Abstract: The invention relates to a process for the liquid phase oxidation of ethylbenzene into ethylbenzene hydroperoxide, wherein the ethylbenzene hydroperoxide concentration is kept below 20 wt. % on the basis of the total weight of the reaction mixture, and wherein styrene and/or a styrene derivative is fed to the ethylbenzene. The concentration of said styrene and/or a styrene derivative may be from 0.01 to 5.0 wt. %.

Abstract: Additives useful in attenuating the crosslinking time of sparingly soluble borate minerals and the use of those additives in oil well fracturing fluids and methods are described.

Abstract: A process for preparing styrene by contacting a gaseous feed which contains 1-phenylethanol and at least 0.1% wt of phenol and/or ethylphenol with a heterogeneous dehydration catalyst in the presence of at least 0.40% wt of benzylalcohol and at a molar ratio of benzylalcohol to total amount of phenol and ethylphenol of at least 0.8.

Abstract: Nonionic derivatized starch of varying degrees of substitution may be used as a fluid loss additive for well bore cementing operations. A well bore cementing composition may include a cement and a nonionic derivatized starch, the nonionic derivatized starch in a concentration in the cement to provide a fluid loss of less than 200 cc/30 min. A method for cementing subterranean zones penetrated by a well bore may include: providing a cement slurry including mix water, hydraulic cement and a nonionic derivatized starch as an additive for fluid loss control in well cementing applications; pumping the cement slurry into a well; and holding the cement slurry in place until it sets.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for converting documents from one format to another in a speed efficient way involves a hardware module which implements several operating pipeline stages which work in parallel. The transformations are supplied and decomposed into sequences of control units. The transformation of documents consists of applying control unit sequences to input documents. The control units are themselves executed by a set of dedicated hardware resources. Furthermore the pipeline is capable of operating on more than one document at a time. Fast document transformation is a key capability of document processing systems. The use of parallel processing techniques and hardware that implements highly specialized transformation resources make this invention particularly scalable for its use in large, high speed content networks.

Abstract: Systems and methods for providing redundant application servers are described. A method of providing application server redundancy in a VoIP environment includes, receiving, at a standby server, application layer and signaling layer state information related to an active server and configuring the standby server to have substantially the same application layer and signaling layer state as the active server. The method also includes receiving, at the standby server, a copy of a message received by the active server and processing, by the standby server, the copy of the message to maintain synchronization between the state of the active server and the standby server.

Abstract: Systems and methods for messaging handling among redundant application servers are described. A method of providing application synchronization among a plurality of servers in an VoIP network environment includes pausing execution of an application on a standby server when the standby server encounters a checkpoint in the application and receiving a first message indicating that an active server reached the same checkpoint in a copy of the application executing on the active server. The method also includes transmitting, from the standby server, a second message to the active server indicating that the standby server received the first message and resuming execution of the application on the standby server.

Abstract: Systems and method for providing application layer fault tolerance in a VoIP architecture is shown and described. The method includes associating a virtual network address with one of a first communication device and second communication device, receiving a message from a network element, detecting a fault on an active one of the communication devices, and associating the virtual address with the other of the communication devices. Each of the first and second communication devices is coupled to a VoIP network. The virtual network address is associated with the active one of the communication devices. The detection of the fault occurs when the active communication device is at a first execution point of an application executing on the active communication device. When the virtual address is associated with the other communication device, the other of communication devices continues to provide the service from the first execution point.

Abstract: The present invention provides a valve (10) comprising a mounting member (12) for mounting of the valve. The valve includes a collapsible aperture (20) which in an open condition allows for flow of a fluid in a forward direction through the valve whilst in a closed condition prevents flow of fluid in a reverse direction. In one form of the valve, the valve element is connected to the mounting member (12) via an isolation zone (22) that reduces likelihood of the collapsible aperture moving to an open condition under impact. In another form of the valve, the valve element is configured to provide opening of the collapsible aperture on application of a predetermined force to the mounting member. In a final form of the valve, the valve comprises a sports ball valve having a collapsible aperture which is opened by fluid pressure alone.

Abstract: A method of managing a content routed network, involves distributing published documents through said network for delivery to subscribers; maintaining data logs pertaining to said published documents at different points in the network; and correlating the data logs to obtain information about the operation of the network.

Abstract: Systems and methods for a VoIP session controller product that combines high performance packet processing throughput with low cost, based on a design that dynamically moves packet processing between user space and kernel based on individual call parameters.

Abstract: A non-return valve (10) comprising a valve body (12) and a valve membrane (14). The valve body (12) is generally tubular and includes an elongate passageway (16) with inlet (18) and outlet (20) at opposing ends. The valve membrane (14) is of a generally conical-shaped diaphragm formed integrally with the valve body (12). The diaphragm (14) has a collapsible opening or aperture (22) located at or adjacent the cones apex. The conical diaphragm (14) is oriented with its apex pointing downstream. The resiliently flexible material from which the diaphragm (14) is constructed, ensures that the diaphragm (14) in a collapsed condition obstructs or closes the aperture (22) to prevent fluid flowing in a reverse direction, i.e. backflow towards the inlet. Pressurisation of fluid within the passageway (16) on the inlet (18) side of the diaphragm (14), deflects the diaphragm to open the aperture (22) so that fluid can flow through the passageway from the inlet (18) to the outlet (20) only.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for performing a discrete cosine transform (DCT) using a microprocessor having an instruction set that includes SIMD floating point instructions. In one embodiment, the method includes: (1) receiving a block of integer data having C columns and R rows; and (2) for each row, (a) loading the row data into registers; (b) converting the row data into floating point form so that the registers each hold two floating point row data values; and (c) using SIMD floating point instructions to perform weighted-rotation operations on the values in the registers. Suitable SIMD floating point instructions include the pswap, pfmul, and pfpnacc instructions. For the row-DCT, the data values are preferably ordered in the registers so as to permit the use of these instructions. For the column-DCT, two columns are preferably processed in parallel using SIMD instructions to improve computational efficiency.

Abstract: A valve body (12) has an inlet opening (22) and an outlet opening (24) interconnected by a fluid passageway (28, 30) having a flow aperture (34). The valve comprises a diaphragm (14) (typically of the duckbill type) that is located across the flow aperture (34) and has slits in a collapsible aperture (39). This prevents backflow from the outlet to the inlet. The valve has an actuator (16) in the form of a plunger for influencing the fluid flow. Also disclosed is a pressure release valve whereby a high pressure on the outlet side can partially collapse the aperture (39) to temporality vent fluid from the high pressure outlet side.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for performing an inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) using a microprocessor having an instruction set that includes SIMD floating-point instructions. In one embodiment, the method includes: (1) receiving a block of integer data having C columns and R rows; and (2) for each row, (a) loading the row data into registers; (b) converting the row data into floating-point form so that the registers each hold two floating-point row data values; and (c) using SIMD floating-point instructions to perform weighted-rotation operations on the values in the registers. Suitable SIMD floating-point instructions include the pswap, pfmul, and pfpnacc instructions. For the row-IDCT, the data values are preferably ordered in the registers so as to permit the use of these instructions. For the column-IDCT, two columns are preferably processed concurrently using SIMD instructions to improve computational efficiency.

Abstract: Fluids useful in oil well drilling operations are described. The fluids comprise standard viscosifying and fluid loss control additives along with phosphonates or phosphate esters of organic ligands. The addition of the phosphonates or phosphate esters at effective concentrations prevents the adherence of heavy oil and heavy oil laden drill cuttings to drill pipe strings and well bore casings.

Abstract: Fluids useful in oil well drilling operations are described. The fluids comprise standard viscosifying and fluid loss control additives along with phosphonates or phosphate esters of organic ligands. The addition of the phosphonates or phosphate esters at effective concentrations prevents the adherence of heavy oil and heavy oil laden drill cuttings to drill pipe strings and well bore casings.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for preparing styrene by catalytically dehydrating 1-phenylethanol in the liquid phase in the presence of at least 0.1 % wt of a chain transfer agent. As an alternative, the process is performed by recycling at least part of the chain transfer-containing product stream to the reactor and combining with the feed for preparing the products.

Abstract: A cavity sealer or tub is disclosed that provides a self-sealing and self-retaining member for sealing at least two and typically at least three metallic members (e.g., automotive architectural, structural, among other components or members). The sealer bonds to and becomes integral with the sealed metallic members.

Abstract: Clay stabilizing agents used in fracturing fluids produce noxious odours, raise environmental concerns or are less than effective in subterranean formations of low permeability. Disclosed herein is an alternate stabilizing agent comprising at least one organic amine selected from the group consisting of primary diamines with a chain length of 8 or less and primary alkyl amines with a chain length of 4 or less. The organic amine is admixed with the fracturing fluid in an amount not less than 0.03% by volume of the fluid and typically in the range of from about 0.06% to 0.3% by volume of the fluid.