A heat-insulating shroud for facilitating temperature control of a heated article includes a flexible cover, made from a heat-insulating material, for covering a surface of the heated article, at least one air inlet defined in a first section of the flexible cover, and at least one air outlet defined in a second section of the flexible cover. In a cooling mode of operation, the flexible cover defines an air channel over the surface of the heated article for channeling an air stream from the air inlet(s) over the surface of the heated article towards the air outlet(s). The channeling of the air stream facilitates cooling the heated article. In a heat-conservation mode of operation, the flexible cover of heat-insulating material insulates the heated article from heat loss. Each air outlet may have a closure that opens during the cooling mode of operation and closes during the heat-conservation mode of operation.

To provide a solution conveying and cooling apparatus that enables removal of a deposit of solid material, or a fouling deposit, inside the apparatus with extremely simple work equipment by fewer on-site workers in a short tune without any dangerous work such as hydroblasting. The solution conveying and cooling apparatus has a rigid outer tube for a cooling medium and a plurality of rigid outer tubes for solution arranged parallel to each other inside the rigid outer tube for a cooling medium. A thin inner tube is disposed inside each of the rigid outer tubes for solution, this thin inner tube having an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the rigid outer tube for solution at normal temperature and pressure, and expanding by an increase in at least one of temperature and pressure of a solution conveyed and as a result contacting with an inner surface of the rigid outer tube for solution that is cooled by the cooling medium.

Provided are a heat recovery apparatus based on a fuel cell and an operating method thereof. In the fuel cell-based heat recovery apparatus and the operating method thereof, hot water and steam may be generated by using heat generated while a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) operates to supply the generated hot water or steam to buildings, thereby reducing a rate of operation in cooling/heating equipment using electricity so as to reduce air-conditioning costs.

An air conditioning system of a motor vehicle with a refrigerant circuit for operation in a refrigerator mode and a heat pump mode. The refrigerant circuit includes a primary circuit with a compressor, a heat exchanger for heat transfer between the refrigerant and the surroundings, an expansion element and a heat exchanger for heat transfer from the intake air being conditioned for the passenger compartment to the refrigerant, and a first flow path. The flow path extends from a branching point between the compressor and the heat exchanger to an opening and includes a heat exchanger for heat transfer from the refrigerant to the intake air being conditioned for the passenger compartment. The heat exchanger is situated in a flow direction of intake air of the passenger compartment after the heat exchanger.

An integratable movement device for ventilating equipment includes an electric machine such as a motor and a fan wheel connected with the electric machine. The movement device further includes a housing, wherein the electric machine and the fan wheel are installed in an inner lower portion of the housing. An upper portion of the housing integrally forms one or more venting outlets. A plurality of venting outlet units is provided at the venting outlets respectively. A chamber provided between the venting outlets and the fan wheel in the housing defines a venting channel. The housing having the venting outlets and the venting channel, along with the venting outlet units, the electric machine and the fan wheel configure the integratable movement device that is able to be directly assembled into the ventilating equipment.

An automobile interior temperature stabilizer includes a holder adapted for placing within a vehicle cabin and a temperature stabilizing member which is made of latent heat material that absorbs and releases heat without rising in its temperature and is disposed in the holder, wherein the temperature stabilizing member has a threshold temperature range that the temperature stabilizing member is arranged for absorbing cabin heat within the vehicle cabin to cool down the vehicle cabin when an interior temperature of the vehicle is higher than the threshold temperature range, and the temperature stabilizing member is arranged for releasing stored heat to the vehicle cabin to warm the vehicle cabin when an interior temperature of the vehicle is lower than the threshold temperature range. Therefore, the automobile interior temperature stabilizer is able to maintain the cabin temperature of the vehicle without using any power from the vehicle.

Integrated heat spreaders having electromagnetically-formed features, and semiconductor packages incorporating such integrated heat spreaders, are described. In an example, an integrated heat spreader includes a top plate flattened using an electromagnetic forming process. Methods of manufacturing integrated heat spreaders having electromagnetically-formed features are also described.

The present invention aims to provide a technology capable of enhancing the effect of reducing differential data in size. A bit shift unit shifts either of old data and new data in a forward direction and a backward direction of its bit string by each of 0, 1, 2, . . . , and n bit(s) to generate a plurality of data. A copy bit string extracting unit extracts information on copy bit strings based on the plurality of data and other non-shifted data. An additional bit string extracting unit excludes copy bit strings from the new data to extract information on additional bit strings. A differential data generating unit creates differential data based on the information on copy bit strings and the information on additional bit strings.

Methods and apparatus to parallelize data decompression are disclosed. An example method adjusting a first one of initial starting positions to determine a first adjusted starting position by decoding the bitstream starting at a training position in the bitstream, the decoding including traversing the bitstream from the training position as though first data located at the training position is a valid token; and merging, by executing an instruction with the processor, first decoded data generated by decoding a first segment of the compressed data bitstream starting from the first adjusted starting position with second decoded data generated by decoding a second segment of the compressed data bitstream, the decoding of the second segment starting from a second position in the compressed data bitstream and being performed in parallel with the decoding of the first segment, and the second segment preceding the first segment in the compressed data bitstream.

Disclosed are an apparatus and method for compressing continuous data. The apparatus for compressing continuous data may include a data generator configured to calculate differences between adjacent values in original continuous data and generate data based on the calculated differences.

An ultrasound device including an asynchronous successive approximation analog-to-digital converter and method are provided. The device includes at least one ultrasonic transducer, a plurality of asynchronous successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to-digital converters (ADC) coupled to the at least one ultrasonic transducer, at least one asynchronous SAR in the plurality having a sample and hold stage, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a comparator, and control circuitry, wherein a DAC update event following at least one bit conversion is synchronized to a corresponding DAC update event of at least one other ADC in the plurality of ADCs.

An electronic apparatus and a method for detecting status of keys thereof are provided. The electronic apparatus comprises a key module, a key control circuit, a conversion circuit with calibration mechanism and a processor. The key control circuit detects whether any of keys in the key module is pressed. If the detection result is affirmative, the press status of each of the keys is scanned by the key control circuit to obtain a coarse scan result. The conversion circuit with calibration mechanism is configured to perform the other system function of the electronic apparatus. When the processor determines that at least one of the keys is not pressed according the coarse scan result, the conversion circuit with calibration mechanism is switched to assist a re-scan operation of the press status of the at least one of the keys.

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is a device that can include a reference shuffler and a loop filter. An ADC can achieve better performance with incremental adjustment of a pointer of the reference shuffler, changing coefficients of the loop filter, and storing calibration codes of the ADC in a non-volatile memory. By incrementally adjusting a pointer of the reference shuffler, a calibration can be performed more efficiently than with a random adjustment of the pointer. By temporarily changing the loop filter coefficients, a greater amount of activity can be introduced into the loop filter. This activity can allow the calibration to proceed more efficiently. By storing the calibration codes in a non-volatile memory, a search space for calibration codes can be reduced. Thus, a calibration can occur more quickly, and the calibration itself can be improved.

A flash analog-to-digital converter (ADC) includes comparators that convert an analog input signal to a digital output signal. Offsets of these comparators introduce noise and can hurt the performance of the ADC. Thus, these comparators are calibrated using calibration codes. Conventional calibration methods determine these calibration codes by removing the ADC from an input signal. Otherwise, it is difficult to distinguish the noise from the signal in the calibration measurement. In contrast, an embodiment can determine the calibration codes while the ADC converts the input signal to a digital signal. Such an embodiment can be achieved by a frequency-domain technique. In an embodiment employing a frequency-domain power meter, an input signal can be removed from the power measurement. This removal enables accurate measurement of in-band noise without having the measurement be corrupted by input signal power.

A liquid separator system having a gas phase zone, an aqueous phase zone and a denser liquid zone is used to separate mixtures of fluids. The separator can be used for separating molten sulfur from liquid redox solution or reslurry water. The system includes a vessel with a top part and a bottom part. The vessel has a larger diameter at the top part than at the bottom part. The system also includes an inlet for introducing a redox solution or reslurry water and molten sulfur, which is denser than redox solution or reslurry water, into the vessel. An outlet near the bottom part of the vessel allows a flow of the molten sulfur from the vessel. An interface control structure senses an interface level between the redox solution or reslurry water and the molten sulfur, and the interface control structure controls the flow of molten sulfur from the outlet. The interface control structure is adjusted to optimally alter the vertical height of the interface level within the vessel so that the residence time of the molten sulfur in the vessel does not decrease as the sulfur production throughput decreases, and so that the interface area of the molten sulfur and the redox solution is reduced as the sulfur throughput decreases. A pressure controller monitors the pressure in the vessel and adds or removes gas from a gas phase zone in the vessel to maintain a predetermined pressure regardless of the vertical height of the interface.

Method for producing a uranium concentrate in the form of solid particles, by precipitation from a uranium-containing solution using a precipitating agent, in a vertical reactor comprising a base, a top, a central part, an upper part, and a lower part, the solid particles of the uranium concentrate forming a fluidized bed under the action of a rising liquid current which circulates from the base towards the top of the reactor successively passing through the lower part, the central part and the upper part of the reactor, and which is created by introducing a liquid recycling current (flow) at the base of the reactor, said liquid recycling current being tapped at a first determined level (A) in the upper part of the reactor and sent back without settling to the base of the reactor, excess liquid being also evacuated via an overflow located at a second determined level (B) in the upper part of the reactor; a method in which the upper limit (C) of the fluidized bed of solid particles is controlled so that it is positioned at a level below the first and second determined levels.

A rotating knife is disclosed for disintegrating a crystal bed formed in a washing column for processing suspension of solid particles in a liquid. The rotating knife is provided with a spoke support. The spoke support comprises at least two spokes. The relative angle of the spokes is between approximately 20° and approximately 80°.

Method for the production of a coarse-grained ammonium sulphate product by crystallization and installation for carrying out the method from an ammonium sulphate solution in a DTB type crystallizer having an internal suspension circuit and a clarifying zone, from which a clarified partial flow of solution is constantly drawn off into an external circuit, is heated in a heat exchanger to dissolve the solids contained therein and is guided back as a clear solution into the lower region of the crystallizer. A fine crystal suspension flow is drawn off from the clarifying zone as a further partial flow and guided back into the internal circuit of the crystallization stage without any previous dissolution of the solid proportion contained therein.

The present invention relates to compositions and methods to increase the output of a high quality product from the precipitation liquor crystallization process exemplified through the aluminum hydroxide recovery processes such as the Bayer process. The invention is a method of increasing the size of precipitates from a liquor. The invention in one embodiment relates to the use of a crystal growth modifier compositions added to the precipitation process to increase the particle size distribution of the precipitated alumina trihydrate.

A reaction-crystallization apparatus for carrying out reaction and/or solvent extraction and/or crystallization of soluble salts has an upper section having a top and a decanter. The decanter has a vertical vessel having a horizontal weir at the top of the upper section. The top of the upper section has an outlet for removing a light phase at the top of the decanter. The apparatus has a lower section, including a crystallizer. The crystallizer includes: a coaxial draft tube; a feed pipe; an agitator inside the draft tube; and at least one outlet at the bottom for crystal slurry removal. The apparatus has an intermediate section sandwiched between the lower section and the upper section such that the sections are in fluid communication and includes at least one coaxial vertical baffle with a gap between the draft tube and the coaxial vertical baffle and is adjustable by moving the baffle.

A method for making an agglomerate of an ore is disclosed. The method comprises contacting the ore with an acid solution and a stucco binder. The stucco binder may include calcium sulfate hemihydrate. The ore agglomerate may include ore, acid solution, and stucco-derived gypsum.

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of articles of manufacture made of or based on sulphur, which comprises cooling of liquid sulphur in a volume of containment until the sulphur mass solidifies and forming of the product, characterized in that elastic pressure waves are applied to the cooling mass of liquid sulphur to produce a crystalline suspension of solid sulphur in liquid sulphur.

Process for the combined regeneration of at least two soluble salts contained in a residue of an industrial process comprising heavy metals, comprising: adding an amount of reactive aqueous solution needed to completely dissolve the salts which are desired to be regenerated to the residue; subjecting the resulting aqueous suspension to a separation to obtain an aqueous production solution on the one hand and insoluble impurities on the other hand, which are removed; successively subjected the aqueous production solution to at least two selective crystallization steps intended to crystallize, separately, the at least two soluble salts which are desired to be regenerated, which are washed, dried and regenerated separately; and adjusting the concentration of at least one of the soluble salts to be regenerated in the aqueous production solution, at the moment when such solution is subjected to the step of crystallization of this salt, to give rise to the selective crystallization of this salt, by addition of a controlled amount of this salt to the aqueous production solution upstream of the crystallization step.

Provided is a method and an apparatus for purifying potassium nitrate from the solid waste produced by a chemical glass-strengthening process. In the method, the solid waste is melted into a liquid waste at first. Potassium nitrate of various purity grades can be obtained by batch processing the liquid waste through stepwise cooling processes of cooling the liquid waste to a first temperature facilitating the potassium nitrate contained in the liquid waste to be crystallized at a first rate and then cooling the liquid waste to a second temperature close to the freezing point of the potassium nitrate at a second rate that is slower than the first rate. The recovered potassium nitrate from the solid waste can be recycled and reused.

The invention provides a method of agglomeration (10) which has the steps of mixing a feedstock (12) of small particles which have an average particle size of 3 mm or less with a binder (14) which is in the form of a polyvinyl alcohol in the form of an aqueous polyvinyl alcohol solution in a first blender (16) to form a binder mixture (18), reacting a gelling agent (20) with the feedstock and the binder and processing the binder mixture to deliver an agglomerate (22).

An application of carbon nanotubes on agglomerates of ore fines to increase the mechanical strength is provided. A process for the preparation of ore agglomerates having enhanced mechanical strength by the application of the carbon nanotubes is also provided.

A production saltwater disposal facility comprising a separator configured to receive production saltwater from a pipeline or a vehicle and separate hydrocarbons from the production saltwater, wherein the production saltwater received from the pipeline or vehicle is substantially the same composition as when the production saltwater was located in a subterranean formation, a hydrocarbon storage tank configured to receive hydrocarbons from the separator, a settling pit configured to receive the production saltwater from the separator and separate metals and/or other solids from the saltwater, an evaporator in fluid communication with the settling pit and comprising a nozzle configured to emit a stream of the saltwater along a path in air such that water in the saltwater evaporates, and a collection pit positioned under the path and configured to collect the salt from the saltwater after the water has evaporated.

The present invention relates generally to processes for preparing agglomerated particulate low-rank coal feedstocks of a particle size suitable for reaction in certain gasification reactors and, in particular, for coal gasification. The present invention also relates to integrated coal gasification processes including preparing and utilizing such agglomerated particulate low-rank coal feedstocks.

Conversely, greater infection rate suggests much lower fatality rate. A recent Stanford University study of COVID-19 infection in Santa Clara County suggests that the disease is vastly more widespread in the Bay Area than official data shows. Because the test was performed on volunteers rather than a randomized population, it is likely to have over-reported the rate of infection among its subjects.…

An electrical voltage-generating piezoelectric device comprising at least a first blade (1) with a curved portion (10) defining a first arm (11) and a second arm (12) of the blade, the first arm (11) being intended to be fastened to a fixed support, the second arm (12) being substantially flat and having a free end (120) designed to oscillate around its resting position under the effect of mechanical force, at least one piezoelectric element (31) resting upon one of the main surfaces (14) of the second arm (12) of the first blade. The device also includes a second blade (2) identical in structure to the first blade (1), the first arms (11, 21) of the first and second blades (1, 2) being fastened together on all or part of their surfaces and being fixed relative to each other.

Provided is a garment generating electricity which transforms kinematic energy generated when a user wearing the garment walks and/or swings arms past torso to an electric energy, and has a simple structure and is produced at low cost, and realizes excellent electricity generation efficiency. A garment generating electricity from ambulation or aim swinging past torso or both includes a magnet member arranged on a first part of a garment to generate magnetic field, a coil member provided on a second part of the garment which reciprocally moves with the first part of the garment while walking or swinging aims past torso, the coil member generating electricity from the magnetic field of the magnet member, and a storage battery charged with the electricity generated by the coil member.

A displacement sensor having a rectangular shaped elastic member. A piezoelectric element is attached to a first main face of the elastic member. The piezoelectric element has a rectangular-shaped piezoelectric sheet and electrodes on both main faces of the piezoelectric sheet. The piezoelectric sheet is made of poly-L-lactic acid and is at least uniaxially-stretched. The piezoelectric element is attached so that the uniaxial-stretching direction of the piezoelectric sheet is 45° relative to a long-side direction of the elastic member. When the elastic member is bent along the long-side direction, the piezoelectric sheet is stretched along the long-side direction, and the piezoelectric element generates voltage of predetermined level.

A vibration motor includes a base portion arranged to extend perpendicularly to a central axis extending in a vertical direction; a shaft having a lower end fixed to the base portion, and arranged to project upward along the central axis; a circuit board; a coil portion; a bearing portion; a rotor holder; a magnet portion; an eccentric weight; a cover portion; and a motor electrode portion electrically connected to the circuit board, and arranged to project downward below a lower surface of the base portion. The entire base portion and the entire circuit board are arranged inside of an outer circumferential edge of a lower end of the cover portion.

A triboelectric generator includes a first contact charging member and a second contact charging member. The first contact charging member includes a first contact layer and a conductive electrode layer. The first contact layer includes a material that has a triboelectric series rating indicating a propensity to gain electrons due to a contacting event. The conductive electrode layer is disposed along the back side of the contact layer. The second contact charging member is spaced apart from and disposed oppositely from the first contact charging member. It includes an electrically conductive material layer that has a triboelectric series rating indicating a propensity to lose electrons when contacted by the first contact layer during the contacting event. The electrically conductive material acts as an electrode. A mechanism maintains a space between the first contact charging member and the second contact charging member except when a force is applied thereto.

A monolithic integration of phase change material (PCM) switches with a MEMS resonator is provided to implement switching and reconfiguration functionalities. MEMS resonator includes a piezoelectric material to control terminal connections to the electrodes. The PCM is operable between an ON state and an OFF state by application of heat, which causes the phase change material to change from an amorphous state to a crystalline state or from a crystalline state to an amorphous state, the amorphous state and the crystalline state each associated with one of the ON state and the OFF state. A method of fabricating the MEMS resonator with phase change material is provided. A reconfigurable filter system using the MEMS resonators is also provided.

A piezoelectric vibrating piece includes a vibrating piece body including a vibrator and at least one pair of excitation electrodes formed on a front surface and a back surface of the vibrator. The vibrating piece body is a twice rotated quartz-crystal vibrating piece. The pair of excitation electrodes are arranged in a Z'″-axis direction determined by an X'″-axis and obliquely disposed with respect to the Y″-axis direction. The X'″-axis is rotated by 260° to 300° counterclockwise about a Y″-axis using a +X″-axis direction as a reference. The pair of excitation electrodes are formed to have respective semicircle shapes including straight line portions extending in the X'″-axis direction and to be disposed in a state where the straight line portions overlapping with one another. The straight line portion of the excitation electrode includes an inclined portion that gradually decreases in thickness toward an end portion of the excitation electrode.

A modular garment system includes an attachment system for attaching multiple garments together. In one embodiment, the garment system includes an upper body garment that is attachable to a lower body garment. The upper body garment includes a plurality of connectors that are aligned with a plurality of retaining members on the lower body garment. The retaining members on the lower body garment, for instance, may be placed on top of existing belt loops. The retaining members may include a flap, while the connectors may have a loop-like structure. In order to connect the upper body garment to the lower body garment, the flap may be inserted into the loop-like structure and secured to the lower body garment. The upper body garment can also include a draw cord that can be used to further secure the upper body garment against the lower body garment.

A multi-layered garment may comprise components that are affixed using integrated belt loops. In particular, shorts belt loops of a shorts component may pass through an opening created when single-layer skirt belt loops of a skirt component are oriented outwards. Both the skirt belt loops and the shorts belt loops may be fully functional and aesthetically pleasing belt loops. Additionally, the shorts belt loops may be combined with the skirt belt loops to form integrated belt loops, thereby allowing a belt to pass beneath both sets of belt loops simultaneously to affix the shorts component to the skirt component.

An impact sensing device including a plurality of accelerometers orthogonally oriented with respect to each other and attachable at a body location, each capable of producing a signal indicative of an impact. An integrated circuit is configured to determine the magnitude and direction of the impact based on the signals and operative to activate an indicator when the magnitude exceeds a selected threshold based on the direction of the impact. A head injury coefficient is determined based on the magnitude and a duration of the impact, and the threshold level of acceleration is expressed in terms of a head injury coefficient value. The head injury coefficient value is determined by empirically correlating a head injury coefficient measured at the body location and a head injury coefficient measured at the center of mass of a human head resulting from an impact.

A personal protection device for protecting a user is described. The personal protection device can have an inflatable member having an internal chamber that can be inflated or deflated according to predetermined conditions.

A hand ice skating mechanism in conjunction with an athletic protective mechanism utilizing a glove portion including a front portion and a rear portion, wherein the rear portion includes a blade retaining portion and a blade assembly in communication with the blade retaining portion.

Embodiments provide a waistband system including a flap of material coupled to a pair of pants at or near a waistband of the pants. The flap may be rotated (e.g., folded) between an extended position in which at least a portion of the flap rises above a waistline (i.e., top edge) of the pants, and a folded down position in which the flap is substantially or completely disposed in an interior portion of the pants below the waistline. When the flap is in the extended (folded up) position, the flap may provide a user of the pants protection from snow, rain, liquids, and/or debris, above the waistline of the pants. On the other hand, the folded down position may provide more comfort and/or aesthetic appeal.

An acoustic effect impartment apparatus for use in a piano including a plurality of keys, a plurality of strings provided in corresponding relation to the keys and a plurality of hammers each responsive to an operation of any one of the keys to strike the string corresponding to the key. The acoustic effect impartment apparatus comprising at least one elongate member disposed near at least one of the plurality of strings. The elongate member movable by means of a first actuator between a retracted configuration in which the elongate member is disengaged away from the at least one of the plurality of strings and an imparted configuration wherein the elongate member is imparted against the at least one of the plurality of strings, and the first actuator can be actuated by a piano player such that the elongate member is imparted against the at least one of the plurality of strings as said piano player strikes a key associated therewith.

A content server generates sponsored audio including procedurally generated background music. The content server obtains reference music features describing musicological characteristics of reference songs as well as sponsored audio information received from a third-party. The content server determines music generation parameters based on the sponsored audio information and based on a music model mapping the reference music features to music generation parameters. The music model may incorporate machine learning techniques to improve the mapping. The content server generates background music by using the determined music generation parameters as input to a procedural music algorithm, and generates sponsored audio by combining the generated background music concurrently with an audio voiceover obtained from the sponsored audio information. The sponsored audio is provided to a client device, which presents the sponsored audio to a user.

A system for remotely generating sound from a musical instrument includes a calibration system to improve the quality of the sound produced by the musical instrument. In one embodiment, the system includes an input configured to receive a signal representative of the sound of a first musical instrument, an exciter for converting the signal to mechanical vibrations, a coupling interface for coupling the mechanical vibrations into a second musical instrument, and a calibration system for altering the signal sent to the exciter.

A voice generation device (10b) is configured to generate a voice corresponding to one or a plurality of characters designated in a pre-defined character string. A controller (10a) for the voice generation device is provided with a character selector (60a) configured to be operable by a user to designate the one or a plurality of characters in the character string, and a voice control operator (60b) configured to be operable by the user to control the state of the voice to be generated by the voice generation device. The controller (10a) is provided with a grip (G) suitable for being held with a hand of the user, and the character selector and the voice control operator are provided on the grip. The character selector and the voice control operator are provided on the grip at such positions as to be operable with different fingers of the user holding the grip.

This apparatus and system provides an acoustic hollow body guitar which allows for the careful adjustment of the instrument neck to body relative angle of inclination and thus the string to fret distance (action height). This adjustment has the capability of being accomplished while the guitar is in the tuned state and in the playing position. The traditional wood jointing is abandoned and replaced by a guitar neck to body hinge-less mounting bracket assembly apparatus. This system employs a single adjusting nut/dial that is accessed through either/and a port in the side of the upper bout or the sound-hole.

A system for remotely generating sound from a musical instrument includes a linear exciter which may be configured as a brace for a sound board of the musical instrument. In one embodiment, the system includes an input configured to receive a signal representative of the sound of a first musical instrument, a linear exciter for converting the signal to mechanical vibrations, and a calibration system for altering the signal sent to the exciter.

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus, system, and method that allow non-musicians to compose and perform a musical composition. Although some existing electronic devices can provide a virtual environment to compose and play musical sound digitally, manipulating such a virtual environment can be difficult and may require specific software expertise, as well as knowledge of music theory. The present disclosure provides a platform that facilitates the creation of a musical composition without such software expertise or knowledge of music theory. The platform models a musical composition as a simultaneous playback of one or more musical contents. The platform allows players to control or modify one or more of the plurality of musical contents to generate or synthesize a musical composition.

A gutter downspout is provided and includes an integrated rainwater holding chamber for collecting and holding rainwater and also includes a bypass chamber. Rainwater collected by the gutter system is directed into the gutter downspout where at least a portion of the rainwater is directed into the rainwater holding chamber where it accumulates over time. When the rainwater holding chamber is filled, the additional rainwater directed into the gutter downspout is directed into a bypass chamber disposed adjacent the rainwater holding chamber. Rainwater flows through the bypass chamber and out the bottom of the gutter downspout.