Abstract: A pet fountain that presents circulating water that is continuously filtered and pumped through the fountain. The fountain includes a basin that has a sidewall extending upwardly from a bottom wall (or floor) and a cover. A pump assembly is housed between the basin and cover, and circulates water through the pet fountain by pumping the water from the basin to an upper drinking bowl of the cover. The water spills out of the upper drinking back to the basin. An opening is provided between the cover and the basin which allows a pet to drink directly from the basin in addition to the upper drinking bowl of the cover.

Abstract: An embodiment is configured to calculate a perceptual masking factor at a pixel location at a block boundary of the image, calculate a parameter for a filter at the pixel location at the block boundary, and filter the image around the pixel location at the block boundary employing the filter with the calculated parameter. The perceptual masking factor is formed as a product of a background activity masking map and a luminance masking map. The filter includes a parameter that is selected in view of a quality of experience performance measure for the image at the pixel location at the block boundary of the image.

Abstract: An optical connector assembly (1000) includes an optical connector plug (100) and an optical connector receptacle (600). The optical connector plug includes a base (3), a head portion (1) and a pair of springs (2) compressed between the base and the head portion. The base includes a body portion (30) and a pair of beam portions (31) formed at opposite sides of the body portion. Each beam portion has a guiding portion (310) extending from the body portion, a lever (312) and a latching portion (311). The head portion carries a number of fibers and includes a securing portion (10) defining a pair of guiding recesses (12). The guiding portions are slidably mounted to the guiding recesses. The latching portions retain the securing portion in position relative to the body portion against a restoring force of the springs.

Abstract: A plug connector (100) includes a paddle board (21) and a housing having a first and a second housing portions (11, 12). The first housing portion includes a first side wall (1111) defining a first channel (112a), a second side wall (1112) defining a second channel (112b), and a cavity (13) defined between the front portion of the first side wall and the second side wall. The first channel has a rear portion exposed outwardly of the cavity for guiding the paddle board. The second housing portion is engaged with the first housing portion along a left-to-right direction to be in alignment with the second side wall for positioning the paddle board between the first and second housing portions.

Abstract: A wireless communication system base station, and a remote radio head (RRH) and a computer-implemented synchronization method for the wireless communication system base station. The RRH is communicably coupled to a baseband unit (BBU) of the wireless communication system base station through a network, and the BBU processes and transmits downlink data to the RRH. The RRH includes: a time-delay measurement unit for measuring a time-delay for the downlink data to arrive at the RRH from the BBU; and a time-delay notification unit for notifying from the RRH to the BBU of time-delay data on the time-delay measured by the time-delay measurement unit, wherein the time-delay data is used to advance the starting time for the BBU to process and transmit the downlink data by an amount of time obtained based on the time-delay data.

Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a method, a system and a server of removing a distributed caching object. In one embodiment, the method receives a removal request, where the removal request includes an identifier of an object. The method may further apply consistent Hashing to the identifier of the object to obtain a Hash result value of the identifier, locates a corresponding cache server based on the Hash result value and renders the corresponding cache server to be a present cache server. In some embodiments, the method determines whether the present cache server is in an active status and has an active period greater than an expiration period associated with the object. Additionally, in response to determining that the present cache server is in an active status and has an active period greater than the expiration period associated with the object, the method removes the object from the present cache server.

Abstract: A system is provided to perform non-recursive signal processing using a sampled data technique and a parallel network of switched-capacitor filters. The input analog signal is sampled in a time sequence manner at regular time intervals to obtain analog-valued samples. These samples are collected into data blocks that are assembled into a set of data blocks. The successive data blocks belonging to a set of data blocks partially overlap with the first data block. The non-recursive signal processing is performed on all of the data blocks of the set substantially simultaneously, using the parallel network to produce a processed analog output signal. Each individual processing path of the parallel network processes a specific data block of the set of data blocks. The number of parallel processing paths is the same as one plus the degree of the polynomial representing the desired or overall input/output equation characterizing the non-recursive signal processing.

Abstract: Various embodiments provide techniques for calibrating and annotating video content. In one or more embodiments, an instance of video content can be calibrated with one or more geographical models and/or existing calibrated video content to correlate the instance of video content with one or more geographical locations. According to some embodiments, geographical information can be used to annotate the video content. Geographical information can include identification information for one or more structures, natural features, and/or locations included in the video content. Some embodiments enable a particular instance of video content to be correlated with other instances of video content based on common geographical information and/or common annotation information. Thus, a user can access video content from other users with similar travel experiences and/or interests. A user may also access annotations provided by other users that may be relevant to a particular instance of video content.

Abstract: According to typical inventive practice, each inventive sensor node performs computer processing that is tri-chotomized in a progressive, power-regulating scheme of three processors, namely, a low-performance processor, a middle-performance processor (which remains in sleep mode until activated upon demand for a middle-computation function), and a high-performance processor (which remains in sleep mode until activated upon demand for a high-computation function). The low-performance processor performs low computation functions such as routine sensing functions. The middle-performance processor performs middle-computation functions such as validative sensing functions. The high-performance processor performs high computation functions such as remedial communicative functions. Each sensor node has one or more transceivers for wirelessly transmitting and receiving radio signals (e.g. remedial communication) to and from transceivers of other sensor nodes.

Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I): wherein R1 is C1-6alkylamino, C1-6alkoxy, or C3-7cycloalkyloxy; m is an integer having a value of 3 to 6; n is an integer having a value of 0 to 4; and salts thereof are inducers of human interferon. Compounds which induce human interferon may be useful in the treatment of various disorders, for example the treatment of allergic diseases and other inflammatory conditions for example allergic rhinitis and asthma, the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer, and may also be useful as vaccine adjuvants.

Abstract: A lithium-ion cell comprising: (A) a cathode comprising graphene as the cathode active material having a surface area to capture and store lithium thereon and wherein said graphene cathode is meso-porous having a specific surface area greater than 100 m2/g; (B) an anode comprising an anode active material for inserting and extracting lithium, wherein the anode active material is mixed with a conductive additive and/or a resin binder to form a porous electrode structure, or coated onto a current collector in a coating or thin film form; (C) a porous separator disposed between the anode and the cathode; (D) a lithium-containing electrolyte in physical contact with the two electrodes; and (E) a lithium source disposed in at least one of the two electrodes when the cell is made. This new Li-ion cell exhibits an unprecedentedly high energy density.

Abstract: Reagents comprising MS active, fluorescent molecules with an activated functionality for reaction with amines useful in tagging biomolecules such as N-glycans and uses thereof are taught and described.

Abstract: A laser includes a total reflective mirror, an output mirror, a discharge lamp, and an active laser medium. The total reflective mirror, the output mirror, and the discharge lamp define a resonant cavity. The active laser medium is filled in the resonant cavity. The total reflective mirror includes a microstructure. The microstructure is convex ring-shaped structure. The convex ring-shaped structure has a height and a width, and both the height and the width are in a range from about 0.5? to about 2?, while ? is a working wavelength of the laser.

Abstract: A method for making grating is provided. The method includes following steps. A substrate is provided. A mask layer is located on the substrate. The mask layer is patterned, and a number of bar-shaped protruding structures are formed on a surface of the mask layer, a slot is defined between each of two adjacent protruding structures of the number of protruding structures to expose a portion of the substrate. The protruding structures are etched so that each of two adjacent protruding structures begin to slant face to face until they are contacting each other. The exposed portion of the substrate is etched through the slot. The mask layer is removed.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, by one or more computing devices, a help query from a user of a social-networking system. The computing devices identify help content responsive to the help query based at least in part on a state of an account of the user on the social-networking system and activity by the user on the social-networking system. The computing devices send the help content for presentation to the user.

Abstract: A power supply circuit preventing any overvoltage to an electronic element includes a voltage conversion unit and a voltage clamping unit. The voltage conversion unit converts voltage of a power supply into an operation voltage of the electronic element, and outputs the converted voltage through an output terminal of the voltage conversion unit. When the voltage output from the output terminal of the voltage conversion unit is more than the operation voltage of the electronic element, the voltage clamping unit effectively clamps the voltage output from the output terminal of the voltage conversion unit down to the operation voltage of the electronic element.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention are directed to articles of manufacture, devices, methods and apparatus for performing liquid chromatography featuring a chromatographic sorbent having one or more pentafluorophenyl groups, wherein said one or more pentafluorophenyl groups are a bonded phase on a sorbent selected from the group comprising silica, organic polymers or hybrid organic silane material and said pentafluorophenyl groups are in a mono-, bi-, and tridentate forms.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a metal silicide self-aligned SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor, which is designed to overcome the shortcomings such as the large base resistance RB of the prior art products. The metal silicide self-aligned SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor of the present invention mainly comprises an Si collector region, a local dielectric region, a base region, a base-region low-resistance metal silicide layer, a polysilicon emitter region, an emitter-base spacer dielectric region composed of a liner silicon oxide layer and a silicon nitride inner sidewall, a monocrystalline emitter region, a contact hole dielectric layer, an emitter metal electrode and a base metal electrode. The base-region low-resistance metal silicide layer extends all the way to the outside of the emitter-base spacer dielectric region. The present invention discloses a method of forming a metal silicide self-aligned SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor, which is used to form the aforesaid bipolar transistor.

Abstract: A laser includes a total reflective mirror, an output mirror, a discharge lamp, and an active laser medium. The total reflective mirror, the output mirror, and the discharge lamp define a resonant cavity. The active laser medium is filled in the resonant cavity. The total reflective mirror includes a body, a metal film, and at least one microstructure. The at least one microstructure has a height and a lateral size, and both the height and the lateral size are in a range from about 0.5? to about 2?, while ? is a working wavelength of the laser.

Abstract: A redox flow battery system having an electrochemical cell and an energy reservoir. The system includes a cathodic compartment, an anodic compartment, a separator that divides the two compartments, and an energy reservoir which contains an electro-active material, electro-active ions, an electrolyte, and a redox mediator. The reservoir is connected to either the cathodic compartment or the anodic compartment via an inlet-outlet pair for circulating the electrolyte from the energy reservoir to the cathodic compartment or the anodic compartment.