Abstract: A portable, self-contained, electronic radioscopic imaging system uses a pulsed X-ray source, a remote X-ray sensor, and a self-contained, display and controller unit to produce, store, and/or display digital radioscopic images of an object under investigation. The pulsed X-ray source transmits a burst of narrow pulses of X-rays at the object being investigated at a low repetition rate. The X-ray sensor utilizes an X-ray scintillating screen in combination with either an integrating CCD camera, or an active matrix of thin film transistors and sample-and-hold photodiodes, to produce an integrated signal representative of the accumulated number of flashes of radiation that are sensed in a given pixel area of the scintillating screen. The self-contained display and controller unit utilizes digital signal processing within an enhanced portable computer, including a flat solid state display panel and associated drive circuitry, in order to display the full dynamic range and resolution of the sensor.

Abstract: An integrated system and method for removing excess nutrients from water, for removing the nutrients from the removal site, for enhancing soil, and for producing pulp and paper products includes bioremediating water to be treated with cultured algae or another suitable plant matter in an attached periphyton bed, harvesting the algae/plant matter to produce a wet algal biomass, and mixing the wet biomass with a shredded fibrous material to produce a pulp. The pulp can be molded into a biodegradable package that can be utilized as a delivery vehicle to a site having nutrient-enrichable soil, where the package can be used as a soil amendment after being used as a delivery vehicle. The pulp can also be made into a paper product that is biodegradable and has the characteristic of enhancing soil quality.

Abstract: The invention provides apparatuses for a radial constrained lens in a steerable directional antenna system. The radial constrained lens includes a feed array that excites a continuous radiating aperture through a section of radial waveguide. Feed elements of the feed array are coupled to a feed network that processes a signal for each of the active feed elements. A feed array may include a plurality of feed probes or a plurality of waveguide sections. A sector, which includes a contiguous subset of feed elements, may be configured by a switching arrangement either in a transmit mode or a receive mode. The radial constrained lens may be commutated about a full 360 degree aperture view. Also, a plurality of radial constrained lens may be vertically stacked so that a scanned beam may be adjusted both in an azimuth and elevation directions.

Abstract: Pulsed detonation engines (PDEs) are adapted for use in reaction control systems (RCS), such as thrusters for orbital correction and control (e.g., for earth-orbiting satellites), divert thrust generation and control for space-based interceptor devices, and for missile trajectory correction and motion control. According to one aspect of the invention, PDEs are adapted for motion control of so-called “kill vehicles,” which are small devices, typically launched from satellites, for strategic missile defense.

Abstract: A broad spectrum neutron detector has a thermal neutron sensitive scintillator film interleaved with a hydrogenous thermalizing media. The neutron detector has negligible sensitivity to gamma rays and produces a strong and unambiguous signal for virtually all neutrons that interact with the hydrogenous volume. The interleaving of the layers of thermal neutron sensitive phosphors helps ensure that all parts of the thermalizing volume are highly sensitive.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and method for harvesting ambient electromagnetic energy, and more particularly, to the integration of antennas and electronics for harvesting ubiquitous radio frequency (RF) energy, transforming such electromagnetic energy into electrical power, and storing such power for usage with a wide range of electrical/electronic circuits and modules.

Abstract: An integrated system and method for removing excess nutrients from water, for removing the nutrients from the removal site, for enhancing soil, and for producing pulp and paper products includes bioremediating water to be treated with cultured algae or another suitable plant matter in an attached periphyton bed, harvesting the algae/plant matter to produce a wet algal biomass, and mixing the wet biomass with a shredded fibrous material to produce a pulp. The pulp can be molded into a biodegradable package that can be utilized as a delivery vehicle to a site having nutrient-enrichable soil, where the package can be used as a soil amendment after being used as a delivery vehicle. The pulp can also be made into a paper product that is biodegradable and has the characteristic of enhancing soil quality.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods and apparatus for interconnecting disparate communications systems. A call request that originates from a communications network is directed to a network interface. The network interface consequently redirects the call request to a communications entity, such as a radio or a cellular radio system that serves the user associated with the call request. The network interface may support address translation functionality for identifying the communications entity, control conversion functionality for generating control and signaling with the communications entity, transmission content conversion functionality for converting the transmission content during the call, and security functionality for encrypting and decrypting the transmission content.

Abstract: Transmission and reflection type holograms may be formed utilizing a novel polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) material and its unique switching characteristics to form optical elements. Applications for these switchable holograms include communications switches and switchable transmission, and reflection red, green, and blue lenses. The PDLC material offers all of the features of holographic photopolymers with the added advantage that the hologram can be switched on and off with the application of an electric field. The material is a mixture of a polymerizable monomer and liquid crystal, along with other ingredients, including a photoinitiator dye. Upon irradiation, the liquid crystal separates as a distinct phase of nanometer-size droplets aligned in periodic channels forming the hologram. The material is called a holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC).

Abstract: Transmission and reflection type holograms may be formed utilizing a novel polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) material and its unique switching characteristics to form optical elements. Applications for these switchable holograms include communications switches and switchable transmission, and reflection red, green, and blue lenses. The PDLC material offers all of the features of holographic photopolymers with the added advantage that the hologram can be switched on and off with the application of an electric field. The material is a mixture of a polymerizable monomer and liquid crystal, along with other ingredients, including a photoinitiator dye. Upon irradiation, the liquid crystal separates as a distinct phase of nanometer-size droplets aligned in periodic channels forming the hologram. The material is called a holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC).

Abstract: Described herein is an implementation of the IRAMS processing based upon a multi-delay-resolution framework applied to SAR image data measured at different aspect angles. The power of this new embodiment of IRAMS is that it produces a good separation of immediate response scatterer and delayed response scatterer data for the case of anisotropic scattering events, i.e., those in which the scattering intensity depends upon the aspect angle. Two sources of delayed response scattering include multiple reflection scattering events and delayed responses arising from the physical material composition of the scatterer. That is, this multi-delay-resolution IRAMS processing separates immediate response and delayed response scattering for cases in which there exist delayed response scattering data in the original SAR image data at some aspect angles, but the intensity of these delayed response scattering data is weak or non-existent at different aspect angles.

Abstract: Digital pixel data is obtained from radiographic imaging of one or more objects, and corresponds to an imaged area containing a feature to be measured. A data profile for a region around the measured feature is created from the digital pixel data. A reference profile is then created from the data profile. The reference profile represents an expected data profile for a reference condition of the objects, and accounts for the point spread function of the imager. The difference between the data profile and the reference profile is calculated. Based on that difference, the degree by which the actual condition of the objects varies from the reference condition is determined. The calculated difference can be compared to a lookup table mapping previously calculated differences to degrees of variation from the reference condition. The calculated difference can also be used as an input to an experimentally derived formula.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for searching a document database such as the Internet and ranking the results obtained from such a search. The invention also relates to ranking of a set of numerical data according to a set of user specified preferences, including target range, fuzziness and bias. A fuzzy score is calculated for each database record satisfying a query and the results ranked according to fuzzy score. The fuzzy score is calculated using a Lorentzian fuzzy score formula.

Abstract: Transmission and reflection type holograms may be formed utilizing a novel polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) material and its unique switching characteristics to form optical elements. Applications for these switchable holograms include communications switches and switchable transmission, and reflection red, green, and blue lenses. The PDLC material of the present invention offers all of the features of holographic photopolymers with the added advantage that the hologram can be switched on and off with the application of an electric field. The material is a mixture of a polymerizable monomer and liquid crystal, along with other ingredients, including a photoinitiator dye. Upon irradiation, the liquid crystal separates as a distinct phase of nanometer-size droplets aligned in periodic channels forming the hologram. The material is called a holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC).

Abstract: A circuit for guiding electromagnetic waves includes a substrate for supporting components of the circuit. The circuit includes a control device which includes a first conductive element on the substrate for connection to a first component of the circuit and a second conductive element on the substrate for connection to a second component. The control device is made up of a variable impedance switching material on the substrate which exhibits a bi-stable phase behavior. The compound has a variable impedance between a first impedance state value and a second impedance state value which can be varied by application of energy thereto to thereby affect the amplitude or phase delay of electromagnetic waves through the circuit.

Abstract: An incoming laser beam is relayed to a steering mirror and a phase correction device. The beam is relayed from the phase correction device to a focal plane array and to a wavefront sensor (WFS). Low order steering mirror tilt corrections can be based on data from the focal plane array. The WFS outputs data on multiple channels to a field programmable gate array (FPGA), with each of the WFS channels corresponding to a subaperture of the beam wavefront. The FPGA calculates phase corrections for each of the subapertures and forwards those corrections to the phase correction device. The FPGA also calculates tilts for the steering mirror based on the WFS output data, which tilts can be used instead of tilts based on focal plane array data. The phase corrections may be based on modulo 2? phase error calculations and/or modal phase error calculations.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods and apparatus for interconnecting disparate communications systems. A call request that originates from a communications network is directed to a network interface. The network interface consequently redirects the call request to a communications entity, such as a radio or a cellular radio system that serves the user associated with the call request. The network interface may support address translation functionality for identifying the communications entity, control conversion functionality for generating control and signaling with the communications entity, transmission content conversion functionality for converting the transmission content during the call, and security functionality for encrypting and decrypting the transmission content.

Abstract: A broad spectrum neutron detector has a thermal neutron sensitive scintillator film interleaved with a hydrogenous thermalizing media. The neutron detector has negligible sensitivity to gamma rays and produces a strong and unambiguous signal for virtually all neutrons that interact with the hydrogenous volume. The interleaving of the layers of thermal neutron sensitive phosphors helps ensure that all parts of the thermalizing volume are highly sensitive.

Abstract: A chaotic communication system employs transmitting and receiving chaotic oscillating circuits. One improvement to first-generation systems is the ability to modulate a nonreactive element in the transmitting circuit, thus increasing modulation bandwidth. Other features include insertion of a gain control amplifier in a chaotic receiver; signal filtering in chaotic transmitters and receivers; use of chaotic modulation techniques for cellular telephony applications; dual-transmitter and receiver systems; a dual receiver synchronization detector; interfaces to communication systems; analog chaotic signal modulation; use of multiple chaotic transmitters and receivers; digital algorithm improvement using a cube-law nonlinear component; a Gb-only receiver; a Gb-only transmitter; and positive slope transmitter and receiver systems.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods and apparatus for interconnecting disparate communications systems. A call request that originates from a communications network is directed to a network interface. The network interface consequently redirects the call request to a communications entity, such as a radio or a cellular radio system that serves the user associated with the call request. The network interface may support address translation functionality for identifying the communications entity, control conversion functionality for generating control and signaling with the communications entity, transmission content conversion functionality for converting the transmission content during the call, and security functionality for encrypting and decrypting the transmission content.