Abstract: Derivatives of 2,5-piperazinedione of formula (I) are apoptotic peptidase activating factor 1 (Apaf-1) inhibitors, therefore they are useful as active pharmaceutical ingredients for the prophylaxis and/or treatment of a pathological and/or physiological condition associated with an increase of apoptosis.

Abstract: A catheter has a two-piece tip electrode with a shell and a support structure that are secured to each other by multiple redundant mechanisms in order to reduce the risk of tip detachment during a procedure. The tip electrode includes at least two different welds attaching the shell to the support structure to provide a dual failure mode. One weld includes a seam weld and another weld includes a penetration weld.

Abstract: A positioning assembly is disclosed herein. An example includes a guide shaft having a longitudinal axis and a housing movable along and rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the guide shaft. The housing is also transversely movable and transversely rotatable with respect to the longitudinal axis of the guide shaft. The example of the positioning assembly additionally has a brake mechanism including at least one shoe and a caliper eccentrically mounted on the guide shaft and moveable from a first position that permits movement and rotation of the housing to a second position that impedes movement and rotation of the housing. Other elements and features of the positioning assembly are disclosed herein, as are other examples of positioning assemblies.

Abstract: In a composter having a horizontally elongated rotating drum, material is fed into the drum through an opening in a stationary end plate having an annular marginal area which overlaps, in sealing relationship, an annular intake end wall of the drum. Material passes through a central opening in an annular exit end wall of the drum, and falls by gravity onto a cylindrical screen which is fixed to, and rotates with, the exit end wall. The annular end walls are in axial register with, and surrounded by, external trunnions on the drum which ride on pairs of supporting rollers. Frusto-conical rings are welded to the end walls, and to the inside of the drum at locations opposite the edges of the trunnion rings to reduce metal fatigue. The exit end rollers allow for axial expansion of the drum. The interior wall the drum is lined with a rubber.

Abstract: A universal mounting interface for rope cleats on water vessels, docks, or other fixed structures. The current invention provides a cleat saddle from which spars or poles are extended and linked at a flexible but resilient arch connection to fend off the vessel from a dock or another vessel. The mounting interface may be seated in overlying relation to a boat cleat and held in place by any mounting means. The current invention further provides elbows connecting the mounting interface to the spars and acts as a juncture of resilience to external forces. Rotation channels in one or more of the components allow rotation and flexibility to resisting the external forces. Additionally, one or more of the components can have strength enhancing aspects to prevent bending or manipulation of the components in response to external forces. The goal is to provide a constant, though relatively flexible, distance between two objects.

Abstract: The invention relates to a parabolic concentrating solar collector (1) formed by a paraboloid supported by a knuckle joint (3) suitable for tracking the sun. The collector is characterised in that a shaft (4) is disposed at the centre of the base of the paraboloid, said shaft being provided with a catalytic reactor (5) at the end opposite the surface of the paraboloid, as well as upward supply tubes (6) arranged therein for the passage of the primary products to the reactor and downward collection tubes (7).

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for the alkylation of residual hydrocarbons obtained from pyrolytic processes, in particular processes for the obtaining of synthesis gas from wet crushed coal, essentially alkene- and alkane-type waste products, in order the exploit the energy thereof in the form of alkenes, alkanes and alcohols having a high energy content. The method is essentially characterised in that the waste products obtained from the synthesis gas formation are subject to a subsequent treatment in order to transform them into other branched alkane-type products and alcoholic compounds, recovering the hydrogen and water produced in said reactions, that remain available for their subsequent use as fuel in other chemical processing plants, or to be fed back to the gasification-pyrolysis process itself, to enrich the synthesis gas obtained.

Abstract: A method for the recovery of energy from synthesis gas waste products obtained from wet crushed coal, according to a gasification-pyrolysis process, which comprises the submission of the waste products obtained during the production of the synthesis gas to a subsequent treatment, to transform such products into other products of the branched-chain alkane type and aromatic compounds, recovering the hydrogen obtained during these reactions, which will be available to be used at other chemical processing plants, as fuel or simply to be fed back to the gasification-pyrolysis process itself, to enrich the synthesis gas obtained.

Abstract: The device herein described includes: a feeder for feeding wet crushed coal from an upper feed nozzle (1) into two branches (1a and 1b) provided with suitable mills; an element for mixing/distributing screened coal (2), located downstream of the nozzle (1); a gasification chamber (3) located downstream of the aforementioned element (2) where the screened material is oxidised by means of the supply of oxygen at approximately 1,800° C.-1,900° C., said chamber (3) being divided into two sub-chambers by a gas diffusion membrane; a cyclone separator (4) located downstream of the chamber (3), which retains the solid particles present in the synthesis gas; an essentially pyrolytic chamber (5) where the solids carried from the cyclone separator (4) are pyrolysed, the residual gases being fed back into the chamber (3); and a sawtooth screen (6) which collects the solid waste, storing same as slag in a storage element (7).

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for the production of energy from lower alcohols, particularly methanol, wherein such alcohols are obtained from synthesis gas by means of a process comprising the gasification-pyrolysis of wet crushed coal. According to the method of the invention, the aforementioned alcohols are subject to a catalytic dehydration using a zeolite catalyst as an acid catalyst, giving rise to olefins which in turn, using the same catalyst as a molecular sieve, give rise to highly branched paraffins and cyclic and aromatic compounds, by means of hydrogenation, alkylation and isomerisation, using the hydrogen present in the above-mentioned synthesis gas.

Abstract: A shield for an electrical connector comprises a conductive housing configured to enclose an exposed portion of at least one electrical connector. The shield further comprises at least one opening formed in the conductive housing configured to allow a corresponding mating portion of each of the at least one electrical connectors to be exposed. The shield further comprises and a plurality of conductive points located along at least one circumferential path within the conductive housing remote from the at least one opening.

Abstract: A shield for an electrical connector comprises a conductive housing configured to enclose an exposed portion of at least one electrical connector. The shield further comprises at least one opening formed in the conductive housing configured to allow a corresponding mating portion of each of the at least one electrical connectors to be exposed. The shield further comprises and a plurality of conductive points located along at least one circumferential path within the conductive housing remote from the at least one opening.

Abstract: The collector rests on a ball joint by means of which it is connected to the ground, said ball joint being surrounded by a series of hydraulic arms arranged in two imaginary concentric rings. The aforementioned arms are hinged at the ends thereof to the collector and the corresponding foundation. In addition, the structure is stabilized by at least four towers (12) connected in pairs by a cable (13) that follows a closed path and is rigidly secured to the structure (2) at two diametrically opposed points of attachment (14), in such a way that the collector is pulled in one direction or another by means of multiple pulleys associated with the lower and upper ends of each of the two opposing towers, said cable passing through a braking means (17).

Abstract: The invention relates to haptens, immunogens and secondary immunoreactive agents, to the use thereof for producing wide-spectrum antibodies against quinolone-type antibiotics, to the application thereof to immunochemical analysis techniques, and to a kit enabling the detection of said antibiotics in biological samples from food products of animal origin.

Abstract: The procedure according to the invention allows the obtaining of lower alcohols from the solar energy produced at a high temperature solar thermal power plant which provides, from an energy point of view, the power supply necessary for every step of the procedure, supplying both the electricity power necessary to perform the intermediate steps of the procedure and, essentially, the products involved in the different steps (H2, O2, steam and CO2) starting from a supply of wet milled coal, wherein the by-products obtained during these different stages of the procedure are fed back to the procedure itself. The procedure allows the storage of the energy obtained from the sun as lower alcohols, and such alcohols, in turn, may become an alternative to the consumption of fossil fuels, eliminating the risk derived from the production of residues; consequently, it is an especially advantageous procedure, both from an environmental and a production point of view.

Abstract: In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided, comprising: detecting an image associated with a set of media elements, selecting a sub-portion of the image, and associating the sub-portion of the image with a media element of the set of media elements.

Abstract: In a rotary composter having a horizontally elongated rotatable cylindrical drum, material is fed from a hopper into the drum through an opening in a stationary end plate having an annular marginal area which overlaps, in sealing relationship, an annular intake end wall extending inward from the internal wall of the drum from a location adjacent to an intake end of the drum. At an exit end of the drum material passes through a central opening in an annular exit end wall and falls by gravity onto a cylindrical screen which is fixed to, and rotates with, the exit end wall. The annular end walls are in axial register with external trunnions on the drum which ride on pairs of supporting rollers. The exit end rollers allow for axial expansion of the drum. The interior wall the drum is lined with a rubber.

Abstract: A solar energy transfer system including a spherical dish measuring 0-100 meters in diameter, with stem measuring 0-100 meters in length (its length depends on the dish dimensions), perpendicular to the base of the dish. At the top of the stem is a spheroid where power concentration and transfer occurs by reflecting quantum and electromagnetic solar energy by means of reflecting material with the same curvature as the spherical dish.

Abstract: In a vacuum unit for use in drawing a vacuum on a steam sterilizer, a pump circulates water through an ejector and a reservoir. Fresh water is injected at the pump inlet to maintain a low temperature in the ejector so that it can operate efficiently. Excess water is taken from a location adjacent the bottom of the reservoir through an internal dip tube, and passed through a U-shaped conduit that serves as a condensate trap. To maintain the water discharge temperature below a predetermined level, fresh water is injected into the U-shaped conduit through a valve controlled by a temperature sensor downstream from the water injection point.

Abstract: An arrangement for improving performance of a sensor operative for collecting light from a target to generate a data signal in a presence of ambient light, includes a sample and hold circuit for operating the sensor during a sampling time period in which the sensor only collects the ambient light to generate an ambient signal, and during a holding time period in which the sensor collects both the ambient light and the light from the target to generate a composite signal comprised of the ambient signal and the data signal; and a subtracting circuit operative for subtracting the ambient signal from the composite signal to produce the data signal as an output.