Abstract: Various technologies for measurement of properties of a particulate suspended in a gas phase via laser-induced incandescence (LII) are described herein. A beam of light can be emitted into a multi-pass optical cell using a laser. The multi-pass optical cell comprises a system of one or more mirrors that repeatedly reflects the beam through a measurement region, stimulating incandescence of particulates present in the measurement region. An LII detection system having a field of view that encompasses the measurement region then receives blackbody or quasi-blackbody radiation emitted by the incandescing particles and outputs data indicative of one or more properties of the particulates in the measurement region.

Abstract: Systems, arrangements, barriers and methods for detecting illicit attempts to compromise or penetrate a physical barrier are disclosed. The systems, arrangements, barriers and methods detect illicit attempts to pry, remove or compromise a security barrier from the surface or location it protects, by insider/outsider adversaries, when any type of cabled continuity sensor (optical, electrical) is woven, embedded, or interlaced through the security barrier.

Abstract: A method for cooling or heating a building is provided. An air flow can be created in an air duct and the air flow can be cooled or heated by an air conditioning system or furnace. The cooled or heated air flow can then pass through a heat exchanger connected to a radiant heating loop running through a floor or slab with a liquid circulating through them. When the airflow is being cooled or heated by the air conditioning system or furnace, the air flow will alter the temperature of the liquid circulating through the heat exchanger herefore the temperature of the slab. When the temperature of the slab varies from the temperature of the building, liquid that has been circulated through the radiant heating loop can be used to alter the temperature of the air flow passing through the heat exchanger.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for training a plurality of users of a vehicle to use gestures as a short-cut for controlling vehicle functions. The methods monitor a plurality of tasks related to controlling vehicle functions completed by a unique user. For each task, the method may determine whether the task has been completed by the unique user either using a predefined gesture associated with the task, or manually, without using the predefined gesture associated with the task. For each task, the method designates the predefined gesture as being either a learned gesture or an un-learned gesture. After a predetermined time period, the method may include determining that a gesture usage history associated with the unique user includes at least one un-learned gesture. User-customized instructions that at least one un-learned gesture is available for use as a short-cut for controlling a vehicle function may be presented to the unique user.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method of adaptively controlling an autonomous operation of a vehicle is provided. The method includes steps of (a) in a critic network in a computing system configured to autonomously control the vehicle, determining, using samples of passively collected data and a state cost, an estimated average cost, and an approximated cost-to-go function that produces a minimum value for a cost-to-go of the vehicle when applied by an actor network; and (b) in an actor network in the computing system and operatively coupled to the critic network, determining a control input to apply to the vehicle that produces the minimum value for the cost-to-go, wherein the actor network is configured to determine the control input by estimating a noise level using the average cost, a cost-to-go determined from the approximated cost-to-go function, a control dynamics for a current state of the vehicle, and the passively collected data.

Abstract: A capacitive sensing device includes an antenna electrode for emitting an alternating electric field in response to an alternating voltage caused in the antenna electrode and a control and evaluation circuit configured to maintain the alternating voltage equal to an alternating reference voltage by injecting a current into the antenna electrode and to measure the current. The control and evaluation circuit includes a microcontroller with a digital output for providing a digital signal and a low-pass filter operatively connected to the digital output for generating the alternating reference voltage by low-pass-filtering the digital signal.

Abstract: A pattern drawing apparatus includes a first image-pickup device for reading an alignment mark and reading a first pattern image for detecting a positional shift, a second image-pickup device for reading the first pattern image and reading a second pattern image for detecting a positional shift drawn by an irradiation light beam from the optical head while carrying out a relative movement between the table and the optical head, and a positional shift detection unit for obtaining a first coordinate difference between a center of a visual field of the first image-pickup device and a center of the first pattern based on a read image by the first image-pickup device and obtaining a second coordinate difference between the center of the first pattern and a specific position of the second pattern based on a read image by the second image-pickup device.

Abstract: Embodiments of an evaporator chamber heat flux rectifier and thermal switch are provided. Some embodiments include an evaporator layer with a first thermally conductive surface, a wicking structure for facilitating evaporation of a fluid in the vapor chamber heat flux rectifier, and a condenser layer that includes a second thermally conductive surface. Some embodiments include a middle layer, where when heat is applied to the first thermally conductive surface, the vapor chamber heat flux rectifier operates as a thermal conductor. Some embodiments that operate as a thermal switch include a non-condensable gas reservoir that is coupled to the condenser layer. The non-condensable gas reservoir may store a non-condensable gas when a threshold heat flux is applied to the evaporator layer. The non-condensable gas provides thermal insulation between the evaporator layer and the condenser layer when the threshold heat flux is not applied to the evaporator layer.

Abstract: A method for cooling or heating a building is provided. An air flow can be created in an air duct and the air flow can be cooled or heated by an air conditioning system or furnace. The cooled or heated air flow can then pass through a heat exchanger connected to a radiant heating loop running through a floor or slab with a liquid circulating through them. When the airflow is being cooled or heated by the air conditioning system or furnace, the air flow will alter the temperature of the liquid circulating through the heat exchanger herefore the temperature of the slab. When the temperature of the slab varies from the temperature of the building, liquid that has been circulated through the radiant heating loop can be used to alter the temperature of the air flow passing through the heat exchanger.

Abstract: A seat for a vehicle is provided includes a padding member and at least one phase change material element supported in a passage formed within the padding member. The at least one phase change material element is supported in the passage so as to be movable between a first location in which the at least one phase change material element is spaced apart from an occupant support side of the padding member when the seat is unoccupied, and a second location in which at least a portion of the at least one phase change material element is at least level with the occupant support side of the at least one padding member when the seat is unoccupied. The at least one phase change material element is structured to absorb heat from a vehicle occupant, thereby cooling the occupant.

Abstract: Provided is a method of preparing induced pluripotent stem cells using a synthetic peptide, and more particularly, to a method of preparing induced pluripotent stem cells using a peptide capable of inhibiting the activity of NF-?B and promoting mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET). Since undifferentiated multipotent stem cells may be efficiently prepared under xenopathogen-free or feeder cell-free conditions without requiring co-culture with animal serum or xenogeneic cells, the method for preparing the induced pluripotent stem cells using the synthetic peptide according to the present disclosure is very useful for developing stem cell therapeutic agents that are clinically applicable.

Abstract: A dual bearing strut assembly for a vehicle suspension system includes a strut with a shock absorber comprising a damper cylinder and a piston rod, and a coil spring disposed around the shock absorber. The damper cylinder may be affixed to a knuckle of a vehicle wheel assembly and the piston rod may be affixed to a top strut mount. An upper bearing assembly and a lower bearing assembly are included. The coil spring has an upper end seated to the upper bearing assembly and a lower end seated to the lower bearing assembly. The lower end of the coil spring freely rotates about the damper cylinder when the coil spring is compressed thereby reducing torque on the damper cylinder and reducing “bump steer” of the vehicle steering system.

Abstract: In the air disperser (4) having a number of components including a top, a bottom and an outer circumferential wall forming a space (45) defined within an inner radius and an outer radius and having an air inlet (81), a set of guide vanes (7), and an air outlet (82) at the inner radius adapted to be positioned above a feed outlet from atomizing means, at least some of the components are formed by precision metal forming such as metal spinning.

Abstract: An archery practice field tip and related method of use is provided, where the field tip has a first shape that is structurally different from a second shape of an actual hunting broadhead, but where the tip mimics the aerodynamics and flight characteristics of the hunting broadhead. The practice tip can be void of sharpened cutting edges, and can include a head on drag promoting element and/or a crosswind drag promoting element, either of which can be scoops, flanges, fins, holes and the like. The tip can have a head on aerodynamic drag that is within 40%, within 25%, within 10% and/or within 5% of the first head on aerodynamic drag of the hunting broadhead. The practice tip can have a crosswind aerodynamic drag that is within 40%, within 25%, within 10% and/or within 5% of the crosswind aerodynamic drag of the hunting broadhead.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor package and a method of manufacturing the same. In some embodiments, a semiconductor package includes a substrate, at least one die, a sealing ring and an inductor. The at least one die is mounted on the substrate and includes a plurality of component structures operating with acoustic waves. The component structures are arranged on a side of the at least one die that faces the substrate. The sealing ring is disposed between the at least one die and the substrate and surrounds the component structures. The inductor is disposed in the substrate.

Abstract: The invention provides pneumatic shuttering of a focused or collimated aerosol particle stream. The aerosol stream can be collimated by an annular sheath of inert or non-inert gas. The apparatus propagates a sheathed aerosol stream through a series of aerodynamic lenses along the axis of a flow cell. The final lens is typically positioned above a substrate, so that direct material deposition is provided. A substantially perpendicularly-flowing gas external to the aerodynamic lens system is used to redirect the particle stream away from the flow axis and through an exhaust port, thereby shuttering the collimated aerosol stream. The pneumatic shutter enables printing of discreet structures, with on/off shuttering times of approximately 1 to 100 milliseconds.

Abstract: The various technologies presented herein relate to mitigating or reducing sidelobe levels during operation of an antenna array. Power coefficients operating across an antenna array are tapered to facilitate a power concentration at central region of the antenna array while power coefficients of a lower magnitude are generated at the periphery of the antenna array. Power coefficient variation can be effected by at least one of electrical path length, number of antennas being powered in a particular antenna subarray, a number of T-splitters incorporated into an electrical path servicing an antenna, etc. Electrical coupling of a pre-T/R stripline and a post-T/R stripline can be achieved in conjunction with operation with a dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer acts as a dielectric at the Ku frequency band. Further, phase delay can be applied to at least one electrical signal to facilitate concurrent delivery of power across the antenna array.

Abstract: A system or method for a physical intrusion detection and assessment system is provided for determining a deliberate motion intrusion. The system includes first and second sensing device to sense physical data set within a predetermined space. A transducer module receives the first sensor physical data set and the second sensor physical data set and converts the first and second physical data sets into analog signals representative of the first and second physical data sets. A signal conditioning layer converts the first and second physical data analog signals to digital signals. A processor device correlates the first physical data set and the second physical data set and generates an alarm in response to identification of an intrusion in the space. A method and algorithms are applied to the data sets for determining whether a detected intrusion is associated with deliberate motion rather than random motion.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method is provided for autonomously controlling a vehicle to perform a vehicle operation. The method includes steps of applying a passive actor-critic reinforcement learning method to passively-collected data relating to the vehicle operation, to learn a control policy configured for controlling the vehicle so as to perform the vehicle operation with a minimum expected cumulative cost; and controlling the vehicle in accordance with the control policy to perform the vehicle operation.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical device, and to an optical device manufactured thereby, which involve using a substrate itself as a heat-dissipating plate, and adopting a substrate with vertical insulation layers formed thereon, such that electrode terminals do not have to be extruded out from a sealed space, and thus enabling the overall structure and manufacturing process for an optical device to be simplified.