Abstract: This invention provides an electronic proximity apparatus and a surveillance method using such an apparatus for alerting individuals that are exposed to a contagious disease. When a person becomes symptomatic and is diagnosed as positive for a given contagious agent, individuals that have recently maintained a threshold proximity with respect to an infected individual are notified and advised to seek immediate medial care. Treatment of individuals in the very early phases of infection (pre-symptomatic) significantly reduces contagiousness of the infected population first exposed to the contagious disease, thus preventing spread of the disease throughout the general population.

Abstract: A determination is made of frequency components associated with a particular bearing or location resulting from sources emitting electromagnetic-wave energy for which a Poynting-Vector can be defined. The broadband frequency components associated with a specific direction or location of interest are isolated from other components in the power spectrum that are not associated with the direction or location of interest. The collection of pointing vectors can be used to characterize the source.

Abstract: An interferometer includes a means for splitting, at a splitting location, an input light beam into a first beam and a second beam; and means for recombining, at a recombination location, the first beam and the second beam. The interferometer is designed such that the first beam will travel a first optical path length (OPL) from the splitting location to the recombination location, and the second beam will travel a second OPL from the splitting location to the recombination location and such that when the input light beam has been modulated at a data rate comprising a time interval, then the difference in optical path lengths between the first OPL and the second OPL is about equal to the time interval multiplied by the speed of light.

Abstract: The present invention presents a simple and novel channel estimation scheme for UWB communication systems. As disclosed herein, the present invention maximizes the extraction of information by incorporating a new generation of transmitted-reference (Tr) transceivers that utilize a single reference pulse(s) or a preamble of reference pulses to provide improved channel estimation while offering higher Bit Error Rate (BER) performance and data rates without diluting the transmitter power.

Abstract: Sol-gel chemistry is used to prepare igniters comprising energetic multilayer structures coated with energetic booster materials. These igniters can be tailored to be stable to environmental aging, i.e., where the igniters are exposed to extremes of both hot and cold temperatures (?30 C to 150 C) and both low (0%) and high relative humidity (100%).

Abstract: An optical hyperspectral/multimodal imaging method and apparatus is utilized to provide high signal sensitivity for implementation of various optical imaging approaches. Such a system utilizes long working distance microscope objectives so as to enable off-axis illumination of predetermined tissue thereby allowing for excitation at any optical wavelength, simplifies design, reduces required optical elements, significantly reduces spectral noise from the optical elements and allows for fast image acquisition enabling high quality imaging in-vivo. Such a technology provides a means of detecting disease at the single cell level such as cancer, precancer, ischemic, traumatic or other type of injury, infection, or other diseases or conditions causing alterations in cells and tissue micro structures.

Abstract: Badal Optometer and rotating cylinders are inserted in the AO-OCT to correct large spectacle aberrations such as myopia, hyperopic and astigmatism for ease of clinical use and reduction. Spherical mirrors in the sets of the telescope are rotated orthogonally to reduce aberrations and beam displacement caused by the scanners. This produces greatly reduced AO registration errors and improved AO performance to enable high order aberration correction in a patient eyes.

Abstract: Architectures for coherently combining an array of fiber-based lasers are provided. By matching their lengths to within a few integer multiples of a wavelength, the spatial and temporal properties of a single large laser are replicated, while extending the average or peak pulsed power limit.

Abstract: A waveguide includes a cladding region that has a refractive index that is substantially uniform and surrounds a wave-guiding region that has an average index that is close to the index of the cladding. The wave-guiding region also contains a thin ring or series of rings that have an index or indices that differ significantly from the index of the cladding. The ring or rings enable the structure to guide light.

Abstract: Cermet comprising ceramic and metal components and a molten metal infiltration method and process for fabrication thereof. The light weight cermets having improved porosity, strength, durability, toughness, elasticity fabricated from presintered ceramic powder infiltrated with a molten metal or metal alloy. Alumina titanium cermets biocompatible with the human body suitable for bone and joint replacements.

Abstract: A journal bearing provides vertical and radial stability to a rotor of a passive magnetic bearing system when the rotor is not rotating and when it is rotating. In the passive magnetic bearing system, the rotor has a vertical axis of rotation. Without the journal bearing, the rotor is vertically and radially unstable when stationary, and is vertically stable and radially unstable when rotating.

Abstract: A sub-module consists of a set of two outer sets of stationary fan-blade-shaped sectors. These outer sectors include conductive material and are maintained at ground potential in several examples. Located midway between them is a set of stationary sector plates with each plate being electrically insulated from the others. An example provides that the inner sector plates are connected together alternately, forming two groups of parallel-connected condensers that are then separately connected, through high charging circuit resistances, to a source of DC potential with respect to ground, with an additional connecting lead being provided for each group to connect their output as an AC output to a load. These same leads can he used, when connected to a driver circuit, to produce motor action.

Abstract: Solid materials have been developed to remove arsenic compounds from aqueous media. The arsenic is removed by passing the aqueous phase through the solid materials which can be in molded, granular, or powder form. The solid materials adsorb the arsenic leaving a purified aqueous stream. The materials are aerogels or xerogels and aerogels or xerogels and solid support structure, e.g., granulated activated carbon (GAC), mixtures. The species-specific adsorption occurs through specific chemical modifications of the solids tailored towards arsenic.

Abstract: A new reconfigurable cascadable all-optical on-chip device is presented. The gate operates by combining the Vernier effect with a novel effect, the gain-index lever, to help shift the dominant lasing mode from a mode where the laser light is output at one facet to a mode where it is output at the other facet. Since the laser remains above threshold, the speed of the gate for logic operations as well as for reprogramming the function of the gate is primarily limited to the small signal optical modulation speed of the laser, which can be on the order of up to about tens of GHz. The gate can be rapidly and repeatedly reprogrammed to perform any of the basic digital logic operations by using an appropriate analog optical or electrical signal at the gate selection port. Other all-optical functionality includes wavelength conversion, signal duplication, threshold switching, analog to digital conversion, digital to analog conversion, signal routing, and environment sensing.

Abstract: A new technique for recording a series of images of a high-speed event (such as, but not limited to: ballistics, explosives, laser induced changes in materials, etc.) is presented. Such technique(s) makes use of a lenslet array to take image picture elements (pixels) and concentrate light from each pixel into a spot that is much smaller than the pixel. This array of spots illuminates a detector region (e.g., film, as one embodiment) which is scanned transverse to the light, creating tracks of exposed regions. Each track is a time history of the light intensity for a single pixel. By appropriately configuring the array of concentrated spots with respect to the scanning direction of the detection material, different tracks fit between pixels and sufficient lengths are possible which can be of interest in several high-speed imaging applications.

Abstract: A new technique for capturing both the amplitude and phase of an optical waveform is presented. This technique can capture signals with many THz of bandwidths in a single shot (e.g., temporal resolution of about 44 fs), or be operated repetitively at a high rate. That is, each temporal window (or frame) is captured single shot, in real time, but the process may be run repeatedly or single-shot. This invention expands upon previous work in temporal imaging by adding heterodyning, which can be self-referenced for improved precision and stability, to convert frequency chirp (the second derivative of phase with respect to time) into a time varying intensity modulation. By also including a variety of possible demultiplexing techniques, this process is scalable to recoding continuous signals.

Abstract: Gamma-ray tracking methods for use with granular, position sensitive detectors identify the sequence of the interactions taking place in the detector and, hence, the position of the first interaction. The improved position resolution in finding the first interaction in the detection system determines a better definition of the direction of the gamma-ray photon, and hence, a superior source image resolution. A PET system using such a method will have increased efficiency and position resolution.

Abstract: A laser peening process for the densification of metal surfaces and sub-layers and for changing surface chemical activities provides retardation of the up-take and penetration of atoms and molecules, particularly Hydrogen, which improves the lifetime of such laser peened metals. Penetration of hydrogen into metals initiates an embrittlement that leaves the material susceptible to cracking.

Abstract: A deformable mirror formed out of two layers of a nanolaminate foil attached to a stiff substrate is introduced. Deformation is provided by an electrostatic force between two of the layers. The internal stiffness of the structure allows for high-spatial-frequency shapes. The nanolaminate foil of the present invention allows for a high-quality mirror surface. The device achieves high precision in the vertical direction by using foils with accurately controlled thicknesses, but does not require high precision in the lateral dimensions, allowing such mirrors to be fabricated using crude lithography techniques. Such techniques allow structures up to about the meter scale to be fabricated.

Abstract: An adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopes is introduced to produce non-invasive views of the human retina. The use of dual deformable mirrors improved the dynamic range for correction of the wavefront aberrations compared with the use of the MEMS mirror alone, and improved the quality of the wavefront correction compared with the use of the bimorph mirror alone. The large-stroke bimorph deformable mirror improved the capability for axial sectioning with the confocal imaging system by providing an easier way to move the focus axially through different layers of the retina.