Abstract: Cross-modal association (CMA), such as cross-modal signal segment association, is described for associating structural vibration and wearable sensors. This includes an Association Discovery Temporal Convolutional Network (AD-TCN) that determines the amount of shared context between a structural vibration sensor and associated wearable sensor candidates from the parameters of the trained model. CMA achieves improvements in AUC values, F1 scores, and accuracy over relevant baselines. In at least one embodiment, the vibration sensor is associated with a physical structure, the wearable sensor is associated with a person, and the modules estimate association between vibration sensor signals and a person who induces the vibration sensor signals interior to the structure.

Abstract: Prosthetic arm controller systems, as disclosed and discussed herein, include: a first controller unit that is placed or located inside a shoe or a sock of a user or that is integrated into a foot sleeve that slides on to the foot of a user, wherein the first controller unit comprises at least two interactive buttons that the user can engage, a second controller unit that is removably clipped or otherwise removably attached to the side or top of the shoe or the sock, wherein the second controller unit comprises at least one microcontroller with at least one integrated gyroscope, at least one accelerometer, and an onboard wireless protocol antenna that wirelessly communicates at least one command to a prosthetic arm from the first controller unit or the second controller unit, and wherein the at least one command comprises at least one grip command, at least one rotate command, at least one bend command, or a combination thereof.

Abstract: A dual ring resonator including a base substrate, and a silicon oxide layer positioned on the base substrate having a first waveguide, a primary ring resonator optically coupled to the first waveguide, a second waveguide, and a secondary ring resonator optically coupled to the primary ring resonator and the second waveguide. The dual ring resonator further includes at least one heater disposed partially on the primary ring resonator, and a trench within at least the silicon oxide layer and surrounding at least a portion of the first waveguide and the second waveguide.

Abstract: A method for producing a plant-derived solid paraffin and a plant-derived solid paraffin make it possible to reduce the production cost. An alcohol is added to a vegetable oil to obtain a fatty acid ester, and then a solid paraffin is obtained from the fatty acid ester. The fatty acid ester is preferably obtained in the presence of an acid catalyst or a base catalyst. After obtaining the fatty acid ester, the fatty acid ester is preferably cooled to precipitate a solid, followed by separation of the solid to obtain a solid paraffin. The solid paraffin obtained includes a saturated hydrocarbon(s) having an odd number(s) of carbon atoms of C21 to C29 in a proportion of not less than 60%.

Abstract: Method of determining if a subject has suffered tissue damage from exposure to a toxic agent. The method comprises sequencing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in a biospecimen from the subject; determining cellular origin of the cfDNA by identifying methylation patterns in one or more portions of the sequence of the cfDNA that contains methylation sites, in which the cellular origin of the cfDNA is determined when the methylation pattern in the one or more portions is the same as a known cell-type specific methylation patterns; measuring the quantity of the cfDNA of the determined cellular origin, and comparing the measured quantity of the cfDNA of the determined cellular origin with a normal quantity of cfDNA of the determined cellular origin. A greater quantity of the measured cfDNA of the determined cellular origin is indicative that the subject has suffered tissue damage.

Abstract: Luminescent concrete compositions containing cement, fine aggregates such as sand, and a phosphor such as strontium aluminate. Glow-in-the-dark concrete products made therefrom and methods of producing such concrete products are also specified. The glow-in-the-dark concrete products demonstrate good mechanical strength (e.g. compressive strength) and skid resistance. The addition of phosphorescent strontium aluminate provides luminance that persists for up to 10 hours to the concrete products.

Abstract: An endoscopic surgery platform includes a surgical bed and multiple surgical manipulators. Multiple surgical manipulators are arranged in a matrix on both sides of the surgical bed, and a positioning mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the surgical bed. The surgical manipulator can be stored at the bottom of the surgical bed through the positioning mechanism. The positioning mechanism includes a plurality of surgical manipulators positioned on the bottom of the surgical bed, a plurality of lateral moving pairs for moving along the length direction of the surgical bed, and multiple longitudinal moving pairs connected to the output end of multiple lateral moving pairs respectively and used to move along the width direction of the surgical bed. Longitudinal moving pair, lateral moving pairs and surgical manipulators are connected one by one.

Abstract: A composition of matter is provided comprising a devitalized, acellular tissue-derived scaffold seeded with differentiated cells, particularly pancreatic islet cells, wherein the cells can maintain cell-specific function or structure in culture on the scaffold. Methods of generating same and uses thereof are also provided.

Abstract: Disclosed are a nondestructive detection system and a method for an internal defect of a fruit. The system comprises an aluminum profile frame, a conveyor belt, a tray, a pulse type gas spray device, and a laser Doppler vibrometer; when a piece of fruit passes a detection station, the pulse type gas spray device excites the fruit to vibrate, and the laser Doppler vibrometer evaluates a vibration response signal of the fruit; a time-domain vibration characteristic parameter and a frequency-domain vibration characteristic parameter are acquired by means of a wavelet transform and a fast Fourier transform; and a prediction model for an internal defect of the fruit is established on the basis of the acquired time-domain and frequency-domain vibration characteristic parameters.

Abstract: A production method for highly proliferating cells or ectodermal progenitor cells, the production method including (i) preparing ectodermal cells which serve as a raw material, (ii) culturing the ectodermal cells which serve as the raw material in a medium containing a small-molecule signaling pathway inhibitor by bringing the inhibitor into contact with the ectodermal cells, and (iii) after the contact, performing additional culturing in a medium containing the inhibitor to obtain a culture containing highly proliferating cells that have higher cell proliferative ability than the ectodermal cells which serve as the raw material; highly proliferating cells having characteristics of ectodermal cells and proliferative ability that allows the number of the highly proliferating cells after more than 28 days of a culturing period during which the cells are brought into contact with a small-molecule signaling pathway inhibitor to be greater than 1.0 times the number of ectodermal cells.

Abstract: This application relates to omniphobic materials which are physically and chemically modified at their surface to create hierarchically structured materials with both nanoscale and microscale structures that provide the omniphobic properties. Methods of making such omniphobic surfaces with hierarchical structures and uses thereof, including as flexible films that repel contaminants are also disclosed in the application.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an auditing system for a built environment of an age-friendly street based on multisource big data. The auditing system includes: a data acquisition module is configured to acquire urban streetscape image data, urban road network data and urban point-of-interest data; a data classification auditing module is configured to acquire the data of the data acquisition module, classify the image data, and process the image data by using a data processing method to acquire evaluated numerical values of different types of indexes; a data summary analysis module is configured to acquire the evaluated numerical values of the data classification auditing module, calculate sub-item index numerical values of each output unit and calculate result data according to the sub-item index numerical values; a audit result output module is configured to acquire the result data of the data summary analysis module and visualize and output the result data.

Abstract: A reconfigurable, dual-band, MIMO antenna apparatus, a planar MIMO antenna system utilizing the antenna apparatus, and a method of transmitting and receiving a signal by the antenna apparatus are provided. The apparatus includes a dielectric planar substrate, a first element, a second element, two varactor diodes per element, and a microstrip feed-line. The first element and the second element each have slotted concentric annular rings. The second element is separated on the dielectric planar substrate from the first element, but is coplanar on the dielectric planar substrate with the first element. The two varactor diodes are placed in series with biasing circuitry, the biasing circuitry including RF chokes and current-limiting resistors. The microstrip feed-line feeds both antenna elements. The dual-band antenna elements can each be independently and concurrently tunable to two signal frequencies bands.

Abstract: An anion exchange resin includes a cross-linked polymer having a plurality of pseudo +2 point charges including dicationic groups. The dicationic groups include a first cationic group and a second cationic group, and a distance between the first cationic group and the second cationic group is from about 1 Angstrom to about 10 Angstroms.

Abstract: A tooth paste composition comprising black cumin oil (Nigella sativa) and fluoride-doped bioactive glass, zinc oxide, and/or titanium oxide is disclosed.

Abstract: Provided herein are libraries of nerve-specific fluorescent contrast agents of substituted 8-methyl-phenoxazine compounds of Formula (I) with excitation and emission profile comparable to US FDA approved methylene blue (MB) and indocyanine green (ICG), respectively, allowing for real-time intraoperative imaging using clinical-grade surgical systems. Also provided 700 nm lead candidates with substantially improved water-solubility, fully negating the need for formulation development with the added advantage of improved safety profiles for patient use in the clinic as well as decreased overall cost of clinical translation.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for evaluating severity or prognosis of a patient with mixed connective tissue disease, which includes 1) a step of bringing a biological sample separated from a patient with mixed connective tissue disease into contact with a carrier in which an antigen containing one or more of component proteins of survival motor neuron complex or an antigenic partial peptide thereof is immobilized on a solid phase to form a complex of an autoantibody in the biological sample and the antigen immobilized on the solid phase, 2) a step of detecting the autoantibody in the complex of the autoantibody and the immobilized antigen, and 3) a step of associating the patient with a severe mixed connective tissue disease or a poor prognosis when the autoantibody is detected from the biological sample separated from the patient in step 2).

Abstract: The current invention pertains to digital livestock breeding, focusing on a novel image acquisition system designed for assessing the health of lactating cow teats. Addressing challenges related to image capture quality and operational complexity in dairy cow teat examination, the solution comprises a guard plate, a telescopic column with a hinge mechanism, and a photo unit. Straps are positioned at each end of the guard plate, and an installation seat is located at the rotational juncture. The telescopic column includes a fixed cylinder pivotally attached to the guard plate and a movable column within it, extending beyond the fixed cylinder. Additionally, a fixed grip is mounted on one side of the fixed cylinder's outer wall. This innovation streamlines user-friendly shooting and adjustment processes while enabling timely cleaning of the lens and light-emitting device, ensuring image clarity.

Abstract: A nanomaterial and a method of preparing the nanomaterial are provided. The nanomaterial is a product formed by a reaction of functionalized carbon nanotube comprising first and second aminoalkyl groups covalently bonded to a surface of the carbon nanotube and a porphyrin ring of formula (I). A method of removing a pollutant from an aqueous solution by contacting the aqueous solution having an initial concentration of the pollutant with the nanomaterial is also provided.

Abstract: A deep learning-based digital holographic continuous phase noise reduction method for microstructure measurement is provided. A MEMS microstructure is simulated to generate an object phase image through generation of random matrix superposition, noise in a digital holographic continuous phase map is simultaneously simulated to generate a noise grayscale image, and a simulation data set is thus created. An end-to-end convolutional neural network is designed, and a trained convolutional neural network is trained and obtained. A holographic interference pattern of an object under measurement is collected by photographing, and after spectrum extraction, angular spectrum diffraction, phase unwrapping, and distortion compensation, a continuous phase map containing only the object phase and noise is obtained and input into the trained convolutional neural network to obtain an object phase map.