Abstract: The antimicrobial agent includes at least one two-dimensional metal carbide layer. The two-dimensional metal carbide has the formula Tin+1CnTx, where T represents a terminal functional group and x represents the number of terminal functional groups. The two-dimensional metal carbide is preferably Ti3C2Tx. The terminating group may be oxygen, hydroxide (OH), fluorine or combinations thereof. The antimicrobial agent may be used as a two-dimensional metal carbide antimicrobial membrane (10) or filter for removal of harmful bacteria, such as E. coli and B. subtilis. A stack of two-dimensional metal carbide layers (14) may be supported on a polymer filter substrate (12), such as a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) supporting substrate.

Abstract: A system and method for advanced oxidation (10) of treated sewage effluent provide additional treatment to treated sewage effluent (TSE) for reuse thereof. The method includes exposing TSE to ozone and hydrogen peroxide to oxidize contaminants; coagulating remaining waste in the TSE; flocculating the coagulated TSE; holding the flocculated treated sewage effluent in a settling tank for sedimentation; removing coarse suspended particles from the flocculated TSE by filtration after sedimentation; and removing fine suspended particles by ultrafiltration of the TSE after removing the coarse suspended particles. The system includes a chemical mixing tank (16); a homogenizing tank (22); an advanced oxidation process system (24); a rapid mixer; a flocculation tank (28); a sedimentation tank (32); a sand filter (34); and at least one ultrafiltration system (38), (36).

Abstract: The hybrid desalination system (10) includes a reverse osmosis filtration system (14), a forward osmosis filtration system (18), and a multi-effect distillation system (16). A condenser (12) receives seawater (S) and produces cooled seawater (CS). The cooled seawater (CS) is filtered by the reverse osmosis filtration system (14), which outputs a first brine reject stream (BR1) and a permeate stream (P). The multi-effect distillation system (16) outputs a second brine reject stream (BR2). A feed side (20) of the forward osmosis filtration system (18) receives the first brine reject stream (BR1), and the second brine reject stream (BR2) is received by the draw side (22), which outputs diluted brine (DB). The multi-effect distillation system (16) is in fluid communication with the forward osmosis filtration system (18) and recycles the diluted brine (DB). The multi-effect distillation system (16) outputs a return condensate (RC) and a pure water distillate (D).

Abstract: The system for camera control in robotic and laparoscopic surgery (100) includes a head tracking system (130) for tracking movements of an operator's head during laparoscopic surgery, a robotic laparoscope holder (110) operatively engaged to a laparoscope (200), an interface workstation (120) having a processor (540) and inputs connecting the sensor signal and the servo control system (515) signals to the processor (540), and a clutch switch (180) connected to the processor (540) for activating and inactivating the interface workstation (120). The head tracking system (130) includes at least one optical marker (415) to be worn on the operator's head and an optical tracker (410) for detecting movement of the at least one optical marker (415) and transmitting a corresponding sensor signal. The laparoscope includes an articulating distal portion (214), a tip (216), and a camera (150) disposed at the tip (150).

Abstract: The geo-security method and system uses spatio-temporal radio channel information during authentication to grant permission to access, use and/or operate the intended device. The geo-security method and system uses a wideband radio channel impulse response (or transfer function of radio channel) from antenna of RF source to antenna of a RF receiver at the device position to determine the legitimacy of the intended device's location.

Abstract: A dataset profiling tool configured to identify unique and non-unique column combinations in a dataset which includes a plurality of tuples, the tool including: an inserts handler module configured to: receive one or more new tuples for insertion into the dataset, receive one or more minimal uniques and one or more maximal non-uniques for the dataset, identify and group, for each minimal unique, any tuples of the dataset and any of the one or more new tuples which contain duplicate values in the column combinations of the minimal unique, to form grouped tuples which are grouped according to the minimal unique to which the tuples relate, validate the grouped tuples to identify supersets of the minimal uniques for which duplicate values were identified, to generate a new set of one or more minimal uniques and one or more maximal non-uniques, and output the new set of one or more updated minimal uniques and one or more maximal non-uniques.

Abstract: The flexible dust shield (10) is a dust cover for repelling dust particles from a photovoltaic solar collector panel, the exposed glass surfaces of a high-rise building façade or the like by action of an electric field. The dust shield (10) includes a pattern of electrodes (12) made from a conductive ink, such as silver ink or carbon ink, which is printed on a flexible substrate (14) made from a thermoplastic film. A cover sheet (16) of thermoplastic film is laminated to the substrate (14) over the pattern of electrodes (12). The electrodes (12) are adapted for attachment to a single phase or multi-phase alternating current signal, which generates an electric field for repelling dust particles.

Abstract: A system for checking data for errors, the system comprising a checking module operable to check tuples of data stored in a target database for errors, the tuples in the target database originating from the output of at least one query transformation module which applies a query transformation to tuples of data from at least one data source an identification module operable to identify a problematic tuple from a data source that produces an error in the target database, the identification module being operable to quantify the contribution of the problematic tuple in producing the error in the target database, and a description generation module operable to generate a descriptive query which represents at least one of errors identified by the checking module in the target database which are produced by the at least one query transformation module, and problematic tuples identified in a data source by the identification module.

Abstract: The method for dynamic video magnification magnifies small motions occurring simultaneously within large motions. The method involves selecting a region of interest from a video for magnification. The region of interest is warped to obtain a stabilized sequence of frames that discounts large motions. Each frame of the stabilized sequence is decomposed to a foreground layer, a background layer, and an alpha matte layer, and each of the foreground and alpha matte layers is magnified. Then a magnified sequence is generated from the magnified layers using matte inversion. Any image holes in the magnified sequence are filled in using texture synthesis. Finally, the magnified sequence is de-warped to the original space-time coordinates.

Abstract: The hybrid desalination system is a desalination system for seawater which uses both filtering and treatment from a reverse osmosis filter system as well as evaporative distillation for the production of potable water. The hybrid desalination system includes a recovery system, which may be a reverse osmosis system, a forward osmosis system, or a combination thereof, for at least partially desalinating a volume of saltwater and outputting a treated fluid. A boiler is in fluid communication with the recovery system for receiving the treated fluid and producing pure water by evaporative desalination. The boiler includes an internal heating coil for passing a heated working fluid therethrough. A collection tank is in communication with to the boiler for receiving the pure water. At least one solar parabolic trough is in fluid communication with the internal heating coil of the boiler for heating the heated working fluid.

Abstract: The cross-layer time synchronization method is a cross-layer synchronization approach that utilizes a timing recovery module at a physical layer (PHY), derives the information about the clock frequency offset from the timestamp-embedded message, and exploits it for synchronization at the higher layers. This approach either results in minimizing the cost of synchronization resulting in energy efficiency or improving the accuracy of the clock parameters' estimates by exploiting the PHY information. Some applications of this cross-layer technique include, but are not limited to, energy efficient wireless networks, cooperative networks or distributed MIMO networks.

Abstract: The flexible dust shield (10) is a dust cover for repelling dust particles from a photovoltaic solar collector panel, the exposed glass surfaces of a high-rise building façade or the like by action of an electric field. The dust shield (10) includes a pattern of electrodes (12) made from a conductive ink, such as silver ink or carbon ink, which is printed on a flexible substrate (14) made from a thermoplastic film. A cover sheet (16) of thermoplastic film is laminated to the substrate (14) over the pattern of electrodes (12). The electrodes (12) are adapted for attachment to a single phase or multi-phase alternating current signal, which generates an electric field for repelling dust particles.

Abstract: The optimized inequality join method is a method for joining relational tables on input inequality conditions. The optimized inequality join method is a relatively fast inequality join method using permutation arrays to store positional information for sorted attributed values. Additionally, space efficient bit arrays are used to enable optimization, such as Bloom filter indices, thus providing faster computation of the join results. The method may be used, for example, for joining various inequalities associated with a variety of measured environmental conditions for raising an alarm when certain conditions are met.

Abstract: A control system includes first and second hardware components and a server which is remote from the hardware components. The server is a server in the cloud which is connected via the Internet to the hardware components. A control module is implemented as a service running on the server and the control module is operable to communicate with the hardware components to control at least one of the hardware components.

Abstract: The hybrid partial power processing system includes differential power processing converters DPPs having low power ratings, which are used to exchange differential power between two adjacent PV modules, or between PV modules and a line capacitor (Clin) connected in series within the same string. The exchange of differential power by DPPs is needed to track the maximum power point of each PV module in the string. The DC power optimizing converter (DC-PO) is a DC/DC power converter used to feed current (power) from a PV module to Clin. The DC-PO is driven to track the maximum power point (MPP) of one PV module, and the MPP of each one of the remaining PV modules in the string is tracked by a DPP.

Abstract: A method and system for creating a depth signature from plural images for providing watermark information related to the images. The method comprises analyzing a pair of images, each image containing a plurality of elements, identifying a first element in one of the pair of images, identifying plural elements in the other of the pair of images. The method further comprises measuring a disparity parameter between the first element and a set of the plural elements, matching the first element from the set of plural elements, the matched second element having the smallest measured disparity parameter, and computing a signature based at least in part on the measured disparity between the first and second elements.

Abstract: The flow battery utilizing caustic waste includes at least one battery cell (100), which is formed from an ion-exchange membrane (106) disposed between porous anode and cathode electrode layers (108, 104). A cathode bipolar plate (102) is positioned adjacent the porous cathode electrode layer (104) and, similarly, an anode bipolar plate (110) is positioned adjacent the porous anode electrode layer (108). The anode bipolar plate (110) is adapted for receiving spent caustic waste and transporting the spent caustic waste to the anode electrode layer (108), and the cathode bipolar plate (102) is adapted for receiving an oxidant and transporting the oxidant to the porous cathode electrode layer (104) for generation of electricity while converting the spent caustic waste (303) into fresh caustic (306).

Abstract: The antimicrobial agent includes at least one two-dimensional metal carbide layer. The two-dimensional metal carbide has the formula Tin+1CnTx, where T represents a terminal functional group and x represents the number of terminal functional groups. The two-dimensional metal carbide is preferably Ti3C2Tx. The terminating group may be oxygen, hydroxide (OH), fluorine or combinations thereof. The antimicrobial agent may be used as a two-dimensional metal carbide antimicrobial membrane (10) or filter for removal of harmful bacteria, such as E. coli and B. subtilis. A stack of two-dimensional metal carbide layers (14) may be supported on a polymer filter substrate (12), such as a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) supporting substrate.

Abstract: The method for dynamic video magnification magnifies small motions occurring simultaneously within large motions. The method involves selecting a region of interest from a video for magnification. The region of interest is warped to obtain a stabilized sequence of frames that discounts large motions. Each frame of the stabilized sequence is decomposed to a foreground layer, a background layer, and an alpha matte layer, and each of the foreground and alpha matte layers is magnified. Then a magnified sequence is generated from the magnified layers using matte inversion. Any image holes in the magnified sequence are filled in using texture synthesis. Finally, the magnified sequence is de-warped to the original space-time coordinates.

Abstract: The method of forecasting for solar-based power systems (10) recognizes that no single solar irradiance forecasting model provides the best forecasting prediction for every current weather trend at every time of the year. Instead, the method trains a classifier to select the best solar irradiance forecasting model for prevailing conditions through a machine learning approach. The resulting solar irradiance forecast predictions are then used to allocate the solar-based power systems (10) resources and modify demand when necessary in order to maintain a substantially constant voltage supply in the system (10).