Abstract: A method of synthesizing a mixed-halide perovskite is disclosed herein. The method includes the steps of mixing a first single-halide perovskite and a second single-halide perovskite to form a solid phase mixture and heating the solid phase mixture at a temperature below a first decomposition temperature of the first single-halide perovskite and below a second decomposition temperature of the second single-halide perovskite for a time sufficient to form the mixed-halide perovskite. During the mixing, the first and second single-halide perovskite are both in the solid phase. A mixed-halide perovskite made according to the method is also disclosed herein. The mixed-halide perovskite is free of amorphous and/or semicrystalline phases. The mixed-halide perovskite can be utilized in a photovoltaic cell in a solar panel.

Abstract: System and method for using a network with base stations to optimally or near-optimally schedule radio resources among the users are disclosed. In certain embodiments the system and method are designed to operate in real-time (such as but not limited to 100 ?s) to schedule radio resources in a 5G NR network by solving for an optimal or near-optimal solution to scheduling problem by decomposing it into a number of small and independent sub-problems, selecting a subset of sub-problems and fitting them into a number of parallel processing cores from one or multiple many-core computing devices, and solving for an optimal or near-optimal solution through parallel processing within approximately 100 ?s. In other embodiments, the sub-problems are constructed to have a similar mathematical structure. In yet other embodiments, the sub-problems are constructed to each be solved within approximately 10 s of ?s.

Abstract: An air sampling system is configured to detect an air quality metric for a plurality of regions. The sampling system comprises an air sample unit and an air sensor in fluid communication with a sensor supply line and configured to measure the air quality metric. A controller is configured to control the air sample unit to selectively direct a selected sample of a plurality of air samples to the sensor supply line. The controller is further configured to control the air sample unit to direct the remaining air samples to a sample purge line bypassing the sensor supply line. The controller is further configured to change the selected sample over time among the plurality of air samples such that the air quality metric is identified for the plurality of regions.

Abstract: A bistable cholesteric liquid crystal switchable window has two stable states in the absence of an applied voltage. A first stable state is a planar state which is transparent or reflective for visible light. A second stable state is a focal conic state which is opaque for visible light. The window can be switched from the first stable state to the second stable state via a first voltage pulse and from the second stable state to the first stable state via a second voltage pulse. The first voltage pulse and the second voltage pulse may have the same frequency.

Abstract: Provided herein are methods of estimating subject-specific parameters of growth dynamics of a cancer tumor in a subject having cancer. The methods can be used to personalize treatment protocols for a subject, stage the given disease in the subject, measure response to therapy, phenotype for patient selection to participate in drug trials, measure stability of an anatomical structure, or predict rate of change of the given disease. Also provided are methods of predicting growth dynamics of a cancer tumor, and computer systems and computer-implemented methods for estimating subject-specific parameters of growth dynamics of a cancer tumor in a subject having cancer.

Abstract: Effective feature set-based high impedance fault (HIF) detection is provided. Systems, methods and devices described herein present a systematic design of power feature extraction for HIF detection and classification. For example, power features associated with HIF events are extracted according to when a fault happens, how long it lasts, and the magnitude of the fault. Complementary power expert information is also integrated into feature pools. In another aspect, a ranking procedure is deployed in a feature pool for balancing information gain and complexity in order to avoid over-fitting of features. In aspects described herein, a logic-based HIF detector implements HIF feature extraction. To determine when an HIF occurs, the HIF detector calculates different quantities, such as active power and reactive power, based on a voltage and current time series, and uses the derivative of these quantities to tell when there is a potential change due to HIF.

Abstract: Hydroponics systems and apparatus for operation in zero-gravity and low-gravity environments are disclosed herein. An apparatus can include an elongated main body having an inlet end, an outlet end, and a channel disposed between the inlet end and the outlet end. The channel can include a first portion, and a second portion. The first portion can include surfaces that are inwardly tapered in a direction from the second portion to the first portion. The second portion can include at least one opening such that a portion of a plant can extend through the at least one opening. Fluid can flow through the channel.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for context-aware synthesis for video frame interpolation are provided. Bidirectional flow may be used in combination with flexible frame synthesis neural network to handle occlusions and the like, and to accommodate inaccuracies in motion estimation. Contextual information may be used to enable frame synthesis neural network to perform informative interpolation. Optical flow may be used to provide initialization for interpolation. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Abstract: A soft-switching, high-performance single-phase alternating current (AC)-direct current (DC) converter is provided. The AC-DC converter described herein provides a new circuit topology for single-stage, single-phase or multi-phase AC-DC power conversion with power factor correction (PFC) and galvanic isolation using a high-frequency isolation transformer. The AC-DC converter improves power conversion efficiency and power density—two of the most important metrics for a power converter. It achieves soft switching for high frequency switches in the circuit, leading to higher efficiency and lower electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Abstract: Certain disclosed embodiments concern an organic solution suitable for forming metal oxide films, particularly thins films, comprising a metal salt selected from a Sn salt, an Sb salt, a dopant, and combinations thereof. The salt often is a halide salt, such as SnCl2 or SbCl3. Certain disclosed compositions are preferably formed using substantially pure reagents and may include a dopant, such as a fluoride dopant. Described solutions may be used to form thin films, such as a thin film comprising SnO2, Sb:SnO2, F:SnO2, or (Sb,F):SnO2. Such thin films may have any desired thickness, such as a thickness of from 200 or 700 nm, and are extremely smooth, such as having an RMS surface roughness >3 nm, such as 3 nm to 10 nm, with certain embodiments having an RMS surface roughness <2 nm or <1 nm. Devices can be assembled comprising the thin films on a suitable substrate.

Abstract: Aqueous solutions of halogenides (oxyhalides) of zirconium and hafnium (M) with values of ?=X/M near one, for X=Cl, Br and I form amorphous solids or glasses, designated as M,X, in contrast to important crystalline oxyhalide end members with ?=2 (designated as MOX). The present disclosure describes methods for producing amorphous thin films comprising halogenides upon evaporation, and provides some measured physical properties, with attention to compositions for ?<2. The value of a below which only glasses are formed is about one for oxychlorides and oxybromides of both Zr and Hf. The chemical formulas for all the halogenide thin films prepared as noted above can be written as a function of the single parameter ?, according to M(OH)4-?X?.(4?-1)H2O. This is valid for e.g., crystalline zirconium oxychloride octahydrate, and for the glassy solids found for ?<2 and down to the onset of hydrolysis, ??0.5.

Abstract: Provided is a field shaping multi-well detector and method of fabrication thereof. The detector is configured by depositing a pixel electrode on a substrate, depositing a first dielectric layer, depositing a first conductive grid electrode layer on the first dielectric layer, depositing a second dielectric layer on the first conductive grid electrode layer, depositing a second conductive grid electrode layer on the second dielectric layer, depositing a third dielectric layer on the second conductive grid electrode layer, depositing an etch mask on the third dielectric layer. Two pillars are formed by etching the third dielectric layer, the second conductive grid electrode layer, the second dielectric layer, the first conductive grid electrode layer, and the first dielectric layer. A well between the two pillars is formed by etching to the pixel electrode, without etching the pixel electrode, and the well is filled with a-Se.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present application are directed toward a focusing Schlieren technique that is capable of adding color-coded directional information to the visualization of density gradients. Other advantages of the technique can include that it does not require manual calibration, has a simple design and is sensitive enough to be used in compact experimental setups. Certain embodiments include the use of a color-coded source image that replaces the conventional source grid. The technique may benefit from a computer-controlled digital background, which is used for both illumination and display of color-coded source images.

Abstract: High-strength concrete-like FG blends and methods for producing them are described. The blend includes FG, hydraulic cement, additional alkali material, and pozzolanic material. The blend further includes an admixture used in the formulation of concrete. The blend further includes an aggregate. The aggregate is a coarse aggregate or a fine aggregate.

Abstract: Compositions and methods for genetically modifying at least one nucleic acid sequence of interest in a polyploid organism.

Abstract: The invention provides methods for detecting specific nucleic acids using a LAMP reaction and providing a digital readout of the results. One method teaches separating target specificity from indicator detection in a two-stage MTA. During the first stage amplicons incorporating both target sequence and an indicator sequence are synthesized. During the second stage of the reaction, the indicator sequence is targeted and amplified to produce visual results that may be digitalized. Another method teaches a competitive MTA, in which a reference sequence is used to compete against target sequence during amplification producing threshold responses, thus enabling digital readout. Using either method, quantitation is achieved without the need for continuous monitoring of the reaction and the end-point readout is amenable to visual inspection. Methods of the invention are especially useful in circumstances where there is lower or intermittent power supply.

Abstract: A novel LPWAN technology includes a ZCNET node that transmit signals that occupy a very small fraction of the signal space, resulting in very low collision probabilities. ZCNET supports parallel root channels within a single frequency channel by using Zadoff-Chu (ZC) root sequences. The root channels do not severely interfere with each other, because the interference power is spread evenly over the entire signal space. ZCNET has its node randomly choose the transmission channel and range, while still achieving high packet receiving ratios such as 0.9 or above, because the load in each root channel is small.

Abstract: A resonator is provided having a waveguide with a first boundary, a second boundary parallel to the first boundary, a first end, a second end, and a waveguide cavity at least partly between the first boundary and the second boundary. A first grating, having a period of distance a, is at the first boundary of the waveguide, and a second grating, having a period of distance a, is at the second boundary of the waveguide. The first and second boundaries are separated by a constant distance d. The first boundary may have a periodic profile aligned with a periodic profile of the second boundary. The periodic profile of the first boundary and the second boundary may be a sinusoidal profile, a square profile, or profile of another shape. The resonator may be suitable for use in a distributed feedback laser.

Abstract: The general problem of pattern change discovery between high-dimensional data sets is addressed by considering the notion of the principal angles between the subspaces is introduced to measure the subspace difference between two high-dimensional data sets. Current methods either mainly focus on magnitude change detection of low-dimensional data sets or are under supervised frameworks. Principal angles bear a property to isolate subspace change from the magnitude change. To address the challenge of directly computing the principal angles, matrix factorization is used to serve as a statistical framework and develop the principle of the dominant subspace mapping to transfer the principal angle based detection to a matrix factorization problem. Matrix factorization can be naturally embedded into the likelihood ratio test based on the linear models. The method may be unsupervised and addresses the statistical significance of the pattern changes between high-dimensional data sets.