabilizing members with the walls of the liner adjacent a wall of the container. In this manner, the container structure is fabricated about the liner. The advantages in this system relate to the maintenance of tension of the liner and the avoidance of having to position a large disc like structure over the top and within a cylindrical receptacle or container.

Abstract: Various embodiments described herein provide methods and apparatus for producing purified water from sea water or some other salty or brackish water source by using brackish concentrate mixed with salty water. The various embodiments also provide methods and apparatus for the treatment of toxicity of brackish concentrate, which brackish concentrate exhibits on aquatic life inhabiting the area of discharge of the brackish concentrate, as well as a method for environmentally safe disposal of brackish concentrate.

Abstract: The Invention is directed to an oxygen sensor arrangement (8) and a method for operating such an arrangement for sensing the oxygen in a breathing loop (29) of a breathing apparatus. The sensor arrangement comprises: at least one primary oxygen sensor (30) arranged to operatively measure the oxygen in the breathing loop (29), at least a secondary oxygen sensor (31) arranged to operatively measure the oxygen in the breathing loop (29), and a control arrangement (40) for obtaining measures from said oxygen sensors. A test channel arrangement (15, 48) is adapted to operatively provide a first gas having a first fraction of oxygen from a first gas supply (16) to said primary oxygen sensor (30) at a position (267) adjacent to said primary oxygen sensor (30). At least a first test valve arrangement (41, 42) is arranged to operatively open and close the flow of said first gas through said test channel arrangement (15, 48).

Abstract: The invention is directed to an oxygen sensor arrangement 8 for sensing the oxygen in a breathing loop 29 of a breathing apparatus 100. The sensor arrangement 8 comprises at least one primary oxygen sensor 30 arranged to operatively measure the oxygen in the breathing loop 29, and a control arrangement 40 for obtaining measures from said oxygen sensor. A test channel arrangement 15, 362 is adapted to operatively provide a first gas having a first fraction of oxygen from a first supply 20 to said primary oxygen sensor 30 at a position 267 adjacent to or directly adjacent to said primary oxygen sensor. A first test valve arrangement 41 is arranged to operatively open and close the flow of said first gas through said test channel arrangement 15, 362. Said a control arrangement 40 is arranged to operatively actuate said first test valve arrangement 41 so as to provide an amount of said first gas to said primary oxygen sensor 30 via said test channel arrangement 15, 362.

Abstract: The invention provides methods and an apparatus for more efficiently and economically producing purified water from sea water or some other salty or brackish water source. The efficiency is derived from the co-location with a power plant or other thermal generating source that will heat the feed water. Reverse osmosis membrane filtration systems work optimally when the feed water is at certain higher temperature, where that temperature is typically higher than the feed water at ambient temperatures. By using the heated sea water as the byproduct of the power plant electricity generating process and if necessary mixing it with ambient temperature sea water, if needed to lower the water temperature, and using this feed water with a higher temperature than ambient water temperature, the efficiency of the reverse osmosis system can be increased.

Abstract: This invention describes a compilation method of extracting and implementing an accelerator control program from an application source code in a processor based system. The application source code comprises arrays and loops. The input application source code is sequential, with loop, branch and call control structures, while the generated output of this invention has parallel execution semantics. The compilation method comprises the step of performing loop nest analysis, transformations and backend processes. The step of loop nest analysis consists of dependence analysis and pointer analysis. Dependence analysis determines the conflicts between the various references to arrays in the loop, and pointer analysis determines if two pointer references in a loop are in conflict. Transformations convert the loops from their original sequential execution semantics to parallel execution semantics. The back-end process determines the parameters and memory map of the accelerator and the hardware dependent software.

Abstract: Certain 1,5-disubstituted benzimidazol-2-one compounds useful as therapeutic agents. The compounds may be of the Formula I wherein: R? represents hydrogen or alkyl; R? represents halogen or trihalogenmethyl; and Hlg represents halogen; provided, however, that if Hlg is F, then R? is not Cl. Also, use of the 1,5-disubstituted benzimidazol-2-one compounds, or pharmaceutically-acceptable addition salts thereof, in applications that benefit from increasing the blood-brain barrier permeability.

Abstract: A method of reducing data transfer overheads in a 32-bit bus interface unit direct memory access architecture. The method comprises the steps of identifying the optimal number of data elements, that can be accessed as a single full-word transfer, setting data packing criteria and analysing the data pattern and determining the impact of offset direction on data packing. If the packing criteria are met, the data is compacted and fetched in four bytes or two half-words in one transaction by performing a full-word transfer instead of a partial transfer. If the packing criteria are not met, a single byte or a single half word is fetched. This invention provides a system for reducing data transfer overheads. The system comprises of an external address generation unit for generating external memory addresses and corresponding byte enables and a read local address generation unit for generating internal memory addresses and corresponding byte enables.

Abstract: This invention relates to novel compounds useful as potassium channel modulators. More specifically the invention provides chemical compounds useful as modulators of SKCa and/or IKCa channels.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for detecting an object (1) in relation to a surface (2). A synthetic image (3c, 4c) is produced from at least two distinct viewpoints (3, 4), for each of said viewpoints, by means of a geometrical transformation comprising at least one perspective projection (3a, 4a) of the object on the surface (2), each synthetic image being associated with the viewpoint concerned. By discriminating between the synthetic images, it is possible to detect the presence of and determine the position of the object (1) in relation to the surface (2), by searching for contrast inversions. The invention can be used for surveying a swimming pool.

Abstract: A valve device, particularly for a breathing regulator for divers, including an inlet chamber which can be connected to a source of gas under super-atmospheric pressure, and an outlet chamber which is under a regulated pressure. A seating, which is movable under the influence of the super-atmospheric pressure and the regulated pressure, seals between the inlet chamber and the outlet chamber and has a through-passing passageway that interconnects the chambers. Also included is a valve body which is movably arranged in the seating such as to open and close the through-passing passageway in the seating. A servo element exerts on the valve body a force that depends on the position of the movable seating, so that varying force-influence on the valve body from the super-atmospheric pressure will be compensated for by a corresponding varying force from the servo element. This results in an essentially constant valve characteristic, while providing a mechanically simple solution at the same time.

Abstract: An oscillator having a desired output frequency, comprising a cavity resonator 102 loaded with an anisotropic dielectric material and an oscillator circuit 100 including the cavity resonator 102 as a frequency determining element, the oscillator circuit 100 arranged to operate the cavity resonator 102 at a first frequency in a first mode and at a second frequency in a second mode, the first mode and the second mode each being influenced to a different extent by the thermal coefficient of permittivity of at least one crystal axis of the dielectric material, the oscillator circuit arranged to produce the desired operating frequency from the first frequency and the second frequency. The first frequency and the second frequency differ by an amount corresponding to the desired output frequency.

Abstract: The present invention relates to ion channel modulating agents. More particularly, the present invention relates to a particular class of chemical compounds that has proven useful as modulators of SK Ca, IK Ca and BK Ca channels. In further aspects, the present invention relates to the use of these SK/IK/BK channel modulating agents for the manufacture of medicaments, for methods of therapy, and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the SK/IK/BK channel modulating agents. The SK/IK/BK channel modulating agents of the invention are useful for the treatment or alleviation of diseases and conditions associated with the SK/IK/BK channels.

Abstract: A system and method of designing an accelerator for a processor-based system. The accelerator design problem is partitioned into a data communicate module design problem and a data compute core module design problem. The hardware design of the data communicate module is achieved through a predetermined communication template which is customized for the particular application. The communication template has individual configurable communication components and a programmable control flow path. The components of the communicate template include a host bus interface, a memory bus interface, a direct memory access, a local memory and a control module. The combination of the communication components in a single configurable communication template and their optimized interconnections increase the speed of data transfer and data control processes in the accelerator.

Abstract: The invention provides methods and an apparatus for more efficiently and economically producing purified water from sea water or some other salty or brackish water source. The efficiency is derived from the co-location with a power plant or other thermal generating source that will heat the feed water. Reverse osmosis membrane filtration systems work optimally when the feed water is at certain higher temperature, where that temperature is typically higher than the feed water at ambient temperatures. By using the heated sea water as the byproduct of the power plant electricity generating process and if necessary mixing it with ambient temperature sea water, if needed to lower the water temperature, and using this feed water with a higher temperature than ambient water temperature, the efficiency of the reverse osmosis system can be increased.

Abstract: A signal analysis instrument (10) and a receiver. The signal analysis instrument (10) comprises a computer (12), a phase shift mechanism, a receiver mechanism and data acquisition device. The phase shift mechanism comprises an input (100) for receiving a first high frequency signal; a phase shifter (114) arranged to act on the first high frequency signal to produce a phase-shifted first high frequency signal; and a phase shift controller (116) arranged to control operation of the phase shifter (114) in response to instructions from the computer (12). The receiver mechanism comprises a mixer (104) and a first signal conditioning circuit (106). The mixer (104) is responsive to the phase-shifted first high frequency signal and to a second high frequency signal to produce a mixer output signal. The first signal conditioning circuit (106) is responsive to the mixer output signal to produce a receiver output signal.

Abstract: The present invention relates to chemical compounds having inhibitory activity on an intermediate conductance Ca2+ activated potassium channel (IKCa), and the use of such compounds for the treatment or alleviation of diseases or conditions relating to immune dysfunction.

Abstract: An interferometric signal processing apparatus (10) producing an output signal from a first input signal (34) and a second input signal (34), the input signals (34) having substantially equal carrier frequencies, comprising a bridge (12) having a first arm (26) and a second arm (28), each arm having a first end (30) and a second end (32), the first and second input signals (34) being input to the first end (30) of the first and second arms (26, 28), respectively; a device-under-test (36) provided the first arm (26); a carrier suppressor (14) connected to the second ends (32) of the first and second arms (26, 28) to produce a carrier-suppressed signal at its output (A); an amplifier (16) arranged to amplify said carrier-suppressed signal; and a mixer (22, 24) responsive to the amplified carrier-suppressed signal and a carrier-dominated signal to produce the output signal; wherein the differential group delay between: the first end (30) of the first arm (26) and the output (A) of the carrier suppressor (14); an

Abstract: A system for monitoring a swimming pool to prevent drowning accidents includes sensing devices (D1, D2, D3) for providing electrical signals forming images of bodies immersed in the pool water. Appropriate hardware (10) digitizes the resulting images, and the digital image data is compressed and stored at a series of times. Digitized images of a single body are compared at a series of times. The nature of a body, the path of the body and changes in the position of the body are estimated on the basis of the series of images; and an alarm is activated should the path or movement of the body being observed give cause for concern.