Abstract: A reactor water radioactivity concentration of a nuclear power plant can be predicted with high accuracy. First, a plant state quantity prediction value is calculated by using a physical model that describes plant state quantities of the power plant including a flow rate of feedwater and a metal corrosion product concentration in feedwater of the reactor water is calculated. Next, data for supervised learning is created, and the data for supervised learning includes the previously calculated plant state quantity prediction value and a plant state quantity such as the flow rate of feedwater, the metal corrosion product concentration in feedwater, a metal corrosion product concentration in reactor water, and a radioactive metal corrosion concentration of the reactor water in the reactor as input data and includes a radioactive metal corrosion concentration in the reactor water which is an actual measured value as output data, and a predictive model is trained.

Abstract: A device for sorting biological entities is disclosed. The device comprises a channel to canalize the biological entities and a selector having slots to accommodate said entities. Means for detecting and analysing an optical parameter of the biological entities is coupled with the selector. The selector can switch from a rest position to a sorting position, or at least two sorting positions, based on the detected and analysed optical parameter, so that biological entities can be sorted on the basis of their optical properties. The device is particularly intended for sorting egg cells, zygotes, embryos, or larvae of an insect, an amphibian or a fish such as Xenopus laevis, C. elegans or zebfrafish Danio rerio.

Abstract: A system for analyzing a chemosensor that includes a light source directed at a chemosensor, and a spectrometer arranged to detect a signal from the light source after passing through the chemosensor. The spectrometer includes signal conditioning electronics and spectral decomposition software which allows the spectrometer to perform a spectral analysis in order to identify, in real time, one or more heavy metals in a continuous flow of water interacting with one or more dyes on the chemosensor.

Abstract: A microparticle sorting apparatus includes a detection unit which detects microparticles flowing through a flow path; an imaging device which images a droplet containing the microparticles which is discharged from an orifice provided on an edge portion of the flow path; a charge unit which applies a charge to the droplets; and a control unit which determines a delay time as from a time that the microparticles are detected by the detection unit to the time at which a number of bright spots in a standard region, which is set beforehand, of image information imaged by the imaging device reaches the maximum, making it possible for the charge unit to apply a charge to the microparticles once the delay time has lapsed after the microparticles are detected by the detection unit.

Abstract: A microparticle sorting apparatus includes a detection unit which detects microparticles flowing through a flow path; an imaging device which images a droplet containing the microparticles which is discharged from an orifice provided on an edge portion of the flow path; a charge unit which applies a charge to the droplets; and a control unit which determines a delay time as from a time that the microparticles are detected by the detection unit to the time at which the sum of intensity of an image region imaged by the imaging device reaches a maximum, making it possible for the charge unit to apply a charge to the microparticles once the delay time has lapsed after the microparticles are detected by the detection unit.

Abstract: Methods for evolving or selecting or producing therapeutic proteins that exhibit reduced adverse side-effects and the resulting proteins are provided. For example, provided herein is an in vitro assay to identify conditionally active therapeutic proteins that exhibit better activity within one in vivo environment compared to another in vivo environment. The methods include the steps of a) testing the activity of a protein under conditions in which normal or increased activity is desired; b) testing the activity of the protein under conditions in which reduced activity compared to normal is desired; and c) comparing the activity in a) with b) and selecting/identifying a protein that has greater activity in a) compared to b). The selected/identified protein is a conditionally active protein.

Abstract: A food source information transferring system for a livestock meat-packing facility and a related method are disclosed. In one embodiment, the food source information transferring system is capable of reading tag-identifying information in a hook RFID tag incorporated in a hook that can be hung on a hook machine. An animal carcass attached to the hook then undergoes meat chopping, cutting, and/or packing operations in the meat-packing facility. For each meat package produced, a data set associated with the tag-identifying information in the hook RFID tag can be paired with a data set associated with a meat package label attached to the meat package. This dynamic and robust data association between the hook RFID tag and the meat package label enables a food source information database in the food source information transferring system to preserve and trace detailed food source information at various levels of meat production and processing.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is the use of differences in x-ray linear absorption coefficients to process ore and remove elements with higher atomic number from elements with lower atomic numbers. Use of this dry method at the mine reduces pollution and transportation costs. One example of said invention is the ejection of inclusions with sulfur, silicates, mercury, arsenic and radioactive elements from coal. This reduces the amount and toxicity of coal ash. It also reduces air emissions and the energy required to clean stack gases from coal combustion. Removal of said ejected elements improves thermal efficiency and reduces the pollution and carbon footprint for electrical production.

Abstract: A microwave radiation applicator for exposing mined material to microwave radiation is disclosed. The applicator includes side walls 3 and end walls 5 that define a chamber. One end wall has an opening that forms an inlet for mined material to be supplied to the chamber and the other end wall has an opening that defines an outlet for mined material to be discharged from the chamber. The side walls define a pentagon in transverse cross-section.

Abstract: Method and system for processing of meat trim products, where trim products are supplied as a sequence of collections of trim (COTs), each collection of trim (COT) comprising a plurality of trim products, whereby a fat/meat relationship for a collection of trim (COT) is measured, a collection of trim (COT) is transferred to a selected station by a separator, controlled by a controller, and whereby a batch is completed at a selected station on the basis of data for said fat/meat relationship, said batch comprising one or more collections of trim (COTs) and fulfilling a predetermined criterion regarding a total fat/meat relationship.

Abstract: A device for reprocessing used plastic containers including a system for analyzing the degree of contamination of the plastic, a system for determining decontamination process parameters as a function of the degree of contamination thus detected, and a system for controlled decontamination of the plastic according to the decontamination process parameters thus determined. The system for determining decontamination process parameters provides determined decontamination process parameters to corresponding decontamination control elements that are automatically adjusted depending on the degree of contamination.

Abstract: The device for examining moving tablets comprises a discharging device for discharging the tablets conducted past it, a charging device arranged downstream from the discharging device for charging the discharged tablets conducted past it, and a charge detector arranged downstream from the charging device to detect the charges produced on the tablets.

Abstract: An apparatus for the automated processing of bulk mail in a continuous and automatic procedure includes an operative combination of processing stations including an input station for receiving incoming mail in bulk fashion and for separating the pieces of mail for individual delivery to the remainder of the apparatus; a station for detecting irregularities in the contents of the envelopes, such as metal items, folded contents, or oversized items; a station for out-sorting envelopes rejected in accordance with determinations made at the detection station; a station for opening the envelopes, preferably along multiple edges; a station for removing the contents from the opened envelopes, for subsequent processing of the contents; and a series of stations for handling, imaging and orienting the contents for subsequent delivery to a plurality of output stackers.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for scanning refuse (garbage, trash) from a large geographic area to detect the presence of hazardous materials in the refuse. Hazardous material may comprise CBRNE agents, components of terrorist devices, environmental pollutants and toxins and illegal drugs and may include trace particulates of such agents as well as by-products thereof. Systems and methods, according to some embodiments, may further comprise geo-locating to a small geographic area the origin of hazardous material. Accordingly, in some embodiments the disclosure provides systems and methods to geo-locate facilities or addresses where hazardous materials are generated, thereby geo-locating facilities that make terrorist devices, sources of environmental pollutants and/or sources of illegal drugs.

Abstract: Method and automatic system for the determination and the classification of foods based on a high-speed manipulation robot aided by a localization system which is capable of detecting the food which comes along a transport system in a random fashion without contact between one and the other, and to classify it; the robot incorporates a manipulation grip wherein a sensor which permits the determination and classification of the food is housed.

Abstract: An automated system for sorting dissimilar materials, and in particular for sorting plastics from other materials and for sorting different types of plastics from one another comprises, depending upon the embodiment, combinations of a sizing mechanism, a friction separation, an air separator, a magnetic separator, a dielectric sensor sortation bed, shaker screening, a ballistic separator, an inductive sensor sortation system and a float/sink tank. The dielectric sensor sortation system may be either analog or digital, depending upon the particular implementation. One or more float/sink tanks can be used, depending upon the embodiment, each with a media of a different specific gravity. The media may be water, or water plus a compound such as calcium chloride. In addition, multiples of the same general type of module can be used for particular configurations. A heavy media system or a sand float process can be used either alternatively or additionally.

Abstract: A method for reformulating reclaimed, contaminated mixed waste plastics into useful articles wherein a plurality of batches of the mixed waste plastics are preprocessed to produce substantially homogeneous mixtures of a desired particle size range that are characterized according to their respective apparent densities, and are thereafter blended to produce a mixed plastic feed material having a plastic content predetermined to be desirable for reprocessing into at least one of such useful articles.

Abstract: A method for reformulating reclaimed, contaminated mixed waste plastics into useful articles wherein a plurality of batches of the mixed waste plastics are preprocessed to produce substantially homogeneous mixtures of a desired particle size range that are characterized according to their respective apparent densities, and are thereafter blended to produce a mixed plastic feed material having a color predetermined to be desirable for reprocessing into at least one of such useful articles.

Abstract: A method for reformulating reclaimed, contaminated mixed waste plastics into useful articles wherein a plurality of batches of the mixed waste plastics are preprocessed to produce substantially homogeneous mixtures of a desired particle size range that are characterized according to their respective apparent densities, and are thereafter blended to produce a mixed plastic feed material having a target density predetermined to be desirable for reprocessing into at least one of such useful articles.

Abstract: A method for reformulating reclaimed, contaminated mixed waste plastics into useful articles wherein a plurality of batches of the mixed waste plastics are preprocessed to produce substantially homogeneous mixtures of a desired particle size range that are characterized according to their respective apparent densities, and are thereafter blended to produce a mixed plastic feed material having a rheology predetermined to be desirable for reprocessing into at least one of such useful articles.

Abstract: A received banknote processing apparatus having no temporary reserving section has a failure recovery processing unit. The failure recovery processing unit securely recovers the number of banknotes of an accepted transaction together with the determination of the fitness of the banknotes of the accepted transaction in failure recovery processing that is performed when a failure, such as a jam, occurs.

Abstract: A flow cytometer subsystems monitors a particle sensing zone within a fluid transport chamber for the presence of a particle (e.g., blood cell) traveling therethrough, and produces an output pulse, whose width is representative of the trajectory and thereby the length of time that the particle is within the particle sensing zone as it travels through the fluid transport chamber. This output pulse is then processed in accordance with geometry parameters of successive time delay zones of the particle fluid transport chamber through which the particle passes, in order to derive a composite time delay between the sensing of the particle to the time at which a fluid droplet containing the particle will break off from the carrier fluid. The composite time delay is employed to accurately establish the time at which the particle is controllably charged as the particle breaks off from the carrier fluid.

Abstract: A vibratory conditioner includes a plurality of screens having a planar surface through which there is a material feed opening, wherein each screen is retained in vertical alignment such that all planar surfaces are parallel, a chamber within which the parallel screens are retained, means for conditioning air within the chamber to a predetermined temperature and a predetermined humidity level, and a vibratory generator operable to vibrate the chamber and fluidize particles of material retained on a top surface of each screen and to move the fluidized particles in a first direction.

Abstract: Disclosed is printing a character forming image in an end part of each sheet of a plurality of sheets of paper which are to be sorted by an attribute, in an order of slicing a character which expresses the attribute of each sheet, based on what number sheet of paper is each sheet among a paper group which is sorted by the same attribute, the character forming image being obtained by sequentially slicing the character in a previously determined direction at a previously determined interval.

Abstract: System and method for a continuous process for separating particles according to their magnetic properties such as Curie point includes a feed of hot particles having different magnetic properties on a moving surface spaced above a stationary magnetic assembly. The temperature of the bed of particles is controlled to enable selective separation of different factions of particles based upon the temperature of the particles. The magnets are maintained substantially below their Curie point. Gaseous nitrogen is fed into and from the inside of the magnetic assembly to enhance the cooling of the magnetic assembly and to inhibit oxidation. The gas exits through high temperature bearings to inhibit debris therein. A thermal shield is placed between the moving surface and the magnets and below tubes carrying a cooling fluid to maintain magnets substantially below their Curie point. The entire process is contained with an inert gas-purged cabinet.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing mail is provided. The mail is serially fed from a stack of mail into a system transport. The system transport conveys the mail to an imaging station, which scans the mail to obtain image data corresponding to at least a portion of each piece. From the imaging station, the mail is conveyed to a buffer, which selectively maintains the mail while the address printed on the mail is determined. After the address for a piece of mail is determined, the piece is conveyed out of the buffer to a printer, which prints a POSTNET barcode onto the piece. The POSTNET barcode corresponds to the address that was determined for the piece. Optionally, the apparatus may include a labeler for applying a blank label onto the mail, and the POSTNET barcode can then be printed onto the label after it is applied to the mail. After the POSTNET barcode is printed on a piece, it is conveyed past a verifier, which scans the printed POSTNET barcode to ensure that the barcode was printed properly.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for controlling an automatic separator apparatus of a Materials Recovery Facility. The separator apparatus has a plurality of adjustable machine operating parameters. An input stream of recycled materials is provided, wherein the composition of the input stream is subject to variation during a time interval. Historical data is provided representative of a set of historical values of the operating parameters corresponding to improved quality of separation for given values of a characteristic of the input stream. A present value of the characteristic of the input stream is sensed. A plurality of machine operating parameters is automatically adjusted in response to the sensed present value of the characteristic.

Abstract: A folding control apparatus for left and right lateral pieces of slice food is provided, such that when the slice food is moving forward on a transfer belt surface, the slice food is attached and positioned on the transfer belt surface; and a left and right lateral pieces of the slice food are blown by high-pressure air at a different time sequence to be folded and overlapped with respect to each other, so as to cover a stuffing strip on a surface of the slice food for forming a food enclosing material, thereby further simplifying a structure for folding the slice food to reduce a manufacturing cost and lower noise.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is employed to create a mixture having a desired composition. A raw material is separated in a pair of density separators into constituent parts. Those parts are then recombined in a desired fashion using a pair of splitters to create an intermediate mixture and delivered to a third density separator. The third density separator processes the intermediate mixture to create a final mixture having the desired composition.

Abstract: An optical illumination and monitoring subsystem controls the operation of a flow cytometer having a carrier fluid that flows along a channel coupled to a droplet generator, which controls a point at which droplets break off from the carrier fluid, and a droplet sorter that is operative to cause selected droplets to be sorted along one or more droplet travel paths. The subsystem is operative to illuminate a respective droplet monitoring location along each of one or more droplet travel paths with a respective beam of light, such as that sourced from a common laser. In response to backscatter reflection from a droplet passing through the respective beam of light at a respective droplet monitoring location, the amplitude of the beam of light is increased. Then the droplet is monitored for the presence of a particle therein exhibiting detectable fluorescence as a result of the increase in the amplitude of the respective beam of light.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for monitoring the presence of an analyte in a closed vial wherein a sample contained within the closed vial is conveyed to an analyzer. The analyzer determines a value of a spectral property dependent on analyte concentration at a position within a headspace formed above the sample within the vial. An indicator is used to compare the measured value of the spectral property with a predetermined limit criteria to determine the presence or absence of the analyte. Vials wherein the presence of the analyte is detected are indicated as product vials whereas vials wherein the absence of the analyte is detected are indicated as rejected vials. The rejected vials are conveyed by a transferrer to a rejected vial station. A first portion of the product vials are conveyed by a sampler to a sample collection station. A second portion of the product vials are conveyed to a labeler.

Abstract: A flow cytometry system is disclosed for oscillating the exterior of a flow cytometer nozzle. Oscillating the exterior of a flow cytometer nozzle at selected oscillations or a sweeping range of oscillations disintegrates particles and gas entrapped within the flow cytometer nozzle. Adherents absorbed to the exterior of the flow cytometer nozzle may also be removed. An energy source (1) serves to generate a selected oscillation or range of oscillations. The energy source (1) is connected to a flexible transfer element (2) which conducts the electrical signals to an oscillation system (3). The oscillation system (3) turns the electrical energy from the energy source (1) into mechanical oscillations and is connected to a portable device (4) which disintegrates particles, dislocates gas within the flow cytometer nozzle and cleans the exterior of the flow cytometer aperture.

Abstract: A flow cytometer (20) capable of utilizing an imaging system including a sensor (88) to determine various properties of the flow cytometer (20). Importantly, the imaging allows for determination of a drop delay time (154). Other characteristics that can be determined include at least the width of the stream, pressure of the stream, effect of charged droplets on other droplets (44), trajectory of the stream, resonant frequency, wavelengths, change in position of droplet break-off point (150), and others. An automatic warning system (180) can be used to alert an operator of an anomaly during setup or during normal operation. Furthermore, a mechanical interrupter can be used to shield a sort result from contamination by an incorrectly functioning stream. The cytometer (20) also allows for the disablement of the sort, particularly the charging and deflection systems. In addition, a more accurate system for detecting the speed of the stream can be used.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for verifying the drop delay in a flow cytometer, which is indicative of the time that elapses from a moment at which a particle of interest is detected at an interrogation point in the flow of cytometer to the moment at which a sorting condition, such as a charging potential, is applied in response to the detection to a droplet forming at a droplet forming location in the flow cytometer. The apparatus and method analyzes the content of the droplets formed by the flow cytometer, and based on the analysis, provides an indication as to whether the drop delay time at which the flow cytometer is operating is correct. Specifically, the charging potential should be applied to the droplet containing the detected particle of interest. The content of the droplets can be analyzed at the droplet formation point, or at a location downstream of the droplet formation point, to detect the presence or absence of a particle of interest that was detected at the interrogation point in the flow cytometer.

Abstract: A flow cytometer capable of utilizing an imaging system to determine various properties of the flow cytometer. Importantly, the imaging allows for determination of a drop delay time. Other characteristics that can be determined include at least the width of the stream, pressure of the stream, effect of charged droplets on other droplets, trajectory of the stream, resonant frequency, wavelengths, change in position of droplet break-off point, and others. An automatic warning system can be used to alert an operator of an anomaly during setup or during normal operation. Furthermore, a mechanical interrupter can be used to shield a sort result from contamination by an incorrectly functioning stream. The cytometer also allows for the disablement of the sort, particularly the charging and deflection systems. In addition, a more accurate system for detecting the speed of the stream can be used. The imaging system can allow for the removal of background noise and the monitoring of a change in a stream characteristic.