Abstract: Water soluble porphyrin compounds useful in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as contrast agents. Particular compounds include manganese.

Abstract: Disclosed is a lock catch for connecting upper and sole that comprises matched male buckle member and female buckle member which contains a platform, and the said male buckle member and the said female buckle member are coupled with each other. This invention avoids the use of glue which leads to the decrease of the pollution of the environment. Besides, this lock catch is simple in design, and only a few such kind of lock catches are needed in every pair of shoes to realize a firm connection of upper and sole, which results in the reduction of cost and the improvement of production efficiency. The lock catch of the invention is particularly suitable for the connection of upper and sole of sandals, slippers and hollow shoes.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method and an apparatus for packing a version upgrade software package.

Abstract: During nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) production, a considerable amount of sulphuric acid is used. After the separation of the NCC, the remaining solution contains sugars and residual sulphuric acid. The sugars are in the monomeric and oligomeric forms. To reduce the cost of NCC production and to produce other added-value products, the spent acid stream can be fractionated into sugar oligomers, sugar monomers, and acid. The acid can be recycled to the NCC manufacturing process after concentration. The sugar monomers and sugar oligomers can be used for the manufacturing of other valuable chemicals. Membrane nanofiltration can be used to achieve this objective. A polymeric membrane with a molecular weight cut-off in the range of 200 Dalton was employed. Using this approach, the majority of the acid was recovered in the permeate while the sugars were concentrated in a smaller stream. The sugar level in the separated acid/permeate stream was only about 3% of the original concentration.

Abstract: An electrical device includes a charge carrier transport layer formed using a ternary semiconducting compound having a stoichiometry of 1:1:1 and an element combination selected from the set of I-II-V, I-III-IV, II-II-IV, and I-I-VI; or having a stoichiometry of 3:1:2 and an element combination selected from the set of I-III-V; or having a stoichiometry of 2:1:1 and an element combination selected from the set of I-II-IV. In some embodiments, the charge carrier transport layer is used as the radiation absorption layer for a photovoltaic cell, or a light emitting layer of a light emitting device. Other devices, such as laser diode, a photodetection device, an optical modulator, a transparent electrode and a window layer, can also be formed using the ternary semiconducting compound as the charge carrier transport.

Abstract: A chip card holder includes a latching member and a housing. The latching member includes a first cover portion, a second cover portion and a connecting portion therebetween the first cover portion and the second cover portion. The housing defines two receiving grooves. The first cover portion and the second cover portion respectively protrude from the two receiving grooves. The receiving grooves with the first cover portion and the second cover portion define a first latching space and a second latching space for receiving two chip cards.

Abstract: A battery cover assembly for a portable electronic device includes a base body, a battery cover, a movable member, a driving rod, and an elastic member. The base body includes a block defining a guiding groove. The guiding groove includes a straight edge, a sloping edge, and a guiding portion having a clasp with a guiding edge formed in the guiding groove. The driving rod has a protrusion and is slidably engaged with the movable member. The elastic member abuts against the movable member. When the driving rod is slid along the guiding portion, the protrusion is slid along the guiding edge and is latched with the clasp to position the driving rod in a first position. When the driving rod is slid in the guiding groove, the protrusion is slid along the straight edge and the sloping edge to position the driving rod in a second position.

Abstract: Disclosed is a PTZ video visibility detection method based on luminance characteristic, which includes acquiring a road condition video image by utilizing a PTZ video camera, extracting the region of interest ROI of the road surface to obtain high constancy of selected pixels; acquiring precise road surface region by utilizing region-growing algorism based on Nagao filtering to ensure the illuminance constancy of the selected pixels in world coordinates; in the road surface region, extracting the contrast curve which reflects the luminance variation of the road surface, and searching the feature points of the luminance curve to calculate the human eye distinguishable and maximum far pixels in the image with an extinction coefficient; calculating the maximum visibility distance in combination with camera calibration to determine the visibility value.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method for using a zinc sensor compound to detect a disease associated with the disruption of zinc homeostasis, such as prostate cancer. The zinc sensor compound comprises an optical reporter having two or more recognition units where each of the recognition units is capable of associating with at least one zinc ion.

Abstract: This invention relates to a stable pharmaceutical composition of freeze-dried tetrodotoxin powder which contains trace amount of tetrodotoxin, substances which can stabilizes tetrodotoxin, including disaccharide(s) or polyglucose(s) or analogues thereof and solvent(s), and solvents which can help tetrodotoxin dissolve.

Abstract: A method is described for scheduling in an intelligent manner a plurality of threads on a processor having a plurality of cores and a shared last level cache (LLC). In the method, a first and second scenario having a corresponding first and second combination of threads are identified. The cache occupancies of each of the threads for each of the scenarios are predicted. The predicted cache occupancies being a representation of an amount of the LLC that each of the threads would occupy when running with the other threads on the processor according to the particular scenario. One of the scenarios is identified that results in the least objectionable impacts on all threads, the least objectionable impacts taking into account the impact resulting from the predicted cache occupancies. Finally, a scheduling decision is made according to the one of the scenarios that results in the least objectionable impacts.

Abstract: In one aspect the present invention provides a method for selecting a cell or cell colony which produces a polypeptide of interest, comprising a) providing a medium comprising cells and a detection agent, wherein the detection agent is associated with a detectable signal and the detection agent is capable of binding to the polypeptide of interest; b) providing a solid phase having a capture agent disposed thereon, wherein the capture agent is capable of binding to the polypeptide of interest; c) contacting the medium with the solid phase; d) detecting the signal associated with the detection agent; and e) selecting a cell or cell colony associated with the signal, wherein presence of the signal is indicative of a cell or cell colony which produces the polypeptide of interest.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method and an apparatus for packing a version upgrade software package.

Abstract: A method is described for scheduling in an intelligent manner a plurality of threads on a processor having a plurality of cores and a shared last level cache (LLC). In the method, a first and second scenario having a corresponding first and second combination of threads are identified. The cache occupancies of each of the threads for each of the scenarios are predicted. The predicted cache occupancies being a representation of an amount of the LLC that each of the threads would occupy when running with the other threads on the processor according to the particular scenario. One of the scenarios is identified that results in the least objectionable impacts on all threads, the least objectionable impacts taking into account the impact resulting from the predicted cache occupancies. Finally, a scheduling decision is made according to the one of the scenarios that results in the least objectionable impacts.

Abstract: A cover mechanism is for protecting an interface of an electronic device. The cover mechanism includes a housing and a protective cover. The housing forms an extending plate. The protective cover includes a plug and a latching post. The plug is for covering the interface, and the latching post is rotatably attached to the extending plate.

Abstract: A common rail electronic control injection system which uses a DME or a low-viscosity fuel similar with DME to inject into a combustion engine, includes a fuel container, a common rail tube, a high-pressure tube, an electronic control injector, an electronic control unit, a high-pressure pump, a working medium case, a reversing component, and a pressure convertor, wherein the pressure convertor includes at least two working components, each working component is divided into a fuel chamber and a working medium chamber by an dividing element, the dividing element can freely deform or move between the fuel chamber and the working medium chamber by pressure effect. The invention avoids the sealing and abrasion problem in the plunger matching portions which is caused by the low-viscosity fuel so as to greatly improve the lifetime and reliability of system.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method for using a zinc sensor compound to detect a disease associated with the disruption of zinc homeostasis, such as prostate cancer. The zinc sensor compound comprises an optical reporter having two or more recognition units where each of the recognition units is capable of associating with at least one zinc ion.

Abstract: This invention relates to a stable pharmaceutical composition of freeze-dried tetrodotoxin powder which contains trace amount of tetrodotoxin, substances which can stabilizes tetrodotoxin, including disaccharide(s) or polyglucose(s) or analogues thereof and solvent(s), and solvents which can help tetrodotoxin dissolve.

Abstract: Knot rejects from chemical pulping processes are subjected to acid hydrolysis or an enzymatic hydrolysis treatment. The resultant hydrolysate is enriched with glucose, representing a value-added raw material for products using hexoses. The residue, separated from the said hydrolysate after the acid hydrolysis or enzyme treatment, consists of mainly knots or chips. The residue has a much improved aesthetic appearance which can be readily used as value-added raw materials for mulch or similar applications. The residue could also be extracted to obtain high value antioxidants and other nutraceutical chemicals such as lignans or can be utilized according to currently known practices including recooking, burning and depositing.

Abstract: Methods and systems for determining an adaptive crawl rate for a Web crawler based on historical publication data from a Web source are provided. A frequency of publication of the Web source is determined over a specified period of time, and an adaptive crawl rate is calculated using the frequency of publication. The Web crawler is then deployed at the calculated adaptive crawl rate.