Abstract: The present disclosure provides an energy conversion system and method for generating electricity directly from heat by phase transformation of ferroelectric materials without any external power sources. The energy conversion system includes an electric circuit comprising a phase-changing capacitor and a charge reservoir. The phase-changing capacitor has a dielectric layer comprising a phase-transforming ferroelectric material. When the phase-changing capacitor is initialized and subjected to thermal cycles through a transformation temperature of the phase-transforming ferroelectric material, the polarization of the dielectric layer undergoes an abrupt change between a ferroelectric phase and a paraelectric phase such that a current flow between the phase-changing capacitor and the charge reservoir via a load thereby converting heat into electrical energy. The present energy conversion method does not require any external bias fields during the energy conversion.

Abstract: Fluorescent compounds that have aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics. The compounds can be utilized as lipid droplet (LD)-specific bio-probes in cell imaging, with high photostability and brightness. For example, the compounds can be used for specific two-photon LDs staining in live cells and deep-tissues at ultralow concentrations. The compounds exhibit a large Stokes shift (>110 nm), high solid fluorescence quantum yields (up to 0.30), a good two-photon absorption cross-section (45-100 GM at 860 nm), high biocompatibility, and good photostability.

Abstract: Provided herein is a sequentially processed fabrication method involving donor-acceptor conjugated polymers with temperature dependent aggregation (TDA) useful for the preparation of organic semiconductors with improved properties.

Abstract: A composite material of Angstrom-scale nanowire arrays in zeolite and its fabrication methods are provided. The zeolite can be prepared by a hydrothermal method and the Angstrom-scale nanowire arrays can be prepared by using zeolite as a template. The zeolite can have porous structures with an average pore size of 0.74 nm and the plurality of nanowires can have an average diameter smaller than 1 nm and can be dispersed on internal or external surfaces of the porous structures. The Angstrom-scale nanowire arrays can be made of aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), zinc (Zn), or carbon (C). A composite material of the Angstrom-scale aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), or zinc (Zn) nanowire arrays in zeolite can exhibit characteristics of one-dimensional (1D) superconductor.

Abstract: In one example, a processing system of a mobile computing device including at least one processor may capture visual information of a first location, transmit a recognition request to a first server, the recognition request comprising the visual information, obtain a first recognition result from the first server comprising first annotation content associated with a first item in the visual information of the first location, the first recognition result further comprising visual information of the first item, present at least a portion of first annotation content via the mobile computing device, store the first annotation content and the visual information of the first item in a local cache, detect a first additional mobile computing device via a non-cellular wireless communication modality, and share the first annotation content and the visual information of the first item with the first additional mobile computing device via the non-cellular wireless communication modality.

Abstract: A Pd—Ru alloy catalyst for hydrogen production and its preparation methods are provided. The catalyst can include a plurality of particles comprising an alloy of at least palladium (Pd) and ruthenium (Ru). Moreover, the catalyst can further include a support material such as carbon support having external or internal surfaces on which the plurality of particles is dispersed. The alloy catalyst can have a molar ratio of Pd:Ru in a range of about 0.5:1 to about 9:1. For hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the Pd—Ru alloy catalyst exhibits increased catalytic activities comparing to some well-known catalysts.

Abstract: A compound comprises a donor and an acceptor, wherein at least one donor (“D”) and at least one acceptor (“A”) may be arranged in an order of D-A; D-A-D; A-D-A; D-D-A-D-D; A-A-D-A-A; D-A-D-A-D; and A-D-A-D-A. The compound may be selected from the group consisting of: MTPE-TP, MTPE-TT, TPE-TPA-TT, PTZ-BT-TPA, NPB-TQ, TPE-TQ-A, MTPE-BTSe, DCDPP-2TPA, DCDPP-2TPA4M, DCDP-2TPA, DCDP-2TPA4M, TTS, ROpen-DTE-TPECM, and RClosed-DTE-TPECM. The compound may be used as a probe and may be functionalized with special targeted groups to image biological species. As non-limiting examples, the compound may be used in cellular cytoplasms or tissue imaging, blood vessel imaging, in vivo fluorescence imaging, brain vascular imaging, sentinel lymph node mapping, and tumor imaging, and the compound may be used as a photoacoustic agent.

Abstract: Techniques for fingertip design are disclosed that leverage how most grasp contacts can share a few classes of local geometries. In order to maximize the contact areas for achieving more robust grasps, contact primitives, which represent a set of contacts of similar local geometries, are identified. A uniform cost algorithm, which can be formulated as a decision making process in a tree structure, can be utilized to cluster a set of example grasp contacts into a finite set of one or more contact primitives. Fingertips can be designed by optimization to match the local geometry of each contact primitive, and then fingertips can be 3D printed using soft materials to compensate for optimization residuals. For novel objects, an approach to generate grasp contacts that match the fingertip geometries while together forming stable grasps can be utilized.

Abstract: An eyedrop composition, and methods of making and using the same, may include one or more hydrogel forming polymer having an intrinsic viscosity [?] of at least 3 dL/g in the composition, wherein a concentration CT of such hydrogel forming polymer in the composition is at most about 5 mg/mL.

Abstract: A leakage location in a viscoelastic pipe is estimated by generating a transient wave at a downstream node of the pipe. Liquid pressures at plural locations along the pipe are measured. Measured signals are transformed to frequency response functions (FRFs). The FRF from a sensor closest to the upstream node is used to estimate a FRF of transient discharge at the upstream node. A frequency-dependent wave speed of the transient wave is computed according to geometrical dimensions and viscoelastic coefficients of the pipe via the generalized Kelvin-Voigt model. FRFs of liquid pressures at the locations under a hypothetical no-leakage condition are computed according to the FRF of transient discharge and the frequency-dependent wave speed. By using the matched-field processing (MFP) method, which maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio in detection, the leakage location is estimated from the FRFs of liquid pressures.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for detecting the mechanical response of a mechanical component by an organic mechanoresponsive fluorescent material, comprising the following steps of: selecting an organic mechanoresponsive fluorescent material; preparing an organic mechanoresponsive fluorescent material solution; forming a film on a metal surface; calibrating fluorescence intensity and obtaining the fluorescence intensity and distribution in a crack tip area; observing the fluorescence signal generated at cracks to monitor the occurrence of fatigue cracks, and predict a propagation pathway of fatigue cracks by using the fluorescence intensity distribution in the crack tip area.

Abstract: Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a device in which a processing system receives from a multimedia content server a plurality of content streams; each of the content streams includes a portion of an original content stream. The processing system transcodes the plurality of content streams based on a viewport prediction to produce a plurality of viewport streams; the viewport prediction is based at least in part on a visibility map associated with a viewer of the content. The processing system delivers each of the viewport streams to a client device associated with the viewer; each of the viewport streams is buffered at the client device in a separate buffer. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: Field-effect transistors (FETs) are described that comprise a semiconducting gate (SG) layer, referred to herein as SG-FETs. In one or more embodiments, the FETs can include a channel layer and a SG layer capacitively coupled to the channel layer. The SG layer has an embedded voltage-clamping function that provides internal gate over voltage protection without an additional protection circuit. The embedded voltage-clamping function is based on the SG layer having a maximum effective gate voltage that is clamped to the depletion threshold of the SG layer.

Abstract: Small molecule compounds having aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics. The compounds include organic, aromatic salts having anion-?+ interactions. In some embodiments, the anion-?+ interactions can include heavy-atom-anion-?+ interactions. The heavy atom anions can include bromine or iodide, for example. The compounds can be water-soluble. The compounds can be useful as probes for bioimaging, as room temperature luminogens for electroluminescent devices, and white organic light-emitting applications.

Abstract: The present subject matter relates to a fluorescent compound having aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics. The compound can be a rod-like chiral luminogen bearing a chiral moiety at one end and long aliphatic chains at an opposing end. The compound emits circularly polarized light or luminescence (CPL) in the aggregate state. For example, the compound does not exhibit a chiroptical signal when dispersed in solution, but demonstrates tunable CPL signals in the aggregate state.

Abstract: Constructing and/or recovering paths of mobile devices is enabled. For instance, a method comprises: receiving, by wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) sensors, respective probes from mobile devices, grouping probes having a same media access control (MAC) address into segments, identifying fingerprints of information elements the mobile devices, grouping segments according to an identified fingerprint, determining an increment of a sequence number corresponding to consecutive segments of a segment group, determining a time gap between the sequence number corresponding to a first probe and an incremented sequence number corresponding to a second probe having a timestamp that is later in time than the first probe, and comparing a growth rate of the sequence number corresponding to the consecutive segments to determine a forward segment of the consecutive segments, resulting in a constructed path of the mobile devices, and storing the constructed path in a database.

Abstract: The present application provides a Capillary number-based method of isolating circulating rare cells from a blood sample from a subject using filtration parameters determined based on the measurement of hemorheological parameters of the sample. The present application also provides a method for determining filtration parameters in a microfluidic elasto-filtration process for isolating circulating rare cells from a blood sample from a subject. The present application further provides a device for isolating circulating rare cells from a blood sample from a subject and a non-transitory computer storage medium for performing methods described in the present application.

Abstract: Provided is an integrated circuit structure and a method for manufacturing the same. The integrated circuit structure comprises a substrate; a plurality of interconnecting structures on the substrate, each of the interconnecting structures comprises side surfaces and a top surface, the side surfaces directly define air gaps therebetween isolating the interconnecting structures from each other; and a planar protective layer on top of the plurality of interconnecting structures covering all of the air gaps. The protective layer comprises a sheltering film and a supporting film.

Abstract: Methods, systems and storage medium for separating a target signal from noise are disclosed. A method comprises providing a plurality of input signals, each of the plurality of input signals comprising the target signal; synchronizing the plurality of input signals; and separating the plurality of synchronized input signals into the target signal and the noise.

Abstract: A method for fabricating quantum rods includes: preparing a Cd-precursor; preparing a S-precursor and CdSe seeds; preparing a Zn-precursor; mixing the S-precursor and the CdSe seeds with the Cd-precursor in a reaction mixture; adding the Zn-precursor to the reaction mixture; stopping the reaction; and performing a purification process to obtain the quantum rods.