Abstract: Disclosed herein are polyethyleneimine modified graphene oxides and methods for using them to reduce the concentration of the contaminants in aqueous mixtures. In one specific embodiment, a polyethyleneimine modified graphene oxide includes: graphene oxide and polyethylene, where the polyethyleneimine modified graphene oxide has a weight percent of graphene oxide from about 1 wt % to about 99 wt %, and where the polyethyleneimine modified graphene oxide has a weight percent of polyethyleneimine from about 99 wt % to about 1 wt %.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are clay swelling inhibitor compositions and methods for using them to treat oil and gas wells and subterranean formations. In a specific embodiment, the clay swelling inhibitor composition includes: calcium chloride from about 40 wt % to about 60 wt %; potassium bicarbonate from about 15 wt % to about 25 wt %; potassium formate from about 25 wt % to about 35 wt %; and additives. In another specific embodiment, the clay swelling inhibitor composition includes: potassium citrate from about 50 wt % to about 60 wt %; cesium formate from about 20 wt % to about 30 wt %; potassium acetate from about 15 wt % to about 25 wt %; and additives.

Abstract: A method and architecture for encoding image data solely based on pixel intensities, eliminating the need for encoding pixel positions. This is achieved by utilizing low-discrepancy (LD) sequences, such as Sobol or Van Der Corput (VDC) sequences, for deterministic encoding of the image intensity values. The position hypervectors, which were previously required for representing pixel positions, are no longer needed. The corresponding index of the LD sequence is used to encode the intensity values.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and methods for sliding mode control enabled hybrid energy storage. In a specific embodiment, the system can include: a photovoltaic power generation unit; a hybrid energy storage system, where the hybrid storage system can include a battery, a supercapacitor, where the supercapacitor provides excess power demand based on different loading conditions, and a rate limiter; a sliding mode controller, where the slide mode controller controls a current in a hybrid energy storage system; a supercapacitor charging control; and a proportional integral controller. In a specific embodiment, the method can include: decoupling an average and transient hybrid energy storage system current with a single rate limiter, where the decoupling includes a battery discharge rate; regulating a battery current with a first sliding mode controller; and regulating a supercapacitor current with a second sliding mode controller, where a supercapacitor provides excess power demand.

Abstract: A rack for sanitizing or cleaning medical or personal protective equipment is claimed herein. The rack has at least two stringers that run the length of the rack. The rack has at least two vertical grates that are spaced apart from each other along the stringers. The spacing between the grates will be sufficient such that a standard respiratory mask (e.g. N95) may be placed between two adjacent grates and be held in a vertical orientation.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are nanocomposite compositions and methods that include a microalgae or cyanobacterial biomass, where the composition has a content of the microalgae or cyanobacterial biomass from about 0.01 wt % to about 95.00 wt %; nanoparticles, where the nanoparticles include titanium dioxide, and where the composition has a content of the nanoparticles from about 0.01 wt % to about 22.84 wt %; a salt or chelating agent, and where the composition has a content of the nanoparticles from about 0.01 wt % to about 25.01 wt %; an acid, and where the composition has a content of the acid from about 0.01 wt % to about 2.00 wt %; and a carrier medium, and where the composition has a content of the carrier medium from about 47.00 wt % to about 68.00 wt %.

Abstract: Disclosed herein a method for agile simulation of a stochastic computing image processing where the input operands are processed with the aid of a correlation-controlled contingency table (CT) construct without using actual stochastic bit-streams. The disclosed method utilizes contingency tables to perform (i) template matching, (ii) image compositing, and (iii) pattern detection. Results show that the proposed approach achieves similar computation accuracy to the traditional stochastic computing simulation while performing runtime- and memory-efficient computations.

Abstract: Volt-VAR control in the smart inverter is used to provide reactive power support to mitigate voltage violation and fluctuation issues through a corrective mechanism (the “Delta-Q” approach) updates the inverter's reactive power set-point to concurrently mitigate voltage violation and fluctuation. Results of experimentation show the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison with the traditional Volt-VAR control in mitigating voltage violation and fluctuation.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and methods for producing natural gas from gas hydrates, which in some embodiments can sequester carbon dioxide. In an embodiment, the system includes: an injection well; a producing well; a producer annulus; a well annulus; a y-shaped well couple; a gas wellbore; a heating wellbore; a well tubing; a tank; a water pump; a separator; a wellhead choke; a work pipe; a CO2 compressor; a well casing; and a pressure-regulator valve. In another embodiment, the method includes: obtaining hot water using a y-shaped horizontal well couple; injecting water heated by geothermal energy; transferring heat from a geothermal zone to a gas hydrate deposit zoon using a dual-lateral horizontal well; regulating water-flooding flow rate using a wellhead choke; collecting water and natural gas using a dual-lateral horizontal well; and coupling the two horizontal wells through connection of two laterals in the gas hydrate zone.

Abstract: The method relates to the field of asymmetric allylic amination and comprises preparing a chiral N-substituted allylic amine compound from the corresponding allylic substrates and substituted hydroxylamines, in the presence of a catalyst, said catalyst comprising copper compounds and a chiral ligand. Examples of chiral amine compounds which can be made using the method include Vigabatrin, Ezetimibe Terbinafine, Naftifine 3-methylmorphine, Sertraline, Cinacalcet, Mefloquine hydrochloride, and Rivastigmine. There are over 20,000 known bioactive molecules with chiral N-substituted allylic amine substructure. The method may also be used to produce non-natural chiral ß-aminoacid esters, a sub-class of chiral N-substituted allylic amine compounds. Examples of ß-aminoacid ester which can be produced by the disclosed method, include, but are not limited to, N-(2-methylpent-1-en-3-yl)benzenamine and Ethyl 2-methylene-3-(phenylamino)butanoate.

Abstract: Provided herein are styrenic fluoropolymers comprising the formula: Also provided are methods for making the styrenic fluoropolymers and using them as anion exchange resin to at least partially separate perfluoro alkyl and polyfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS) from mixtures.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are multimodal indoor positioning systems and methods that include: one or more Bluetooth low energy beacons; one or more smartphones, where the smartphone captures one or more Bluetooth low energy signals from the one or more Bluetooth low energy beacons, where the smartphone generates a fingerprint and a location estimate from the relative signal strength indicator signal; one or more cameras, where the one or more cameras capture 2D video frames; and one or more edge devices, where the one or more edge devices receive the fingerprint and the location estimate from the one or more smartphones, where the one or more edge devices receive the 2D video frames from the one or more cameras, where the edge device generates 2D position coordinates from the 2D video frames; and where the one or more edge devices assigns a tracklet-ID to each smartphone in the 2D video frames.

Abstract: The Cloud-based Video Streaming Service (CVSS) architecture is disclosed to transcode video streams in an on-demand manner. The architecture provides a platform for streaming service providers to utilize cloud resources in a cost-efficient manner and with respect to the Quality of Service (QoS) demands of video streams. In particular, the architecture includes a QoS-aware scheduling method to efficiently map video streams to cloud resources, and a cost-aware dynamic (i.e., elastic) resource provisioning policy that adapts the resource acquisition with respect to the video streaming QoS demands. Simulation results based on realistic cloud traces and with various workload conditions, demonstrate that the CVSS architecture can satisfy video streaming QoS demands and reduces the incurred cost of stream providers up to 70%.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is an architecture for in-memory sorting of data and methods by utilizing memristors crossbar arrays to perform in-memory sorting for both unary bit-stream and binary format data sets and method for utilizing same. Evaluations of the disclosed architecture and method reflect a significant reduction in energy costs and processing time as compared to currently available solutions.

Abstract: A cyber-resilient consensus based distributed control systems for islanded AC microgrids to enhance the resilience of distributed control in the secondary layer comprising a modified sliding surface benefits from the presence of a cyber-resilient offset compensation term as it ensures retaining the minimum levels of deviations under both normal and cyber-corrupted conditions in the secondary layer. The system includes a hysteresis-based communication link quality observer, which ensures that the cyber intrusion levels are bounded to specific levels. Using this approach along with offset compensation term on the surface as well as the boundary layered based switching function, a chattering free steady state performance is ensured.

Abstract: The invention is ontology-based architecture for performing semantic data mining for insights. The major components of the architecture are illustrated using Network Ontology (NO), an ontology generated for the network domain for delivering improved network management. In addition, algorithms for summarizing performance profiles in the form of rank tables and for extracting insight rules (concrete action plan) from the rank tables are presented. By using this approach, an actionable plan for assisting decision maker can be obtained, as domain knowledge is incorporated in the system. Experimental results on a network dataset show that this model provides an optimal action plan for a network to improve its performance by encoding data-driven rules into the ontology and suggesting changes to its current network configuration.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method and device for absolute average deviation (AAD) pooling for a convolutional neural network accelerator. AAD utilizes the spatial locality of pixels using vertical and horizontal deviations to achieve higher accuracy, lower area, and lower power consumption than mixed pooling without increasing the computational complexity. AAD achieves 98% accuracy with lower computational and hardware costs compared to mixed pooling, making it an ideal pooling mechanism for an IoT CNN accelerator.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are well treatment composition and methods. In a specific embodiment, a well treatment composition includes: denatured algae, where the denatured algae have a protein content from about 20.0 wt % to about 90.0 wt %, and where the denatured algae have a lipid content from about 0.1 wt % to about 30.0 wt %; one or more carrier fluids; and one or more additives. In another specific embodiment, a method of making a well treatment composition can include contacting one or more algae with one or more denaturants to make a denatured algae, where the denatured algae have a protein content from about 20.0 wt % to about 90.0 wt %, and where the denatured algae have a lipid content from about 0.1 wt % to about 30.0 wt %; and contacting the denatured algae with one or more carrier fluids to make a well treatment composition.

Abstract: An accelerator for training deep neural networks is provided. The accelerator includes a baseline architecture having an input buffer, a weight buffer, an output buffer, a buffer controller, and a two-dimensional array of processing elements. The array of processing elements is used in both convolutional and fully connected layers. The convolutional layer includes multiple filters. The output of each said filter in said convolutional layers is achieved by a weighted summation. In a preferred embodiment, each convolutional and fully connected layer is equipped with input/output buffers that fetch/store the input/output data. In a particularly preferred embodiment, each processing element can access the weight buffer that holds the weight vector.

Abstract: The method for obfuscating hardware partially imitates the neural network perceptron, obfuscating the hardware design. This method obfuscates the design functionality and immunes integrated circuits against Trojan insertion. This method can also be used to check for the existence of faults inside chips. This method resolves the concern related to security and reliability when outsourcing the manufacture of integrated circuits.