Abstract: Technique(s) to mitigate creep and/or cascade failure in high temperature heat pipe reactor cores may include gas loading each heat pipe such that when one or more heat pipes in the heat pipe array fail, the adjacent heat pipes can accommodate added heat load with little change in temperature.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides peptoid-based chelating ligands, corresponding cyclic peptoids, and methods of making thereof. Functional groups may be tailored for high metal binding affinity and selectivity. The side chains of a cyclic peptoid according to the present disclosure may be selected based on, for example, high affinity for actinide or other metal ions, selectivity for actinide or other metal ions, the ability to recover a metal once it is bound to the peptoid, and whether the overall peptoid should be hydrophobic or hydrophilic. Unlike siderophores, peptoid-based chelating ligands of the present disclosure are not readily hydrolyzed under physiological conditions. Therefore, peptoid-based chelating ligands may be, for example, used to treat actinide (e.g., iron and lead) poisoning in vivo. Moreover, peptoid-based chelating ligands of the present disclosure may be used for medical imaging, chelation therapy, drug delivery, and separation technologies, for example.

Abstract: In certain aspects the invention provides HIV-1 immunogens, including envelopes (CH0848) and selections there—from, and methods for swarm immunizations using combinations of HIV-1 envelopes.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are mosaic conserved region HIV polypeptides and immunogenic polypeptides including one or more of the mosaic conserved region polypeptides. In some embodiments, the immunogenic polypeptides are included in an immunogenic composition, such as a polyvalent immunogenic composition. Also disclosed herein are methods for treating or inhibiting HIV in a subject including administering one or more of the disclosed immunogenic polypeptides or compositions to a subject having or at risk of HIV infection. In some embodiments, the methods include inducing an immune response in a subject comprising administering to the subject at least one of the disclosed immunogenic polypeptides or a nucleic acid encoding at least one of the immunogenic polypeptides.

Abstract: Ultrasound tomography imaging methods for imaging a tissue medium with one or more ultrasound transducer arrays comprising a plurality of transducers, wherein said transducers comprise source transducers, receiving transducers. The methods include assigning a phase value or time delay to source transducers, exciting the transducers and calculating a search direction based on data relating to the excited transducers.

Abstract: The invention features immunogenic compositions and vaccines containing an optimized human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) envelope (Env) polypeptide (e.g., a stabilized trimer of optimized HIV Env polypeptides) or a polynucleotide encoding an optimized HIV Env polypeptide and uses thereof. The invention also features methods of treating and/or preventing a HIV infection by administering an immunogenic composition or vaccine of the invention to a subject (e.g., a human).

Abstract: Provided is an additive manufacturing system capable of performing in-process, layer-by-layer non-destructive testing, the additive manufacturing system including: a plate for producing a part thereon; a transducer attached to the plate and configured to induce vibrations in the part; and a laser vibrometer configured to detect a vibrational response of the part to determine whether defect and/or anisotropy exists within the part.

Abstract: Techniques for non-invasive diagnosis and/or monitoring of corrosion in high temperature systems using specialized sensors that produce multi-mode acoustic signals in situ for accurate determination of wall loss and/or physical property changes for a vessel in contact with a high temperature, highly corrosive substance are disclosed. Sensitivity of a few microns (or about 0.1%) of wall loss, detection of changes in physical properties of vessel contents (e.g., approximately 1%), or both, at temperatures of 500° C., 600° C., or higher may be realized. Corrosion may be identified and/or monitored using time domain, frequency domain, or mixed time domain and frequency domain analysis of signal characteristics, signal delay, or both, for relatively short circumferential acoustic wave propagation (e.g., a few inches), as well as relatively long axial acoustic wave propagation (e.g., tens of feet).

Abstract: Methods and compositions related to molecules and formulations comprising antibiofilm materials are provide, including new formulations of Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) that are chemically related to choline geranate. Specifically, geranic acid (a component of choline geranate DES) is a molecule from the isoprenoid/terpene family of compounds. Other members of this family as DES components include isoprenoid acids and chemical derivatives thereof.

Abstract: A continuous antenna array includes a plurality of antenna elements whose opposing electrodes create an electric field that excites polarization currents in an enclosed dielectric. Each of the antenna elements comprises one or more stripline feeds configured to provide a flat form factor and apply a signal with controlled phase differences between the plurality of antenna elements.

Abstract: A process for constructing a high-tensile strength, high-gradient insulator (HGI) may include stacking alternating layers of conductors and insulators, and vacuum pressure potting the stacked layers onto an insulating rod. The process may also include post machining the stacked layers to form a complete assembly of the HGI.

Abstract: Systems, apparatus, and methods are disclosed for performing scalable operations in a file system. Metadata entries in a namespace or directory tree are sharded across multiple file metadata servers. An augmented enumeration operation, such as listing a directory, is parallelized across the multiple file metadata servers, transparently to clients. Exemplary augmentation features can include filtering and sorting. Augmentation features can be executed concurrently with enumeration, prior to enumeration, after enumeration, or as a combination of these, and can utilize pre-built index structures or holding structures for intermediate results. Augmented enumeration operations can also include no-output operations such as changing file attributes or deleting a file, and cumulative operations such as counting total disk space usage. The parallelization is compatible with tree-level parallelization and storage-level parallelization.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are embodiments of a method for making recyclable polymers and a method for decomposing the polymers back to the monomers which can then be reused. The polymer are stable to aqueous and/or acid conditions and may have a formula II The method to decompose the polymer back to the monomers may comprise heating the polymer in a protic organic solvent.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are embodiments of a composition comprising a polymer or sol-gel and one or more nanocrystals. The composition is useful as a luminescent solar concentrator. The nanocrystals are dispersed in the polymer or sol-gel matrix so as to reduce or substantially prevent nanocrystal-to-nanocrystal energy transfer and a subsequent reduction in the emission efficiency of the composition. In some embodiments, the polymer matrix comprises an acrylate polymer. Also disclosed herein is a method for making the composition. Devices comprising the composition are disclosed. In some cases the polymer is the waveguide, in others the polymer is applied as a coating on a waveguide. In some examples, the device is a window.

Abstract: Machine-learning methods and apparatus are disclosed to determine frictional state or other parameters in an earthquake zone or other failing medium, using acoustic emission, seismic waves, or other detectable indicators of microscopic processes. Predictions of future failures are demonstrated in different regimes. A classifier is trained using time series of acoustic emission data along with historic data of frictional state or failure events. In disclosed examples, random forests and gradient boost trees are used, and grid-search or EGO procedures are used for hyperparameter tuning. Once trained, the classifier can be applied to testing or live data in order to assess a frictional state, assess seismic hazard, or make predictions regarding a future failure event. The technology has been developed in a double direct shear apparatus, but can be widely applied to seismic faults, other terrestrial failures, or failures in man-made structures. Variations are disclosed.

Abstract: A compact particle accelerator can include two or more cavities disposed along an axis of the particle accelerator, each of which is coupled to two or more drivers. The accelerator can also include a power supply coupled to the two or more drivers such that a particle beam traveling along the axis is accelerated. The power supply can be an interface with a commercial power outlet, battery power, or a combination thereof depending upon the use case. Example configurations of the accelerator include hand held or mobile devices that are capable of delivering up to and greater than a 1 MeV electron beam.

Abstract: A heat pipe reactor may include a reactor core and one or more heat exchangers positioned on one or both sides of the reactor core. The heat pipe reactor may also include a plurality of heat pipes extending from the reactor core and out through the one or more heat exchangers. The reactor core may be composed of a plurality of monolithic blocks.

Abstract: A payload interposer (PIP) board provides an interface for hosting payloads on a space vehicle platform. Payload development may be performed via the PIP board in a manner that “abstracts” the hardware of the space vehicle from the payload developer. The PIP board may include a host side payload interface connector that connects to a space vehicle and a payload side payload interface connector that connects to a payload. Power, CDH, and other space vehicle functionality may thus be provided to the payload from the space vehicle via the PIP board.

Abstract: High-sensitivity multi-channel atomic magnetometers are described. Methods for operating multi-channel atomic magnetometers are also described. Moreover, devices incorporating a plurality of multi-channel atomic magnetometers are described. A multi-channel atomic magnetometer may use the spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) technique. A multi-channel atomic magnetometer may achieve multi-channel operation in a single module, reducing the cost of sensors. A multi-channel atomic magnetometer may be a 16-channel atomic magnetometer. A multi-channel atomic magnetometer may include a single large vapor cell including alkali-metal atoms and at least one buffer gas that restricts motion of atomic spins of the alkali-metal atoms, thereby making relatively small internal cell volumes act as a multiple independent local sensing channels.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides improved methods for controlled cyclization of peptoid dimers to form N,N?-2,5-diketopiperazines (N,N?-2,5-DKPs) with significant selectivity. In at least some examples, selectivity is based on a serendipitous conglomeration of slow exchange of amide rotamers, steric repulsion from the degree of ?-substitution, and the geometric bulk of an amine nucleophile. By varying reaction conditions, the selectivity of the reaction and formation of a particular N,N?-2,5-DKP can be switched. The cyclization works in the presence of a variety of protection groups and diverse functionalities. The teachings herein provide techniques for synthesizing N,N?-2,5-DKPs that can be readily docked with drug candidates for shuttling across the blood brain barrier. This method provides a facile way to produce substituted DKPs containing groups ready for post-modification to include docking drug candidates.