Methods of operating a supercritical Brayton cycle integrated with another cycle for power, cogeneration, or poly-generation using solar energy as a main source of energy. A sliding member is externally fitted to the shaft portion such that the sliding member is movable in an axial direction, and a coil spring is disposed between a flange provided on the shaft portion and the sliding member. In a second phase of the bit rate estimation, the first phase estimator output is corrected by using historical information relating the estimated bit rate values to the bit rates actually experienced. A control unit 26 is operatively connected to the video camera and generates command signals that are executed by the modular camera unit to rotate the image of the surgical procedure displayed on the video monitor by at least 360 and to effect image zoom operations. In this regard, the device is provided with components for interacting with a separate adjacent scanning component, as well as a flexible connection device.