941results about How to "Improve sustainability" patented technology

Methods and systems for a subsurface upflow wetland for wastewater treatment that includes a series of parallel treatment cells, each cell including from bottom to top, a layer of gravel, a layer of sand over the gravel to remove pathogens from a septic effluent, a pollution control medium above the sand layer to remove nutrients, total suspended solid, and biochemical oxygen demand and a growth media mixture layered on top of the pollution control media to grow plants, and a gravity distribution system to distribute effluent to the series of parallel treatment cells. The pollution control medium includes at least one recycled material and at least one naturally occurring material. In an embodiment it includes recycled tire crumb, sand and limestone or recycled tire crumb, compost, sand and limestone.

A method and system for reducing methane emissions by ruminants. The method includes providing a feed dispenser for feeding ruminants nutrient supplements, and the feed dispenser includes a gas analyzer where a ruminant places its head. The method includes determining a particular ruminant has accessed the feed dispenser such as by reading an identifier from an RFID ear tag and operating the feed dispenser to provide a ration of methane-controlling nutrient supplement. The method includes using the gas analyzer to determine levels of carbon dioxide and methane and operating a data analyzing station to determine a ratio of methane to carbon dioxide and modify the type or amount of nutrient supplement for the ruminant for a next feeding to control methane production or achieve an animal production goal, such as by operating a hopper with supplement compartments. The unit can be monitored remotely and controlled through an Internet connection.

A system and method for evaluating software sustainability are provided. The illustrative embodiments provide code scanning tools for identifying authors of portions of a software product and various attributes about the development, maintenance, and improvement of portions of the software product over time. This information may be correlated with organizational information to identify portions of the software product that may be lacking in sustainability by the persons currently associated with the software organization. Moreover, this information may be used to obtain information regarding the relative quality of the composition or conception of portions of the software product, portions of the software product that have required a relatively larger amount of resources to develop over time, a relative indication of which portions of the software product are “harder” or “easier” to sustain and who is associated with those portions of the software product, and the like.

High temperature fuel cell electrical generation systems are provided that are adapted to enable selective generation of electrical power, and / or hydrogen fuel, and / or useable heat, allowing flexible operation of the generation system. In such embodiments, the high temperature fuel cell may be either a MCFC or a SOFC. The disclosed systems relate to high temperature fuel cells exploiting gas separation devices in which a first gas mixture is to be separated so that a first product of the separation is enriched in a first component, while a second component is mixed with a displacement purge stream to form a second gas mixture, with provision to prevent cross contamination of purge gas components into the first product stream. The process may be applied to hydrogen (component A) enrichment from syngas mixtures such as fuel cell anode exhaust, where dilute carbon dioxide (component B) is to be rejected such as to the atmosphere or for recycle to the fuel cell cathode in the case of molten carbonate fuel cells, by purging with cathode exhaust oxygen-depleted air (as component C).

According to various embodiments of the invention, systems and methods are provided for analyzing and designing architectural structures. Such embodiments may be utilized by architects and engineers as tools that assist in designing architectural structures that achieve specific design goals, such as those related to sustainability. For example, an embodiment may comprise a system that: (i) provides a sustainability analysis on an architectural structure design created using a computer-assisted design (CAD) tool, and then (ii) applies a design option to that design (e.g., changes to orientation of building on a project site, size of fenestrations on the structure, choice of wall insulation, etc.) to improve its sustainability. In addition, various embodiments may be accessed through a web-based platform, which provides a user with easier access and better collaboration between and among design team members.

The present invention provides a microneedle device having a coating, which is effective even with a low molecular weight active compound and can sustain the effect of the drug for a long period of time, and a transdermal drug administration apparatus with microneedles. The microneedle device (5) has, on a microneedle substrate (8), a plurality of microneedles (6) that can pierce the skin, wherein the surface of the microneedles (6) and / or the microneedle substrate (8) is partly or entirely coated in fixed state with a coating carrier containing polyvinyl alcohol. The polyvinyl alcohol preferably has a hydrolysis degree of 94.5 mol % or more. Furthermore, the coating carrier can contain a drug.

The present disclosure relates to solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) exploiting gas separation devices in which a first gas mixture including components A (for example hydrogen) and B (for example carbon dioxide) is to be separated so that a first product of the separation is enriched in component A, while component B is mixed with a third gas component C (for example air, oxygen-enriched air or oxygen-depleted air) contained in a displacement purge stream to form a second gas mixture including components B and C, and with provision to prevent cross contamination of component C into the first product containing component A, or of component A into the second gas mixture containing component C. The invention may be applied to hydrogen (component A) enrichment from fuel cell anode exhaust, where dilute carbon dioxide (component B) is to be rejected such as to the atmosphere by purging with cathode exhaust oxygen-depleted air (as component C).

An industrial control system is provided. The system includes a processor to analyze one or more sustainability factors and a scoring component to assign a weight to the sustainability factors. An optimizer automatically adjusts a production process in view of the sustainability factors, the weight, and at least one of a recycling requirement, a carbon footprint, a procurement process, a shipping process, or a regulatory requirement.

The present invention relates to a method and system of collecting, organizing, and analyzing data, and more particularly, to a method and system of collecting data and grouping the data to determine culture segments and emerging culture trends that influence consumers and identify target affinity groups.

A package for displaying a plurality of items where the package has first and second containers connectable between an open position and a closed position, each container having an outer surface having at least one elongated protrusion, the at least one protrusion having a head end and a tail end, the head end extending further outwardly from the package than the tail end, and an inner surface having at least one inner cavity aligned with the at least one protrusion, the cavity having a depth varying along the protrusion and configured to receive one of the plurality of items, wherein the head end of the at least one protrusion of the first container is proximate the tail end of the at least one protrusion of the second container in the closed position.

The present disclosure relates to solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) exploiting gas separation devices in which a first gas mixture including components A (for example hydrogen) and B (for example carbon dioxide) is to be separated so that a first product of the separation is enriched in component A, while component B is mixed with a third gas component C (for example air, oxygen-enriched air or oxygen-depleted air) contained in a displacement purge stream to form a second gas mixture including components B and C, and with provision to prevent cross contamination of component C into the first product containing component A, or of component A into the second gas mixture containing component C. The invention may be applied to hydrogen (component A) enrichment from fuel cell anode exhaust, where dilute carbon dioxide (component B) is to be rejected such as to the atmosphere by purging with cathode exhaust oxygen-depleted air (as component C).

Described is a process to produce hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) from biomass-derived sugars. The process includes the steps of reacting a C5 and / or C6 sugar-containing reactant derived from biomass in a monophasic or biphasic reaction solution comprising water and a co-solvent. The co-solvent can be beta-, gamma-, and / or delta-lactones derived from biomass, tetrahydrofuran (THF) derived from biomass, and / or methyltetrahydrofuran (MTHF) derived from biomass. The reaction takes place in the presence of an acid catalyst and a dehydration catalyst for a time and under conditions such that at least a portion of glucose or fructose present in the reactant is converted to HMF.

Methods, systems and compositions for a green sorption media for bioretention soil amendments in drainfields for on-site waste water systems filled with the green sorption media to foster an anaerobic or anoxic environment saturated. The green sorption media includes one or more recycled materials, including tire crumb, sawdust, orange peel, coconut husks, leaf compost, oyster shell, soy bean hulls and one or more naturally occurring materials including peat, sands, zeolites, and clay. The wastewater filtration system for a passive drainfield includes the green sorption material mixture, a cell including baffled compartments and a riser, the cell filled with green sorption material mixture to provide an alternating cycle of aerobic and anoxic environments, an influent distribution system to distribute the influent over the cell, and a piping system arranged for dosing the cell to sustain the functionality of the green sorption material mixture to remove nutrient content in wastewater.

The present invention is directed to a process for the clean and convenient combustion of high viscosity liquid fuels, such as glycerol, as well as an apparatus useful for carrying such processes. In certain embodiments, the invention provides a process for glycerol combustion comprising providing a combustion apparatus with a glycerol combustion chamber that facilitates reflective heating, pre-heating the glycerol combustion chamber, atomizing the reduced viscosity glycerol, and combining the atomized glycerol with air in the glycerol combustion chamber to thereby completely combust the glycerol. In one embodiment, such as when using a pressure-atomizing nozzle, the inventive method may further comprise treating the glycerol to reduce the glycerol viscosity.

The problem of the invention is to provide a drug-containing patch which is very favorable in percutaneous absorbability and is excellent in sustainability of the drug efficacy, that is, the drug-containing patch having a sufficient percutaneous absorbability and effect sustainability in a degree to be actually used for therapy of patients. The problem is solved by a patch comprising a drug, a melting point lowering agent and an adhesive base.

The invention discloses an urban road traffic signal control optimization system which comprises a signal control strategy configuration module, a signal timing parameter setting module, a signal control timing parameter real-time optimization and optimization scheme generation module, a multi-period signal control timing parameter optimization and optimization scheme generation module, a signal control scheme operation real-time monitoring module, a signal control performance assessment module, an equipment operation state monitoring module and a data service module. The system has the advantages of being flexible in deployment, low in implementation cost, and good in economy, practicality and reliability, provides diverse signal control methods and intelligent solutions for urban traffic managers, meanwhile, provides comprehensive and specific decision information support, and is suitable for being used in large-medium-small-sized cities so as to meet the requirements of intelligent traffic management and control badly needed in the prior art.

The invention belongs to the technical field of biological fuel cells, and discloses a phycomycetes microbial fuel cell and a preparation method and application of the phycomycetes microbial fuel cell. The phycomycetes microbial fuel cell comprises an anode chamber, a cathode chamber, a transverse diaphragm, an anode, a cathode and an outer circuit, wherein phycomycetes, a culture solution and a carbon source are respectively installed in the anode chamber and the cathode chamber. In the operation process of the phycomycetes microbial fuel cell, operation is conducted by repeatedly converting the electrodes; in the whole operation process, with the help of synergistic effects of the phycomycetes, the effect that azo dye pollutants are degraded efficiently is achieved; the electrodes are alternately used for degrading the azo dye pollutants, therefore, the physiologically toxic effect on current-producing bacteria by the azo dye pollutants is eliminated, and continuous efficient current generation is realized; the phycomycetes is adopted as a biocatalyst for both the anode and the cathode, no metal catalyst is used for modification, no exogenous artificial mediator is added, aeration is not needed, therefore, the construction and operation cost of the microbial fuel cell is lowered, the sustainability of the microbial fuel cell is enhanced, and industrial amplified production of the microbial fuel cell can be conducted beneficially.

The present invention relates to a conjugate comprising oxyntomodulin, an immunoglobulin Fc region, and non-peptidyl polymer wherein the conjugate being obtainable by covalently linking oxyntomodulin to immunoglobulin Fc region via non-peptidyl polymer, and a pharmaceutical composition for the prevention or treatment of obesity comprising the conjugates. The conjugate comprising oxyntomodulin and the immunoglobulin Fc of the present invention reduces food intake, suppresses gastric emptying, and facilitates lipolysis without side-effects, unlike native oxyntomodulin, and also shows excellent receptor-activating effects and long-term sustainability, compared to native oxyntomodulin. Thus, it can be widely used in the treatment of obesity with safety and efficacy.

The invention discloses an integrated type ecological floating bed and the water body ecological system repairing technology thereof. A physical space of the integrated type ecological floating bed is formed by constructing a floating bed, a sinking bed, a buoyancy adjusting bottle, a lifting chain and an ecological barricading net, and integrates ecological components such as indigenous emergent aquatic plants, submerged plants, attached aquatic plants, fishes, snails and biochemical zeolite. The ecological behaviors of the ecological components are in linear cause and effect relation. The ecological components and organisms in the physical space form a semi-enclosed ecological subsystem with integral completeness. The upper line and the water body ecological system to be repaired are strong in coupling capability, and ecological factors in the lower line can exist stably. The damaged water body ecological system sufferring from one or a plurality of types of pollutions including water body eutrophication, heavy metal pollution, organic pollution and the like can be repaired by building pioneer communities and utilizing self-cleaning capability of the ecological system, pollution is removed, integral restoration or rebuilding of the damaged water body ecological system is promoted, simultaneously environment is beautified, and ecological deterioration of a healthy water body can be prevented.

According to various embodiments of the invention, systems and methods are provided for parametrically analyzing architectural structures. Such embodiments may be utilized by architects and engineers as tools that assist in designing architectural structures that achieve specific design goals, such as those related to sustainability. For example, an embodiment may comprise a system that: (i) provides a sustainability on an architectural structure design created using a computer-assisted design (CAD) tool, and then (ii) applies a design option with a parametric value to that design to determine one or more improvements that provide a desired sustainability. Various embodiments may be accessed through a web-based platform, which provides a user with easier access and better collaboration between and among design team members.

The present invention relates to a controlled release capsule preparation for oral administration, which contains (i) a granule containing a physiologically active substance which is a compound represented by the formula:wherein n is an integer of 1 to 3, and Ar is an aromatic ring optionally having substituent(s), or a salt thereof, and a hydrophilic polymer, and coated with an enteric coating agent and the like, and (ii) a fluidizer. According to the present invention, a controlled release composition for oral administration of an imidazole derivative, which has steroid C17,20-lyase inhibiting activity and which has remarkably improved sustainability of the blood concentration, is provided.

Methods and systems for scheduling a shared ride among commuters are disclosed. A shared ride may be created by first receiving a destination area and ride input factors from a rideshare subscribed entity, then generating a unique URL associated with the destination area. The unique URL is then transmitted to potential commuters. Users who access the URL input their commuter registration information, which may include commuter travel information, work schedule, home address, and whether the commuter currently drives or carpools to a destination location. A rideshare group is formed by applying a group formation algorithm with the processor to the commuter registration information, the destination area, and the at least one ride input factor to generate an output representing identity information for the rideshare group of commuters, at which point a shared ride is scheduled.

An artificial seedbed used in growing vegetation. The artificial seedbed comprises a base layer formed of a biodegradable product having a porosity and wet density that permit a root of the desired vegetation to penetrate the base layer and establish the vegetation for growing. The artificial seedbed also comprises an intermediate layer comprising a plurality of seeds for use in growing the desired vegetation. A cover layer cooperates with the base layer to form an envelope about the intermediate layer. The cover layer can be coextensive with the base layer and secured to the base layer by a bonding agent. The cover layer is formed of the same or different biodegradable product as the base layer. The material used in the cover layer permits the sprouting vegetation to penetrate it during the growing process.

A compound of the formula:wherein R1 and R2 each is hydrogen, hydroxy, C1-4 alkoxy, C1-4 alkoxy-carbonyl or C1-4 alkyl which may be substituted; R3 is hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy or C1-4 alkoxy which may be substituted; or adjacent two R3 may form C1-4 alkylenedioxy; R4 is hydrogen or C1-4 alkyl; R6 is C1-4 alkyl which may be substituted or a group of the formula:wherein R5 is hydrogen or R4 and R5 may form heterocycle; and n is 0-5, or a salt thereof, has an excellent GnRH-antagonizing activity, and is useful for preventing or treating sex hormone-dependent diseases.

The invention discloses a multi-master asynchronous duplex differential bus and a communication method. Master nodes (namely master processing modules) acquire a control authority to the bus in turn and scan slave nodes (namely input / output (IO) modules), so that each master node has a chance for transmitting data to be transmitted to the corresponding slave node within determined time; each slave node can send the data to be transmitted to the bus within a determined time period, so that all the master nodes can acquire the data; the bus rate is up to 10 Mbps or even higher; the problem of contradiction between the application cost and the communication efficiency of the conventional relevant bus is solved; the multi-master asynchronous duplex differential bus can be applied to a serial backboard bus protocol of industrial control equipment, a distributed control system and a power system relaying protection and automation device, and real-time data exchange between a plurality of master nodes and a plurality of slave nodes as well as between the master nodes in a device can be realized; and the multi-master asynchronous duplex differential bus has the characteristics of multi-master communication, high speed, low cost, high reliability, high duration and good application prospect.

The invention discloses a real-time feedback method and a system of long voice continuous recognition and a recognition result. The method comprises the following steps: extension possibility from a sentence end point to an identification start point in an identification network is increased; in the process of decoding, when an identification path extends, the identification path can not only generate a single sentence, but also generate a plurality of continuous sentences, and large space video signals are separated through overall optimization of acoustics and linguistic probability; common parts of optimal history path of all active nodes are detected at fixed period, and identification word order which is fixed at the present moment is obtained; updated local identification result is fed back to a user in real time; and decoding space which is corresponding to identification parts and ensured is recycled. When the real-time feedback method and the system of the long voice continuous recognition and the recognition result are used, endpoint detection algorithm is not needed, continuous and sustainable identification of long voice signals are achieved, and human-computer interaction experience is obtained for users.

An artificial seedbed used in growing vegetation. The artificial seedbed comprises a base layer formed of a biodegradable product having a porosity and wet density that permit a root of the desired vegetation to penetrate the base layer and establish the vegetation for growing. The artificial seedbed also comprises an intermediate layer comprising a plurality of seeds for use in growing the desired vegetation. A cover layer cooperates with the base layer to form an envelope about the intermediate layer. The cover layer can be coextensive with the base layer and secured to the base layer by a bonding agent. The cover layer is formed of the same or different biodegradable product as the base layer. The material used in the cover layer permits the sprouting vegetation to penetrate it during the growing process.

Purpose: To provide a polymeric porous hollow fiber membrane which exhibits excellent fractionation performance and excellent permeability in treatment of a variety of aqueous fluids and also shows sufficient strength when incorporated into a module or used to treat a fluid, and which is excellent in aging stability in these performances and characteristics and is also excellent in membrane performance recoverability by washing, and which is especially suitable for treatment of a polyphenol-containing beverage and is expected to effectively harmonize the flavor of such a beverage.Solution: A polymeric porous hollow fiber membrane of the present invention is characterized in that(a) the hollow fiber membrane has skin layers on its inner and outer surfaces;(b) the diameters of the pores in the inner surface are smaller than the diameters of the pores in the outer surface;(c) the porosity tends to increase from the inner surface toward the outer surface, and then tends to decrease from at least one portion having a maximum porosity, of the wall section of the membrane, toward the outer surface; and(d) the hollow fiber membrane satisfies a relationship of 2 [%]≦DR≦20 [%], wherein the critical diameter of a fine particle to be removed, found by a fine particle-passing test, is φmax [μm]; the diameter of the pores in the inner surface is dIS [μm]; and the proportion of the pores with dIS exceeding φmax is DR [%]This polymeric porous hollow fiber membrane is also characterized in that the adsorption of polyphenol per a surface area of 1 m2 defined by the inner and outer surfaces of the membrane is from 50 to 500 mg.

The invention relates to a clean and high-efficiency production process for preparing xylose and L-arabinose and belongs to the field of application of wastes of agriculture and forestry. The production process comprises the following steps of: performing pretreatment on raw materials; hydrolyzing the raw materials in a high-temperature cooking mode; performing neutralizing treatment and performing centrifugal separation on solid slag to obtain xylose or xylooligosaccharide hydrolyzate; adding coarse enzyme solution into xylooligosaccharide solution to hydrolyze to obtain xylose solution; treating the hydrolyzate by Angle yeast; purifying by using active carbon and resin; performing recompression and concentration treatment on the purified hydrolyzate by using a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) machine; crystallizing the concentrated solution in a gradient program cooling mode to obtain xylose products and xylose mother solution; separating the xylose mother solution by a simulated moving bed or a chromatographic separation technology to obtain a xylose phase and an L-arabinose phase; returning the xylose phase to the xylose solution to concentrate and recrystallize; reusing the xylose mother solution; performing MOVR concentration treatment on the L-arabinose phase and crystallizing in a gradient program cooling mode to obtain L-arabinose products; and reusing the L-arabinose mother solution.

A structure for a musical instrument body that limits vibration of various components or parts of the body while controlling and providing for overall resonance of the instrument. The structure is suitable for use with a musical instrument, specifically an electric guitar. The structure includes a support member or block positioned in a chamber created between a top plate and bottom plate of the guitar body and a structural element, spaced from the top and bottom plates, that engages the block to provide additional support and stiffness enabling further control of the overall vibration and thus resonance of the instrument. Varying the design of the structure along with the various body components provides an apparatus for uniquely tuning the acoustic characteristics of the guitar body.