Abstract: A method of producing a transform decomposition of data having an odd length the method comprising the steps of dividing the data into a portion having an even length of one element; performing a discrete wavelet transform on the even length data to produce low frequency subband data and high frequency subband data; adding the difference of the one element and an adjacent element to high frequency subband data. Preferably the transform is a Discrete Wavelet Transform utilised in the compression of image data.

Abstract: There is provided a process for converting hydrocarbons which utilizes a zeolite bound zeolite catalyst that has enhanced performance when utilized in hydrocarbon conversion processes, e.g., catalytic cracking, alkylation, disproportionation of toluene, isomerization, and transalkylation reactions. The catalyst comprises a first zeolite having particles of greater than about 0.1 micron average particle size and a binder comprising second zeolite particles having an average particle size less than said first particles.

Abstract: A mechanism for a multi-axis flexure positioner includes a fixed part and a movable part (7), the movable part (7) being connected to the fixed part via a plurality of transmission means, one for each axis, for transmitting actuation forces for the respective axes to the movable part (7). The transmission means for each axis includes a flexure member (2,3,8) arranged to transmit actuation forces for that axis to the movable part (7) and to flex between the fixed part and the movable part in response to actuation forces associated with the or each other axis. There are three flexure members (2,3,8) arranged to extend along three mutually-perpendicular axes so that each flexure member (2,3,8) is flexible along the axes of extent of the other two flexure members (2,3,8). Each of the three flexure members (2,3,8) comprises a pair of flexure linkages arranged to extend parallel to each other, the three pairs of linkages thus defining three mutually-perpendicular planes.

Abstract: The present invention relates to thermosetting resin compositions comprising (a) a first vinyl ester resin synthesized from the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A, bisphenol A and glacial methacrylic acid, in from about 1% to about 95% by weight of the total composition; (b) a resin selected from the group consisting of (1) a second different vinyl ester synthesized from the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A with glacial methacrylic acid, and (2) an unsaturated polyester, in from about 1% to about 69% by weight of the total composition; and electrical laminates made therefrom which further comprise a catalyst in from about 0.1% to about 2% by weight of the total composition and which may or may not be clad with an electrical conductive layer on at least one side; and a method of producing these.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are described for the seismic exploration of strata adjacent to a borehole, wherein an arrangement of geophones is lowered into the borehole and clamped to the wall. The geophones are clamped at essentially equal angular distances along the circumference of the borehole. A plurality of such arrangements can be positioned along the longitudinal axis of the borehole. By combining the outputs of the geophones noise signals generated by symmetric guided waves are attenuated. The arrangement can be used for cross-well seismic acquisition and in combination with seismic sources and/or attenuator so as to form an single-unit exploration tool for borehole seismics.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus and computer program products for encoding and decoding transform coefficients are disclosed. A digital image (102) is input to a transform block (110), which preferably employs a discrete wavelet transform. A bit rearrangement block (120) codes bit sequences representing resulting transform coefficients (112) in an efficient fashion. The bit arrangement block (120) selects a portion of the coefficients as a region (200). The significance of each bitplane of the region (200) is scanned from most towards least significant bitplanes, and first and second tokens are provided for each insignificant and significant bitplanes until determining a significant bitplane. This region is then partitioned into subregions (210-216), which are each set as the selected region. This processing is repeated until a minimum bit level is reached, or the selected region has a specified size. The coefficients of specified-size regions (200-216) are coded and provided in a coded representation (122).

Abstract: The surprising ability of the polysilicate microgels commonly known as "activated silica" to adsorb and to release heavy metals selectively as a function of pH is used in a novel method for separating metals from dilute aqueous solution by means of selective precipitation with and recovery from an activated silica absorbent, selected changes to the pH. The process is particularly intended for the economic purification of contaminated waste streams to recover valuable but toxic heavy metals from such effluents at a lower cost than hitherto possible, using an activated silica substrate which may be regenerated by alkali treatment.

Abstract: Disclosed are topical compositions which comprise from about 0.01% to about 60% by weight of an antiperspirant and/or deodorant active; from about 1% to about 60% by weight of a volatile, nonpolar hydrocarbon liquid having a solubility parameter of less than about 7.5 (cal/cm.sup.3).sup.0.5 and a vapor pressure as measured at 25.degree. C. of from about 0.01 mmHg to about 6.0 mmHg; and from about 1% to about 60% by weight of a skin irritation-mitigating material having a vapor pressure equal to or less than that of the volatile, nonpolar hydrocarbon liquid, preferably a silicone-containing liquid; wherein the weight ratio of the volatile, nonpolar hydrocarbon liquid to the mitigating material is from about 5:1 to about 1:50.

Abstract: Disclosed are antiperspirant compositions which comprise (a) from about 3% to about 40% by weight of a coupling agent comprising a combination of hexylene glycol and a hydrocarbon oil wherein the weight ratio of hexylene glycol to hydrocarbon oil is from about 1:2 to about 1:20; from about 0.5% to about 60% by weight of an antiperspirant active; from about 1% to about 15% by weight of a gellant selected from the group consisting of fatty acids, fatty acid esters, fatty acid amides, n-acyl amino acid derivatives, and mixtures thereof; and from about 10% to about 80% by weight of a volatile liquid carrier. The use of a combination of hexylene glycol and a hydrocarbon oil provides for improved coupling benefits at lower coupler concentrations, and allows for the formulation of an antiperspirant composition with good antiperspirant and aesthetic performance.

Abstract: A method for operating a machine to perform unsupervised training of a set of character templates uses as the source of training samples an image source of character images, called glyphs, that need not be manually or automatically segmented or isolated prior to training. A recognition operation performed on the image source of character images produces a labeled glyph position data structure that includes, for each glyph in the image source, a glyph image position in the image source associating an estimated image location of the glyph in the image source with a character label paired with the glyph image position that indicates the character in the character set being trained. The labeled glyph position data and the image source are then used to determine sample image regions in the image source; each sample image region is large enough to contain at least a single glyph but need not be restricted in size to only contain a single glyph.

Abstract: A cosmetic stick deodorant composition comprising: a. from about 0.5% to about 10.0% of the cosmetic stick deodorant composition of an astringent metal salt active; b. a stable, anhydrous base component comprising: i. from about 5% to about 40% of the cosmetic stick deodorant composition of a solidifying agent selected from the group consisting of the high melting point waxes; and low melting point wax fatty alcohols, fatty acid esters and fatty acid amides, having fatty chains of from about 8 to about 22 carbon atoms, and mixtures thereof; ii. from about 20% to about 70% of the cosmetic stick deodorant composition of a volatile emollients; iii. from about 10% to about 50% of the cosmetic stick deodorant composition of non-volatile emollients; and c. from about 0.05% to about 10% of the cosmetic stick deodorant composition of a solubilizing agent having a hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) value of greater than about 10.

Abstract: A digital broadcast transmission system comprises a plurality of spaced transmitters (6). Each transmitter (6) receives signals for transmission from a master transmitter (2), e.g. on a satellite, along with a reference frequency (F.sub.REF). The reference frequency is used to generate the transmission frequency at each spaced transmitter. At a receiver (12), conversion means can be used, to enable signals from the master transmitter (2) and from the other transmitter(s) to be received. A preferred application is digital audio broadcasting (DAB). Specifically, the present invention is useful in connection with Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (COFDM) modulation.

Abstract: Homologous recombination techniques are used to produce yeast artificial chromosomes (YAC) containing foreign target DNA by utilizing at least three DNA segments which yield the vector. Preferred embodiments allow the production of viral DNA which is infectious.

Abstract: Antiperspirant stick compositions made from a solidifying agent which may include a gellant such as n-acyl amino acid amides, 12-hydroxystearic acid, esters of 12-hydroxystearic acid, amides of 12-hydroxystearic acid, and mixtures thereof; or a wax; a liquid base material including a non-volatile, non-polar emollient oil; an antiperspirant active; and a wash-off agent made of selected polyoxyethylene ethers; polyoxyethylene esters and diesters; and polyoxyethylene glyceryl esters and diesters. Such antiperspirant stick compositions exhibit improved wash-off performance, particularly with regard to the solidifying agent and the non-polar, non-volatile oils. These compositions are easily prepared by conventional techniques.

Abstract: Four stages of digital cellular architecture are presented which reuse much of the existing voice infrastructure while allowing graceful introduction of data and integrated voice/data services over industry standard, low cost platforms. First, a separate ATM-based infrastructure is introduced that supports data services. A new data call control is introduced on industry standard hardware platforms using object oriented and modular programming. Second, ATM is introduced at radio ports and call control functions are migrated to the new ATM-based call control platforms. Third, vocoders are introduced at the DCS. Fourth, the cellular functions of the legacy cellular switch are phased out and replaced by the ATM-based target architecture.

Abstract: A method for producing, or training, a set of character templates uses as the source of training samples an image source of character images, called glyphs, that are not previously segmented or isolated for training. Also used is a labeled glyph position data structure that includes, for each glyph in the image source, a glyph image position in the image source associating an image location of the glyph with a character label paired with the glyph image position that indicates the character in the character set being trained. The labeled glyph position data is used to identify a collection of glyph sample image regions in the image source for each character in the character set; each glyph sample image region is large enough to contain a glyph and typically contains adjacent glyphs for other characters.

Abstract: A technique for automatically training a set of character templates using unsegmented training samples uses as input a two-dimensional (2D) image of characters, called glyphs, as the source of training samples, a transcription associated with the 2D image as a source of labels for the glyph samples, and an explicit, formal 2D image source model that models as a grammar the structural and functional features of a set of 2D images that may be used as the source of training data. The input transcription may be a literal transcription associated with the 2D input image, or it may be nonliteral, for example containing logical structure tags for document formatting, such as found in markup languages. The technique uses spatial positioning information about the 2D image modeled by the 2D image source model and uses labels in the transcription to determine labeled glyph positions in the 2D image that identify locations of glyph samples.

Abstract: A method for establishing a relationship between a text image and a transcription associated with the text image uses conventional image processing techniques to identify one or more geometric attributes, or image parameters, of each of a sequence of regions of the text image. The transcription labels in the transcription are analyzed to determine a comparable set of parameters in transcription label sequence. A matching operation then matches the respective parameters of the two sequences to identify image regions that match with transcription regions. The result is an output data structure that minimally identifies image locations of interest to a subsequent operation that processes the text image. The output data structure may also pair each of the image locations of interest to a transcription location, in effect producing a set of labeled image locations. In one embodiment, the sequence of locations of words and their observed lengths in the text image are determined.

Abstract: An antiperspirant gel stick composition incorporating a gelling agent, including a primary gellant selected from the group consisting of 12-hydroxystearic acid, esters of 12-hydroxystearic acid, amides of 12-hydroxystearic acid, and mixtures thereof and a secondary gellant selected from the group consisting of n-acyl amino acid amide derivatives. The antiperspirant gel stick compositions further incorporate a liquid base material including a non-polar, volatile oil and a relatively polar, non-volatile co-solvent. The combination of the gelling agent and the co-solvent permit the utilization of relatively high levels of a non-polar volatile oils which provide a dry feel.

Abstract: For casting large concrete articles, a wheel-mounted main frame supports a mould assembly which can be rotated about a horizontal axis, and also raised and lowered. This assembly has two main mould sections oppositely arranged so that when one faces upwards the other faces downwards. A removable mould section fitted to each main mould section forms a complete mould capable, when uppermost, of receiving concrete to be cast. The mould assembly may then be inverted and lowered to a support, and the removable mould section disconnected to serve as a pallet for the cast article. The mould assembly may be raised, concrete may be cast in the other mould, which is uppermost, and the main frame may be moved clear of the deposited cast article.