Abstract: A humidity sensor may include a metalized substrate comprising a laser ablated portion and a remaining metal portion. The remaining metal portion may include a spiral inductor and an interdigitated capacitor. The interdigitated capacitor may be coupled in parallel with the spiral inductor. The interdigitated capacitor may be centrally positioned with respect to the spiral inductor and surrounded by spirals of the spiral inductor. The spiral inductor and interdigitated capacitor may be formed by selectively ablating the metallized substrate to define the inductor and capacitor.

Abstract: A system and methods for heating and cooling are provided. The system may include an energy collector and an adaptive panel connected to the energy collector. The adaptive panel may a radiative cooling layer configured to dissipate heat from the energy collector. The radiative cooling layer may further include a thermo-responsive polymer configured to adjust transparency depending on temperature. The system may include a solar heating layer configured to absorb solar irradiation that passes through the radiative cooling layer and transfer heat to the energy collector.

Abstract: Dual mode engine for propelling spacecraft, including combustion chamber having flange end, open nozzle end, and enclosed chamber portion extending therebetween, propellant tank in fluidic communication with combustion chamber, electronic controller, power source operationally connected to electronic controller, and fluid flow motivator operationally connected to electronic controller and connected in fluidic communication with propellant tank.

Abstract: A metalenslet beam homogenizer offers an alternative to classical beam homogenization techniques by leveraging flat optical metasurfaces. The metalenslet beam homogenizer would be beneficial, for example, for high power laser applications, such as laser material processing, digital projection, optical lithography, and additive manufacturing in which it is necessary to expose a certain area on a workpiece to a well-defined amount of optical radiation. The metalenslet beam homogenizer provides benefits by enhancing the beam homogenization quality, reducing size and complexity, and lowering optical power loss. It does so by using nanophotonic metasurface lenses and offers higher homogenization quality by mitigating the impact of diffraction and reducing the size of the optical system by combining the functionality of multiple optical elements into fewer devices.

Abstract: A cohort corresponding to a wearer of a head-mountable display (HMD) is selected from a number of candidate cohorts that each correspond to a different facial type. A set of facial images of the wearer is captured using one or multiple cameras of the HMD. A machine learning model for the selected cohort is applied to the captured set of facial images to predict blendshape weights for the facial expression of the wearer exhibited within the captured set of images. Each candidate cohort has a differently trained machine learning model. The predicted blendshape weights for the facial expression of the wearer are retargeted onto an avatar corresponding to the wearer to render the avatar with the facial expression, and the rendered avatar is displayed.

Abstract: A method includes filling a cavity of a form defined by one or more boundaries with an uncured concrete mixture such that the uncured concrete mixture contacts or envelops a piezoelectric sensor within the form, receiving one or more electrical signals from the piezoelectric sensor as the uncured concrete mixture cures within the form to define a concrete sample, determining an electrical signal-frequency spectrum of the electrical signal(s) received from the piezoelectric sensor, determining one or more resonant frequencies of the concrete sample based on the electrical signal-frequency spectrum, determining a Young's modulus of the concrete sample based on the one or more resonant frequencies thereof, and outputting the determined Young's modulus or information based on the determined Young's modulus.

Abstract: A drug delivery platform providing flexible fine tune of cell therapy is disclosed herein. Particularly, an engineered fusion protein is coupled with a high affinity ligand carrying at least one payload of drug to be internalized by the transplanted cell to observe or regulate transplanted cell therapy effects.

Abstract: The invention generally relates to mass spectrometry via frequency tagging.

Abstract: An autonomous system for providing consistent images of leaves of plants is disclosed which includes a mobility unit configured to move from an originating position to a position about a plant in a field, one or more vacuum units coupled to the mobility unit configured to be positioned above one or more leaves of the plant, the one or more vacuum units each having one or more fans coupled to an air inlet having a grate, and configured to elevate the one or more leaves of the plant onto the grate, one or more imaging systems each having one or more cameras configured to obtain images from the one or more leaves of the plant, and a controller configured to control position of the mobility unit and activate the one or more imaging system to thereby obtain images from the one or more leaves of the plant.

Abstract: Systems and methods for detecting photothermal effect in a sample are described herein. In these systems and methods, a pump source is configured to generate a pump pulse train, a probe source is configured to generate a probe pulse train and is synchronized with the pump pulse train, and a camera collects the resulting data. The camera is configured to collect a first signal corresponding to a hot frame, wherein the hot frame includes visible probe beam as modified by a pump beam and a second signal corresponding to a cold frame, wherein the cold frame includes visible probe beam that has not been modified by a pump beam. A processor can subtract the second signal from the first signal to detect the photothermal effect.

Abstract: A flexible mat system, including a plurality of base platforms, each respective base platform having a first pattern of phase transforming columns and voids extending from a respective flat member, and a plurality of plane-engaging runway platforms, each respective plane-engaging runway platform having a second, reversed pattern of phase transforming columns and voids extending from a respective flat member such that each respective plane-engaging runway platform is lockingly engagable to a respective base platform to yield a landing segment with parallel top and bottom flat members. Each respective base platform is an aluminum/steel composite. Each respective phase transforming column is further comprised of a plurality of stacked operationally connected phase transforming cellular members. Each respective cell further comprises six hexagonally spaced support members defining six hexagonally arrayed sides, with two opposing sides define x-shaped struts extending between adjacent support members.

Abstract: A wearable sensor decal may include a flexible wrapper layer, an intermediate layer, and a porous film layer. A first plurality of electrodes may be deposited on the wrapper layer. A heating element may be conductivity coupled to the first plurality of electrodes. A second plurality of electrodes may be deposited on the intermediate layer. A biosensor may be conductively coupled to the second plurality of electrodes. The flexible film may be hydrophilic to allow biofluids pass to the biosensor and the wrapper layer may be hydrophobic to provide waterproofing to the biosensor and heating element. The heating element may be powered to reduce thermal variance in biosensor measurements. The electrodes for the heating element and biosensor may be exposed on the non-target side of the wearable sensor decal.

Abstract: A photon emitter includes a multi-layer film. The multi-layer film includes a first material layer and a second material layer, and the multi-layer film includes an interface surface between the first and second material layers. The first material layer includes silicon nitride. The multi-layer film is formed by positioning the silicon nitride over the second material layer and energetically activating the combination of the first material layer and the second material layer. The interface surface is operable to emit single photons.

Abstract: The invention generally relates to systems and methods for increasing reaction yield. In certain embodiments, the invention provides systems for increasing a yield of a chemical reaction that include a pneumatic sprayer configured to generate a liquid spray discharge from a solvent. The solvent includes a plurality of molecules, a portion of which react with each other within the liquid spray discharge to form a reaction product. The system also includes a collector positioned to receive the liquid spray discharge including the unreacted molecules and the reaction product. The system also includes a recirculation loop connected from the collector to the pneumatic sprayer in order to allow the unreacted molecules and the reaction product to be recycled through the pneumatic sprayer, thereby allowing a plurality of the unreacted molecules to react with each other as the unreacted molecules cycle again through the system.

Abstract: A method is disclosed which includes receiving an incoming time-varying signal as ambient signal, applying a signal cancellation filter to the incoming time-varying signal to thereby generate an attenuated version of the incoming time-varying signal, selectively choosing one or more selected classes of signals to be broadcasted while other signals are to be attenuated, continually applying the incoming time-varying signal to a classifier to identify presence of the one or more selected classes in the incoming time-varying signal, adding a snippet of a pre-recorded signal associated with each of the identified classes to thereby generate a string of signal snippets associated with the identified classes, and repeating in a loop, combining the attenuated version of the received time-varying signal with the repeated string of signal snippets and broadcasting the combination.

Abstract: The targeted delivery of growth factors, vasoactive peptides and other representative anabolic peptide drugs from different signaling cascades to bone fracture for accelerated healing is disclosed herein.

Abstract: A piezoelectric material system includes a first material, a second material positioned near the first material, and a material adjustment mechanism. The first and second materials are operable to form a material interaction and define at least one collective material property. The material adjustment mechanism is configured to maintain the material interaction between the first material and second material at a user-specified material interaction, and the material adjustment mechanism is selectively operable to adjust the user-specified material interaction to thereby adjust the collective material property.

Abstract: Noise preserving models and methods for resolution recovery of x-ray computed tomography (e.g., using a computerized tool) are enabled. For example, a system can comprise: a memory that stores computer executable components, and a processor that executes the computer executable components stored in the memory, wherein the computer executable components comprise: a pair generation component that generates a pair of images, the pair of images comprising an input image and a ground truth image, a training component that trains a machine learning based sharpening algorithm by approximately minimizing a loss function that determines an error between a sharpened image and the ground truth image, and a sharpening component that, using the sharpening algorithm, sharpens the input image to generate the sharpened image, wherein the sharpened image comprises a second noise that is similar in intensity to a first noise of the input image.

Abstract: System and methods for content- and contention-aware object detection are provided. A system may receive video information and perform object detection and object tracking based on an execution configuration. The system may approximate an optimized execution configuration. To approximate the optimized execution configuration, the system may identify, based on the video information, a plurality of content features. The system may further measure a contention level of a computer resource or multiple resources. The system may approximate, based on the content features and the utilization metric, latency metrics, for a plurality of execution configuration sets, respectively. The system may also approximate, based on the content features, accuracy metrics for the execution configuration sets, respectively. The system may select the optimized execution configuration set in response to satisfaction of a performance criterion.

Abstract: The carbon capture system includes a wind turbine, a direct-air capture (DAC) system, and a processor. The wind turbine has a first location and/or a first position. The processor is communicatively coupled to the DAC system. The processor is configured to input a wind turbine wake from the wind turbine and/or incident carbon dioxide profile, execute an algorithm to determine a wind velocity and/or a concentration of the carbon dioxide in the wind turbine wake, and output a second location and/or a second position of the DAC system. The second location and/or the second position of the DAC system is optimized to enhance the quantity of carbon dioxide captured from to the wind turbine.