Abstract: An optical sensor has at least one pixel that generates an output voltage that changes at a rate dependent on the light intensity incident on the pixel. The time for the pixel output voltage to change from a first predefined level to a second predefined level is measured, so as to produce an output indicative of the incident light intensity.

Abstract: A method and kit of parts for measuring the comfortable shape of a foot for a person. The kit comprises front and rear platforms of adjustable height and a supporting surface for accommodating the plantar surface of a foot extending between said platforms. The aforementioned components can be adjusted to various settings with a view to determining a comfortable plantar foot shape. The foot shape can then be captured by scanning with an optical or mechanical probe or scanner. A method of making a customized shoe and shoe last on basis of the captured foot shape is also disclosed.

Abstract: A locking range enhancement technique is described that steers away part of the DC current and reuses it to generate more injected AC current to the injection-locked resonator-based frequency dividers (ILFDs). The injection-enhanced ILFDs maintain the key features of ILFDs, which are high speed and low power consumption, without requiring any extra inductive component and thus extra chip area.

Abstract: An adhesion bond between a metallic surface layer and a second surface is formed by treating the layers with a material comprising sulphur-containing molecules. The sulphur-containing molecules are applied as a surface treatment of the surfaces, so that the sulphur-containing molecules act as a coupling agent to bond chemically to both substrates form nanometer-sized structures on the surfaces. The nanometer-sized structures are incorporated into a self-assembly interlayer in between the surfaces, with the interlayer forming a bond to both surfaces.

Abstract: A micropolarimeter is described for simultaneously extracting all Stokes parameters from incident light. The micropolarimeter includes at least one superpixel, which further includes three or more subpixels, each exact a different polarization components from the incident light. The micropolarimeter includes a first and second alignment layers and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first and second alignment layers. The liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are aligned in accordance with the first and second alignment layers to form the superpixel. A method is provided for manufacturing the photo-aligned liquid-crystal micropolarimeter array.

Abstract: A method of depositing a stable diamond film on a metal substrate includes pretreating a surface of the substrate and depositing a diamond film on the substrate by way of a multi-stage chemical vapor deposition, in which each subsequent stage is performed at progressively higher temperature. The deposited diamond may be doped with boron. The substrate may be titanium, a titanium alloy, iron, an iron alloy, or any other valve metal. The diamond deposition may be a high temperature chemical vapor deposition. The first deposition stage may optionally create a carbide of diamond and substrate, and an optional mixture of diamond and amorphous carbon may be deposited to bond this carbide layer to a subsequently applied layer. The resulting product may be used as an electrode, as a tooth or blade in a cutting tool, or may have many other uses.

Abstract: An iterative decoder comprising a transconductance amplifier, a sampler, a Min-Sum decoder, and an early determination module is provided. The transconductance amplifier outputs a current proportional to the voltage of the coded bit stream. The sampler converts the amplified current into a plurality of currents and stores the sampled currents in a plurality of buffers. The Min-Sum decoder receives parallel currents, wherein currents represent the message of each variable node. The Min-Sum decoder exchanges the message of variable nodes and check nodes iteratively and outputs a set of decode codewords according to the possibilities. The early terminating module stops the iterative decoding when the decoded codeword converged.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for enabling effective decoding of rate-compatible punctured codes are presented herein. A puncturing component can derive one or more partial puncturing patterns and corresponding decoding matrices/graphs that represent punctured code from a parity check matrix/graph of a mother code and a puncturing pattern specified for the mother code. Further, a rowcombining component can combine rows of the parity check matrix/graph based on the derived one or more partial puncture patterns. Further, the rowcombining component can create at least one decoding matrix/graph to represent the punctured code based on the combined rows. In addition, a selection component can select a decoding matrix/graph from the created at least one decoding matrix/graph that does not contain a girth-4 cycle.

Abstract: Described herein is a context-free protocol (i.e., the COFFEE protocol) for stimulating cooperation among selfish nodes. Various embodiments have the ability to transmit a packet over the path successfully without the dependency on the information of other packets' transmissions. It is assumed that every node in the network is rational, and therefore during the packet forwarding stage, if the intermediate nodes can not clearly tell whether the packet is destined to them or not, they do not simply drop the packet. Thus, in the COFFEE protocol, by introducing several techniques, for a packet received by a node, the node thinks the packet could potentially be destined to itself and forwards the packet to find out the answer. Detailed analysis and performance evaluations have been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the COFFEE protocol.

Abstract: This disclosures provides, in one aspect, a method for detecting non-clinically diagnosed cancer in a patient. In one embodiment, the method includes extracting blood serum or plasma from the patient, and then detecting beta-catenin RNA in the blood serum or plasma. In addition, in this embodiment, the method includes determining the presence of the cancer based on the detected beta-catenin RNA. In another aspect, this disclosure provides another embodiment of a method for detecting non-clinically diagnosed cancer in a patient. In this embodiment, the method includes extracting blood serum or plasma from the patient, and then detecting beta-catenin DNA in the blood serum or plasma. In addition, in this embodiment, the method includes determining the presence of the cancer based on the detected beta-catenin DNA.

Abstract: An effective method of allowing a sensor node to estimate its own position, based only on coarse distances to its neighbors, together with an embedding mathematical tool. This method involves four major steps for each of the nodes: estimating distances to and exchange distance information with nearby nodes; performing position estimation locally; broadcasting the result; and refining its estimation. It also supports nodes joining/leaving the network and nodes with lower power. Further, because useful information for position-based routing is already embedded during the position estimation process, no extra transmission is required for efficient route determination in reporting data to a collecting node.

Abstract: A test apparatus applies high speed impact load to a sample to test the shear strength of attachment of a component part to the sample, by use of a rotary drive mechanism driving an impact tip. A support mechanism provides alignment between the impact tip and a portion of the sample to receive a test force, and prevents relative movement of at least one of the sample and the impact tip. The rotary drive mechanism establishes a impact force between the impact tip and the sample, and a force transducer receives the resultant force and providing a corresponding output. In one example the force transducer uses a piezoelectric film for sensing. The testing may be used, for example, to provide stable impact speed to a solder ball, and provide, as an output a force and displacement relationship curve. The stable speed can be acquired by clutch, and the data collection.

Abstract: A system and method for integrating infrastructure and ad hoc wireless networks. In one example embodiment, a plurality of nodes and access points exchange beacons and route replies which are forwarded by intervening nodes. Nodes determine whether to switch access points based on cost values contained in the received beacons. Intervening nodes store routes with weights to the source node, such that the access points maintain weights to every node in their zones.

Abstract: The invention provides a process for preparing an overvoltage protection material comprising: (i) preparing a mixture comprising a polymer binder precursor and a conductive material; and (ii) heating the mixture to cause reaction of the polymer binder precursor and generate a polymer matrix having conductive material dispersed therein, wherein the polymer binder precursor is chosen such that substantially no solvent is generated during the reaction.

Abstract: We propose methods for generating a halftone image, in which each pixel takes one of two tone values. The generated image contains hidden data, which is present at data storage pixels chosen using a pseudo-random number generator. In a first case, the data is hidden within an existing halftone image by reversing the tone value at certain of the data storage pixels, and at pixels neighboring the data storage pixels. In a second case, the halftone image is generated from a grey-scale image, and data is hidden during this conversion process.

Abstract: Methods of producing carbon nanostructures utilizing a polymer and a nanostructure template to form carbon nanostructures are disclosed. The method does not require a metal catalyst.

Abstract: A high suction double-cell extractor includes an outer cell defining an outer chamber, and an open-ended inner cell defining an inner chamber. The inner chamber is bottle-shaped and has a neck. The high suction double-cell extractor also includes a vertical loading system for applying axial force on a soil specimen during extraction. The high suction double-cell extractor also includes a port for introduction of pressurized air supply into the outer and inner cells. The introduced pressurized air can apply cell pressure on the soil specimen during extraction. The high suction double-cell extractor also includes a relative humidity control system and a differential pressure detector system. The high suction double-cell extractor can be used to measure stress-dependent soil-water characteristics curve (SDSWCC) under various stress states three-dimensionally and more accurately, and under total suction up to 8,000 kPa.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for forming thin film transistors including a polycrystalline semiconducting film. The method comprises depositing a first layer of amorphous semiconducting thin film on to a substrate; depositing a second layer of thin film on to the first layer of amorphous semiconducting thin film; patterning the second layer of thin film so that the first layer of amorphous semiconducting thin film is exposed at selected locations; exposing the first and second layers of thin film to a nickel containing compound in either a solution or a vapor phase; removing the second layer of thin film; and annealing the first layer of amorphous semiconducting thin film at an elevated temperature so the first layer of amorphous semiconducting thin film converts into a polycrystalline semiconducting thin film.

Abstract: An apparatus using reconfigurable integrated sensor elements with an efficient energy harvesting capability is described. Each sensor element has sensing and energy harvesting mode. In the sensing mode, the sensor element measures an environmental characteristic by generating electrical charge and outputs a time-encoded signal indicative of the measurement. In the energy harvesting mode, the sensor element itself is used to harvest energy from ambient energy source and makes it available to other sensor elements or circuit components. The sensing element is switched from the sensing mode to the energy harvesting mode when the electrical charge reaches a predetermined threshold. An image sensor device using asynchronous readout for harvesting energy from incident light while generating images is also described.

Abstract: There is disclosed a method of digital signal compression, coding and representation, and more particularly a method of video compression, coding and representation system that uses multi-frame motion estimation and includes both device and method aspects. The invention also provides a computer program product, such as a recording medium, carrying program instructions readable by a computing device to cause the computing device to carry out a method according to the invention.