Abstract: Methods described herein provide a way to reduce or eliminate drag and adhesion of a substance flowing over a surface by creating a vapor cushion via evaporation of a phase-changing material of or on the surface or encapsulated within textures of the surface. The vapor cushion causes the flowing substance to be suspended over the surface, greatly reducing friction, drag, and adhesion between the flowing substance and the surface. The temperature of the flowing substance is above the sublimation point and/or melting point of the phase-changing material. The phase-changing material undergoes a phase change (evaporation or sublimation) upon contact with the flowing substance due to local heat transfer from the flowing substance to the material, generating a vapor cushion between the solid or liquid material and the flowing substance.

Abstract: Embodied herein are engineered fusion proteins that bind and target nociceptor neurons, compositions comprising these engineered fusion proteins, and methods for treatment of pain using these engineered fusion proteins or compositions containing the engineered fusion proteins. The engineered fusion proteins contain domains derived from protein toxins such as the anthrax toxin, clostridial botulinum family of toxins, disulphide-containing toxins, and AB component type toxins.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes a hydrogen sulfide decomposition process for converting hydrogen sulfide into hydrogen gas and sulfur dioxide. Such a process can significantly increase the amount of available hydrogen gas. In fact, if each Claus unit in the U.S. creating elemental sulfur in traditional systems were replaced by this hydrogen sulfide decomposition process, 1.83 million metric tons of hydrogen gas could be produced. This represents about 20% of the annual hydrogen produced in the U.S. for any purpose, recovered and available for reuse. Additionally, if desired, the sulfur dioxide can be further processed to form sulfuric acid.

Abstract: Provided herein are oligonucleotides, chimeric peptides, and peptide-oligonucleotide-conjugates. Also provided herein are methods of treating a muscle disease, a viral infection, or a bacterial infection in a subject in need thereof, comprising administering to the subject oligonucleotides, chimeric peptides, and peptide-oligonucleotide-conjugates described herein.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and compositions useful for in vivo and/or in vitro profiling of environmental triggers (e.g., enzyme activity, pH or temperature). In some embodiments, the disclosure provides methods of in vivo enzymatic processing of exogenous molecules followed by detection of modified nucleic acid barcodes as representative of the presence of active enzymes (e.g., proteases) associated with a disease, for example, cancer. In some embodiments, the disclosure provides compositions and methods for production of in vivo sensors comprising modified nucleic acid barcodes.

Abstract: The present invention provides inventive conjugated polyethyleneimine (PEI) polymers and conjugated aza-macrocycles (collectively referred to herein as “conjugated lipomers” or “lipomers”) containing one or more groups of the formula (iii): wherein R3 and R4 are as defined herein. Also provided are compositions comprising the inventive conjugated lipomers, and methods of preparation and use.

Abstract: Under certain conditions, a fermion in a superconductor can separate in space into two parts known as Majorana zero modes, which are immune to decoherence from local noise sources and are attractive building blocks for quantum computers. Here we disclose a metal-based heterostructure platform to produce these Majorana zero modes which utilizes the surface states of certain metals in combination with a ferromagnetic insulator and a superconductor. This platform has the advantage of having a robust energy scale and the possibility of realizing complex circuit designs using lithographic methods. The Majorana zero modes are interrogated using planar tunnel junctions and electrostatic gates to selectively tunnel into designated pairs of Majorana zero modes. We give example of qubit designs and circuits that are particularly suitable for the metal-based heterostructures.

Abstract: Devices and methods are described that provide printing of three-dimensional objects using reactive materials such as materials that result in a polyurethane formulation. Three-dimensional printing in accordance with the present disclosure can be performed using an inkjet printer or other systems that deposit or dispense material. A formulation made up of two or more reactive materials and, optionally, one or more UV-curable materials is also provided. The materials can be jetted based on a desired configuration to achieve a maximum reaction between materials, and can be based on desired jetting or molar ratios. By heating or applying energy on the jetted materials, their reaction and related solidifying can be accelerated. Corrective printing is also provided for, and can be used at desired intervals to eliminate printing errors relative to the object as modeled. Systems and methods used in conjunction with all of the same are provided.

Abstract: The present application provides a new type of glucose fuel cell in which a layer of proton-conducting metal oxide is interposed between the anode and cathode electrodes. Such metal oxides can serve in the form of thin-layer fuel cell membrane materials for novel, all-solid state fuel cell designs.

Abstract: Lubricant infused surfaces (LIS) can be uncoated high-surface-energy solids, thereby eliminating the need for unreliable low-surface-energy coatings and resulting in LIS repelling the lowest surface tension impinging fluid (butane, ??13 mN/m) reported to date.

Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods of the present disclosure are directed to accurate and non-invasive assessments of anatomic vessels (e.g., the internal jugular vein (IJV)) of vertebrates. For example, a piezoelectric crystal may generate a signal and receive a pulse echo of the signal along an axis extending through the piezoelectric crystal and an anatomic vessel. A force sensor disposed relative to the piezoelectric crystal may measure a force exerted (e.g., along skin of the vertebrate) on the anatomic vessel along the axis. The pulse echo received by the piezoelectric crystal and the force measured by the force sensor may, in combination, non-invasively and accurately determine a force response of the anatomic vessel. In turn, the force response may be probative of any one or more of a variety of different characteristics of the anatomic vessel including, for example, location of the anatomic vessel and pressure of the anatomic vessel.

Abstract: A pseudo-random cipher stream is used to band-spread an optical carrier signal with coded data. A legitimate receiver uses an agreed-upon key to modulate its local oscillator and a resulting beat signal uncovers the band-spread signal. An eavesdropper who does not have the key finds the spread signal with too low signal-to-noise ratio to perform any useful determination of the message sequence. Theoretical bounds based on Shannon's Theory of Secrecy are used to show strength of the encoding scheme and predict it to be superior to the prior art.

Abstract: Wacker oxidation can be used as a signal transduction mechanism for the selective and sensitive detection of ethylene in air via chemiresistive sensing. Using this system, the senescence of lisianthus flowers and carnations can be monitored.

Abstract: A Li-ion thin film microbattery, a microbattery array, a method of fabricating a Li-ion thin film microbattery and a method of fabricating a microbattery array. The Li-ion thin film microbattery comprises a Li-free cathode comprising a transition metal oxide thin film; an anode comprising a lithiated Ge or Si thin film; and an electrolyte film disposed between the cathode and the anode; wherein a Li-source of the Li-ion thin film microbattery is provided by means of the lithiated Ge or Si thin film.

Abstract: Embodiments described herein generally relate to compositions including discrete nanostructures (e.g., nanostructures including a functionalized graphene layer and a core species bound to the functionalized graphene layer), and related articles and methods. A composition may have a coefficient of friction of less than or equal to 0.02. Discrete nanostructures may have a substantially non-planar configuration. A core species may reversibly covalently bind a first portion of a functionalized graphene layer to a second portion of the functionalized graphene layer. Articles, e.g., articles including a plurality of discrete nanostructures and a means for depositing the plurality of discrete nanostructures on a surface, are also provided. Methods (e.g., methods of forming a layer) are also provided, including depositing a composition onto a substrate surface and/or applying a mechanical force to the composition, e.g., such that the composition exhibits a coefficient of friction of less than or equal to 0.02.

Abstract: Covalently modified alginate polymers, possessing enhanced biocompatibility and tailored physiochemical properties, as well as methods of making and use thereof, are disclosed herein. The covalently modified alginates are useful as a matrix for coating of any material where reduced fibrosis is desired, such as encapsulated cells for transplantation and medical devices implanted or used in the body.

Abstract: A framework is presented for designing a class of distributed, asynchronous optimization algorithms realized as signal processing architectures utilizing various conservation principles. The architectures are specifically based on stationary conditions pertaining to primal and dual variables in a class of generally nonconvex optimization problems. The stationary conditions, which are closely related to the principles of stationary content and co-content that naturally arise from Tellegen's theorem in electrical networks, are transformed via a linear change of coordinates to obtain a set of linear and nonlinear maps that form the basis for implementation. The resulting algorithms can operate by processing a linear superposition of primal and dual decision variables using the associated maps, coupled using synchronous or asynchronous delay elements to form a distributed system.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods for high multiplex protein or cellular constituent analysis in single cells or single isolated aggregations of cellular constituents. The methods provide for embedding cells or isolated aggregations of cellular constituents in a hydrogel mesh and labeling of cellular constituents with labeling ligands linked to a nucleic acid tag. Cellular constituents can be determined using sequencing methods.

Abstract: Devices and methods described herein decode a sequence of coded symbols by guessing noise. In various embodiments, noise sequences are ordered, either during system initialization or on a periodic basis. Then, determining a codeword includes iteratively guessing a new noise sequence, removing its effect from received data symbols (e.g. by subtracting or using some other method of operational inversion), and checking whether the resulting data are a codeword using a codebook membership function. This process is deterministic, has bounded complexity, asymptotically achieves channel capacity as in convolutional codes, but has the decoding speed of a block code. In some embodiments, the decoder tests a bounded number of noise sequences, abandoning the search and declaring an erasure after these sequences are exhausted. Abandonment decoding nevertheless approximates maximum likelihood decoding within a tolerable bound and achieves channel capacity when the abandonment threshold is chosen appropriately.

Abstract: Devices and methods for non-invasive capillary blood pressure measurement are provided. An device can comprise a front end in contact with the body to compress and decompress the capillaries in the tissue, a pressure control module for regulating the contact pressure between the front end and the tissue, a pressure transducer coupled to the front end for measuring the contact pressure, a capillary sensing module for detecting the capillaries pulsations under the contact pressure modulation, and an algorithm for determining the capillaries pressures from the traces of capillary pulsation signals and the contact pressure signal. The methods include an oscillometric method for intermittent arterial and capillary blood pressure measurement and a volume-clamp method for continuous capillary blood pressure measurement.