Abstract: Methods and systems for acquiring and/or projecting images from and/or to a target area are provided. Such a method or system can includes an optical fiber assembly which may be driven to scan the target area in a scan pattern. The optical fiber assembly may provide multiple effective light sources (e.g., via a plurality of optical fibers) that are axially staggered with respect to an optical system located between the optical fiber and the target area. The optical system may be operable to focus and/or redirect the light from the multiple light sources onto separate focal planes. A composite image may be generated based on light reflected from and/or projected onto the separate focal planes. The composite image may have an extended depth of focus or field spanning over a distance between the separate focal planes while maintaining or improving image resolution.

Abstract: An integrated circuit, such as included as a portion of a sensor node, can include a regulator circuit having an input coupleable to an energy harvesting transducer. The integrated circuit can include a wireless receiver circuit coupled to the regulator circuit and configured to wirelessly receive at least enough operating energy to establish operation of the sensor node without requiring the energy harvesting transducer. The integrated circuit can include a digital processor circuit coupled to the regulator circuit and a power management processor circuit. The digital processor circuit or one or more other circuits can include a subthreshold operational mode established by the power management processor circuit based on the selected energy consumption level. For example, establishing the subthreshold operational mode can include adjusting or selecting a supply voltage so as to establish subthreshold operation of a field effect transistor (FET) in the digital processor circuit or other circuits.

Abstract: Provided herein, among other aspects, are methods and apparatuses for analyzing particles in a sample. In some aspects, the particles can be analytes, cells, nucleic acids, or proteins and contacted with a tag, partitioned into aliquots, detected by a ranking device, and isolated. The methods and apparatuses provided herein may include a microfluidic chip. In some aspects, the methods and apparatuses may be used to quantify rare particles in a sample, such as cancer cells and other rare cells for disease diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment.

Abstract: Lyophilized chromophoric polymer dot compositions are provided. Also disclosed are methods of making and using the lyophilized compositions, methods of dispersing the lyophilized compositions in aqueous solutions and kits supplying the compositions.

Abstract: Compositions of, methods of making, and methods of using hybrid nanoparticles comprise at least one semiconducting polymer and at least one nonsemiconducting polymer. Compositions of, methods of making and methods of using hybrid nanoparticles comprise at least one semiconducting polymer and non-semiconducting polymers wherein the non-semiconducting polymer comprises more than one non-semiconducting polymer such that at least one non-semiconducting polymer is functionalized for bioconjugation. The hybrid nanoparticles are polarization-sensitive and have low mass ratios with large fluorescence.

Abstract: Provided herein are particles assemblies including a shell surrounding a core. The shell includes a particle-stabilizing random copolymer. The core includes a core random copolymer. The particle assemblies have a biomimetic design in which the polymeric components containing discrete chemical and biological functionalities are designed to spontaneously self-assemble into particles. Also provided herein are random copolymers having conjugated therapeutic agents that can be cleaved from the copolymers by an enzyme or water.

Abstract: The invention provides compositions and methods for treating celiac sprue.

Abstract: Contiguity information is important to achieving high-quality de novo assembly of mammalian genomes and the haplotype-resolved resequencing of human genomes. The methods described herein pursue cost-effective, massively parallel capture of contiguity information at different scales.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides encoded chromophoric polymer particles that are capable of, for example, optical and/or biomolecular encoding of analytes. The present disclosure also provides suspensions comprising a plurality of encoded chromophoric polymer particles. The present disclosure also provides methods of using the encoded chromophoric polymer particles and systems for performing multiplex analysis with encoded chromophoric polymer particles.

Abstract: Compositions and methods are provided that enable activation of innate immune responses through RIG-I like receptor signaling. The compositions and methods incorporate synthetic nucleic acid pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that comprise elements initially characterized in, and derived from, the hepatitis C virus genome.

Abstract: A stylet includes a handle assembly with an indicator display and a stiff wire assembly extending distally from the handle assembly having a non-imaging ultrasonic device on a distal end. The stylet includes a circuit assembly having one or more of a pulser, a transmit/receive chip, a bandpass filter, a differential amplifier, an ADC, and an MCU, operable to control the operation of the ultrasonic device and to receive and analyze data from the ultrasonic device to facilitate implantation of a device such as a catheter.

Abstract: Described herein are methods and systems for selecting surgical approaches. One example method involves (1) receiving data indicating (a) one or more surgical target regions and (b) one or more surgical portals; (2) determining a plurality of surgical pathways; (3) determining a plurality of surgical approaches; (4) for each surgical approach in the plurality of surgical approaches, determining at least one approach characteristic, for each determined surgical pathway in the respective surgical approach, determining at least one pathway characteristic, and determining a surgical-approach ranking based on the determined at least one approach characteristic and the determined at least one pathway characteristic; (5) selecting a subset of the plurality of surgical approaches based on the determined surgical approach rankings; and (6) causing an output device to provide a representation of the selected subset of the plurality of surgical approaches.

Abstract: An adaptive system for efficient and long-range wireless power delivery using magnetically coupled resonators responds to changes in a dynamic environment, and maintains high efficiency over a narrow or fixed frequency range. The system uses adaptive impedance matching to maintain high efficiency. The wireless power transfer system includes a drive inductor coupled to a high-Q transmitter coil, and a load inductor coupled to a high-Q receiver coil. The transmitter coil and receiver coil for a magnetically coupled resonator. A first matching network is (i) operably coupled to the drive inductor and configured to selectively adjust the impedance between the drive inductor and the transmitter coil, or (ii) is operably coupled to the load inductor and configured to selectively adjust the impedance between the load inductor and the receiver coil.

Abstract: Next Generation DNA sequencing promises to revolutionize clinical medicine and basic research. However, while this technology has the capacity to generate hundreds of billions of nucleotides of DNA sequence in a single experiment, the error rate of approximately 1% results in hundreds of millions of sequencing mistakes. These scattered errors can be tolerated in some applications but become extremely problematic when “deep sequencing” genetically heterogeneous mixtures, such as tumors or mixed microbial populations. To overcome limitations in sequencing accuracy, a method Duplex Consensus Sequencing (DCS) is provided. This approach greatly reduces errors by independently tagging and sequencing each of the two strands of a DNA duplex. As the two strands are complementary, true mutations are found at the same position in both strands. In contrast, PCR or sequencing errors will result in errors in only one strand.

Abstract: Next Generation DNA sequencing promises to revolutionize clinical medicine and basic research. However, while this technology has the capacity to generate hundreds of billions of nucleotides of DNA sequence in a single experiment, the error rate of approximately 1% results in hundreds of millions of sequencing mistakes. These scattered errors can be tolerated in some applications but become extremely problematic when “deep sequencing” genetically heterogeneous mixtures, such as tumors or mixed microbial populations. To overcome limitations in sequencing accuracy, a method Duplex Consensus Sequencing (DCS) is provided. This approach greatly reduces errors by independently tagging and sequencing each of the two strands of a DNA duplex. As the two strands are complementary, true mutations are found at the same position in both strands. In contrast, PCR or sequencing errors will result in errors in only one strand.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide for unique lipooligosaccharide/lipid A-based mimetics for use as adjuvants. Methods of generating lipooligosaccharide/lipid A-based mimetics are provided that utilize recombinantly engineered bacteria to produce the mimetics, including, for example, addition of one or more particular enzymes such as acyltransferases, deacylases, phosphatases, or glycosyltransferases.

Abstract: Improved systems, methods, and devices relating to optical fiber scanners are provided. In one aspect, a scanning apparatus includes an optical fiber and a piezoelectric actuator coupled to the optical fiber to deflect a distal end of the optical fiber in a scanning pattern. The apparatus can include drive circuitry coupled to the piezoelectric actuator, sense circuitry electrically coupled to the piezoelectric actuator and the drive circuitry to determine displacement of the piezoelectric actuator, and a processor coupled to the drive circuitry and the sense circuitry to drive the piezoelectric actuator in response to the displacement.

Abstract: Methods for diagnosing a pathologic tissue membrane, as well as a focused ultrasound apparatus and methods of treatment are disclosed to perform ureterocele puncture noninvasively using focused ultrasound-generated cavitation or boiling bubbles to controllably erode a hole through the tissue. An example ultrasound apparatus may include (a) a therapy transducer having a treatment surface, wherein the therapy transducer comprises a plurality of electrically isolated sections, (b) at least one concave acoustic lens defining a therapy aperture in the treatment surface of the therapy transducer, (c) an imaging aperture defined by either the treatment surface of the therapy transducer or by the at least one concave acoustic lens and (d) an ultrasound imaging probe axially aligned with a central axis of the therapy aperture.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes luminescent solar concentrators that include photoluminescent nanoparticles. The photoluminescent nanoparticles include a semiconductor nanocrystal that sensitizes the luminescence of a defect. The defect can include, for example, an atom, a cluster of atoms, or a lattice vacancy. The defect can be incorporated into the semiconductor nanocrystal, adsorbed onto, or otherwise associated with the surface of the semiconductor nanocrystal.

Abstract: A method for generating a microstructure that includes microcellular bubbles, in a material that includes molecules of a thermoplastic polymer, comprises: determining a size-index for the material that represents an average size of the thermoplastic polymer molecules included in the material, and in response to the determined size-index, setting a parameter of a process to generate a microstructure in the material that includes microcellular bubbles. The process to generate a microstructure in the material includes: 1) infusing into the material, during a first period, a gas that does not react with the material, 2) making the gas-infused material thermodynamically unstable.