Abstract: A method and apparatus for forming vascular-like channels involves liquid-in-liquid 3D printing utilizing two polymer solutions used as a printing ink and a matrix. Anionic polyacrylamide (APAM) is one of the polymer solutions and acts as the matrix material. Chitosan is the other polymer solution and acts as the printing ink. The chitosan printing ink is extruded through a print nozzle of a 3D printer onto the APAM matrix which covers the bottom of a petri dish while the nozzle is moved in a desired pattern for the channels. The chitosan and APAM polymer complexes self-assemble on the ink-matrix interface, locking chitosan polymers inside the matrix before they can spread and causing the formation of soft elastic membranous walls. The chitosan ink and APAM matrix can be removed after the polymer complex self-assembly. The printed chamber with membranous walls allows for liquid infusion to work as fluidic channels.

Abstract: A droplet gripper for a polarizable droplet including a top plate formed of magnetically responsive material and movable in a defined sequence in response to a regionalized electromagnetic field. The gripper further has electret sheets downwardly depending from the top plate. The electret sheets are separated from each other and are chargeable to the same polarities so as to capture the droplet between them due to electret-induced polarization on droplet (EPD). The gripper may be included in a Multiphysics droplet robotic system for automatically manipulating and moving a liquid droplet. The system includes a programmable control matrix that generates a movable regionalized electromagnetic field through coils so as to engage the magnetic material on the top plate and move the EPD gripper and a captured polarizable drop in the defined sequence along a specific path as well as to achieve other microfluidic operations according to a control matrix program.

Abstract: Disclosed is a transparent electrode made of a polymer matrix having semi-embedded therein a sintered silver nanowire composite comprising silver nanowires and metal oxide nanoparticles.

Abstract: A method for preparing three-dimensional perovskite nanopixels of a digital display is provided. The method includes steps of preparing precursor ink by mixing methylammonium halide and lead halide and adding them into another mixture, adding the precursor ink into a nanopipette, placing the nanopipette with the precursor ink above a silicon substrate and apart from the silicon substrate by a certain distance, configuring the nanopipette to come into contact with the Si substrate such that a portion of the precursor ink having an interface surface of a shape of a meniscus is formed between the nanopipette and the silicon substrate, performing rapid evaporation of the portion of the precursor ink to facilitate crystallization of perovskite, moving the nanopipette upwardly at a constant speed such that the crystallization of perovskite proceeds upwardly, and terminating the crystallization of perovskite to generate a freestanding nanopixel for emitting light.

Abstract: This invention discloses a pneumatic and cable-driven hybrid artificial muscle, comprising pneumatic actuator, pneumatic pressure regulating assembly, and cable drive assembly. The pneumatic pressure regulating assembly is connected to the pneumatic actuator to regulate air pressure in the pneumatic actuator for controlling the pneumatic actuator to extend or contract. The cable actuation assembly comprises a cable fixedly connected to the pneumatic actuator for controlling the pneumatic actuator to contract. In this invention, the artificial muscle employs a dual pneumatic and cable actuation mechanism. By leveraging the inherent stiffness of the pneumatic actuator, it can provide substantial actuation force for joint movement. Simultaneously, the cable actuation assembly can provide significant pulling force, effectively ensuring safety in human-machine interaction and offering sufficient bidirectional aiding force to individuals with disabilities who use the artificial muscle as an aiding actuation device.

Abstract: A method and system are provided for anomaly detection in energy systems. Non-contact sensing of an energy system based on electric and magnetic fields uses non-contact electric- and magnetic-field sensors to produce electric- and magnetic-field signals. The electric and magnetic field signals are filtered to remove noise. Features are extracted and normalized from the magnetic and electric field signals to characterize parameters of each signal. Density-based spatial clustering of extracted features is performed using a selected minimum number of points required to form a cluster and a parameter indicating the distance within which data are considered to fall within the cluster. An anomaly is determined from data point(s) that do not fall within the cluster formed by data points in normal operation. The density-based spatial clustering of extracted features may be performed using a Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Application with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm. Features may be extracted using Fourier analysis.

Abstract: A two-dimensional spectrum recording apparatus has a source of collimated laser light impinging on a sample on a plate. The light passing through the sample forms an object wave and the light not passing through the sample forming a reference wave, which interfere with each other to form a holographic image at the plate. A beam splitter receives the collimated laser light from the sample and forms separate first and second light beams. A linear polarizer receives the first beam and passes it to a polarization camera having a Full Stokes mask. The camera records the light that passes through the Stokes mask. A slit aperture receives the second beam and transforms it into a slit of light that is applied to a diffraction grating. A diode array receives the second beam from the diffraction grating and forms a light spectrum that is recorded.

Abstract: An interfacial plasmonic heating intensified IP reaction (IPH-IP) is used to fabricate highly permeable and selective polyamide RO membranes. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are introduced to the IP reaction interface to serve as nano-heat generators under light illumination. The coupling of generated nano-heat rapidly promotes the interfacial temperature, thereby boosting the formation of extensively “nano-foamed” polyamide with prominent nanovoids and high crosslinking degree. These features enable the resulting RO membrane to achieve a superior combination of water permeance (3.4 L m?2 h?1 bar?1) and NaCl rejection (99.7%). This outstanding separation performance further enables the membrane to efficiently remove a wide spectrum of toxic contaminants frequently found in different water sources, revealing huge potential for various water treatment applications.

Abstract: An electronic reader for electro-chemical transistors (OECT) includes a potential output control module that controls the Vd, Vs, and Vg for the OECT under test, a high accuracy current monitor module which contains a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) used to control the output voltage and convert the input channel current Ids into a voltage value. A microcontroller (MCU) that controls the working sequences of the TIA so as to realize the specific characterization mode and enable an adjustable output voltage range. The MCU further controls a programmable sampling rate of up to 200 k samples per second (SPS) with low noise by down-sampling the base rate, convolution processing it and interpolating it back to ah high frequency, but without the noise. The device is small enough to be worn by a user and its output is sent to a mobile device for reading.

Abstract: A system for suppressing radio frequency interference (RFI) or electromagnetic interference (EMI) in a radar or magnetic resonance imaging system that scans target(s) with energy and receives signals that reflect or echo from the target(s). The system involves obtaining RFI/EMI data in the absence of signals of interest in the scanning system using at least one primary antenna and a plurality of reference antennas. The reference antennas are designed and arranged to detect RFI/EMI signals but not signals of interest in the scanning system. Simultaneously a model, e.g. CNN, is trained with the RFI/EMI data to determine the non-linear signal mappings among primary and reference antennas. The trained model is applied to predict the RFI/EMI received by the primary antenna in the presence of signals of interest. Finally, the RFI/EMI signals received by the primary antenna are removed by subtracting out the predicted RFI/EMI.

Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to various phototriggered drug release and photoreactions, including reactions generally based on triplet-triplet energy transfer with light excitation at long wavelengths. One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for absorbing energy in a photosensitizer, transferring that energy by triplet-triplet energy transfer to cleave a cleavable or other active moiety causing the release of a releasable moiety. One aspect relates to a composition comprising a photosensitizer which is capable of singlet-to-triplet (S-T) activation at a near-infrared (NIR) wavelength, a cleavable moiety to accept triplet-triplet energy transfer from the photosensitizer in a higher energy state to cause cleavage of the cleavable moiety, and a releasable moiety releasable from the composition upon cleavage of the cleavable moiety. Such systems and methods may be used in various biological or physical applications.

Abstract: An ultrafast wide-field quantum sensing device using a neuromorphic event-based vision sensor includes a laser generating a laser beam; a dichroic mirror directing the laser beam onto a diamond sample and passing the laser beam reflected from the diamond, and an event camera receiving from the dichroic mirror the beam reflected from the diamond. A source of microwave energy applied to the diamond. A pulse generator synchronizes the microwave source and the event camera to create CW-ODMR measurements, wherein trigger pulses from the pulse generator are applied to the camera and microwave source. The optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) resonance frequency is determined based on the CW-ODMR measurements.

Abstract: A system and devices provide for accurate localization of orthopedic implants based on magnetic tracking approach (MTA) technology and without radiation. The system includes at least one magnetic beacon that is joined to an orthopedic screw/implant fixed to a patient's spine. A detector in the form of a magnetic sensor array detects the magnetic field from the beacon and produces an electrical signal in response thereto. A computer using a multi-objective magnetic location algorithm tracks the spatial position and movement of the beacon based on the electrical signal, and hence tracks the patient's spine.

Abstract: A germole-fused diarylethene-based compound is presented that includes a germanium-containing five-membered ring structure with an ethene bridge fused to photoactive bis-aryl rings. The germole-fused diarylethene-based compound isomerizes between a ring-open and a ring-closed form upon irradiation and to allow optical storage or photoswitching devices. A method to form the germole-fused diarylethene-based compound is through a rhodium catalyzed coupling between a 1-germyl-aryl-2-boronic ester, 1-germyl-heteroaryl-2-boronic ester, or 1-germyl-alkenyl-2-boronic ester with the 1,2-diarylethyne. The germole-fused diarylethene-based compounds display tunable photophysical properties of the photogenerated closed form, with excellent thermal irreversibility and a robust fatigue resistance.

Abstract: A metallic nanowire:conductive polymer composite is fabricated. A metallic nanowire layer is formed by a process that leaves an organic ligand residue on the metallic nanowire layer. A conductive polymer film is formed on a supporting substrate. The metallic nanowire layer is integrated with the conductive polymer film to form a metallic nanowire:conductive polymer composite. The metallic nanowire:conductive polymer composite is wet by a reaction solution including a source of metal ions, at least one acid, and a solvent for a period of time sufficient to remove the organic ligand residues from the metallic nanowire layer and sufficient to grow metal nanoparticles from the source of metal ions to create metal interconnections at junctions where the two or more nanowires in the metallic nanowire layer touch each other. Following growth of the nanoparticles, the nanowire:conductive polymer composite is removed from the reaction solution and dried.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for scalable fabrication of ultra-flat polycrystalline diamond membranes, the method comprising: (1) performing chemical vapor deposition on a growth substrate having diamond seeds thereon to grow a polycrystalline diamond membrane, wherein an exposed surface of the polycrystalline diamond membrane is a grown surface having a first roughness; and a surface bonded to the growth substrate is a buried surface; (2) bonding the grown surface to a transfer substrate using an adhesive; and (3) removing the growth substrate to expose the buried surface of the polycrystalline diamond membrane, wherein the buried surface has a second roughness after exposure, and the second roughness is less than the first roughness.

Abstract: An event-guided auto-exposure (EG-AE) device leverages the high dynamic range and low latency properties of a dynamic vision sensor to guide the exposure setting of an active pixel sensor. The method utilizes physical connections of images and events to estimate the irradiance variations, which are fed into the EG-AE device for calculating the exposure setting. The method shows outstanding performance in tackling highly challenging lighting conditions and benefits multiple downstream applications, including visual tag detection and feature matching.

Abstract: A smart skin system includes tactile sensors that mimic the functions of human skin by sensing pressure, vibration and humidity simultaneously and generate electric signals as a result thereof; and a machine learning assisted data processor that interprets the electric signals from the sensors and quantitively perceives the stimulation in terms of pressure, vibration, and environmental humidity. The sensor structurally comprises (1) a single-ion conducting electrolyte, which provides contact electrification, serves as a hygroscopic layer and produces DC hygroelectric signals in response to humidity, (2) a gold electrode and (3) a separatable aluminum electrode as a counter triboelectrification layer that produces AC triboelectric signals in response to contact.

Abstract: An MR marker (501, 601, 803, 902) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided intervention and method of fabricating same. The tracking device can be integrated with an MRI-guided robotic system to provide precise positional tracking of the interventional tools and robotic components, allowing safe operation inside the human body. The MR tracking device includes a plurality of stacked flexible printed circuit boards; a plurality of flat planar spirals comprised of a non-ferromagnetic material and directly disposed on a top surface and a bottom surface side of each flexible printed circuit board, a biocompatible, non-ferromagnetic material encapsulating the flexible printed circuit boards; and an adhesive bonding the flexible printed circuit boards. In another aspect, an orientation-independent device is provided including three or more markers (501, 601, 803, 902) in an array around a cylindrical substrate.

Abstract: A method for hybrid-domain reconstruction of MRI images includes the steps of (A) extracting null-subspace bases of a calibration matrix from k-space coil calibration data to calculate image-domain spatial null maps (SNMs) and (B) reconstructing multi-channel images by solving an image-domain nulling system formed by SNMs that contain both coil sensitivity and finite image support information, thus circumventing the masking-related procedure and demonstrating a robust reconstruction.