Abstract: This invention relates to a process for preparing a substrate-supported aligned carbon nanotube film including: synthesizing a layer of aligned carbon nanotubes on the substrate capable of supporting nanotube growth, applying a layer of a second substrate to a top surface of aligned carbon nanotube layer, removing said substrate capable of supporting nanotube growth to provide an aligned carbon nanotube film supported on said second substrate.

Abstract: Shape memory main-chain smectic-C elastomers are described, as are methods for their preparation and monomers used in such methods. The elastomers are prepared by hydrosilylation of a reaction mixture including a liquid crystalline diene, a crosslinking agent, and a bis(silyl hydride) compound. The elastomers exhibit shape-memory properties and spontaneously reversible shape changes. They are useful for fabrication of shape memory articles including, for example, implantable medical devices, contact lenses, reversible embossing media, and Fresnel lenses.

Abstract: The present invention provides a high yield pathway for the fabrication, transfer and assembly of high quality printable semiconductor elements having selected physical dimensions, shapes, compositions and spatial orientations. The compositions and methods of the present invention provide high precision registered transfer and integration of arrays of microsized and/or nanosized semiconductor structures onto substrates, including large area substrates and/or flexible substrates. In addition, the present invention provides methods of making printable semiconductor elements from low cost bulk materials, such as bulk silicon wafers, and smart-materials processing strategies that enable a versatile and commercially attractive printing-based fabrication platform for making a broad range of functional semiconductor devices.

Abstract: Provided are a method of evaluating an ion irradiation effect, a process simulator and a device simulator, which allow the influence of ion irradiation on atoms making up a substrate to be evaluated with high accuracy. The method includes irradiating a sample with a beam of ions, and evaluating influence of the ions used for the irradiation on atoms making up the sample, provided that the sample is prepared by alternately and periodically stacking a plurality of thin film layers, and of the plurality of thin film layers, the layer of at least one kind is composed of an isotope layer.

Abstract: A method of controlling a series-resonant, half-bridge inverter includes turning off the bottom switch and turning on the top switch the inverter when the current through the resonant inductor crosses the zero axis while the current is increasing, thereby insuring zero voltage switching of the inverter switches and increases the overall switching period so that the actual inverter frequency is closer to the resonant frequency of the series-resonant circuit. Using an on-time control circuit, the method further includes controlling the current delivered to the load (such as a gas discharge lamp) by varying the on-time of the top inverter switch.

Abstract: An optical trap (and alignment device) having a light source for generating first and second light beams, and a pair of lenses for focusing the light beams to a trap region in a counter-propagating manner for trapping a particle in the trap region. A light source illuminates the trap region with a third beam of light, and a camera is positioned for capturing a portion of each of the first, second and third light beams. Actuators exert forces on generally rigid portions of optical fiber used to deliver the first and second light beams to the trap region, such that the generally rigid portions pivot about pivot points located at supported members from which the optical fibers extend. Position sensitive detectors measure the position of the beams leaving the optical fibers, and feed position signals back to the actuator drivers to ensure proper positioning of the beams.

Abstract: A laser-based ultrasonic technique for the inspection of thin plates and membranes employs an amplitude-modulated laser source to excite narrow bandwidth Lamb waves. The dominant feature in the acoustic spectrum is a sharp resonance peak that occurs at the minimum frequency of the first-order symmetric Lamb mode, where the group velocity of the Lamb wave goes to zero while the phase velocity remains finite. Experimental results with the laser source and receiver on epicenter demonstrate that the zero group velocity resonance generated with a low power modulated excitation source can be detected using an optical probe such as a Michelson interferometer coupled to a lock-in amplifier. This resonance peak is sensitive to the thickness and mechanical properties of plates and may be suitable, for example, for the measurement and mapping of nanoscale thickness variations.

Abstract: A device comprises a multi-layered thin film having excellent adhesion due to the method of fabricating the same. More particularly, the device includes a multi-layered thin film consisting of a tantalum nitride layer, a tantalum layer formed on the tantalum nitride layer, and a gold thin film formed on the tantalum layer.

Abstract: This is a method and an apparatus for the treatment or introduction of contrast fluids into tissue, particularly cardiac tissue. The apparatus includes a catheter having an elongated flexible body and a tissue infusion apparatus including a hollow infusion needle configured to secure the needle into the tissue when the needle is at least partially inserted into the tissue to help prevent inadvertent removal of the needle from the tissue. This permits the selected treatment or contrast fluid to be confined to a specific site. The catheter may also include a visualization assembly including a transducer at the distal end of the body.

Abstract: A detection system that performs in a passive optical network is disclosed. The detection system uses a central office to provide detection signals to corresponding fiber branches for obtaining different reflected signals based on different optical network models. Hence, the central office can determine whether fiber branches in the passive optical network has a fault and where the fault is according to the reflected signals.

Abstract: Methods and systems for generating sulfuric acid (102) are disclosed. In some embodiments, the method includes combusting a sulfur-containing material (114) with a gas including oxygen (116) to produce a first stream of sulfur dioxide (118), mixing water with the first stream of sulfur dioxide to produce a mixed stream, using an energy, electrolytically converting (108) the mixed stream of sulfur dioxide and water into sulfuric acid (102) and hydrogen (122), generating a source of energy (126) from the hydrogen, and providing the source of energy as at least a portion of the energy for electrolytically converting the first stream of sulfur dioxide and water into sulfuric acid and hydrogen. In some embodiments, the system includes a first chamber for combusting a sulfur-containing material to produce a first stream of sulfur dioxide, an electrolytic cell (108) for converting the first stream into sulfuric acid and hydrogen, and a fuel cell (112) for generating an energy source from the hydrogen.

Abstract: A portable seatbelt device for attachment to a seat to restrain a person to the seat includes a carrying case and a lap belt having a portion attached to the carrying case. The lap belt is operable to wrap around the person in the vicinity of the person's waist to thereby restrain the person to the device. An exit belt is included having a first portion, a length of which is attached to the carrying case, and a second portion extending from the carrying case with a buckle connector attached thereto. At least one retractable mechanism is attached to the first portion of the exit belt and contains at least one retractable belt. The retractable belt is operable to extend out from the retractable mechanism and around a portion of the seat and connect with the connector attached to the second portion of the exit belt to thereby wrap around the person in the vicinity of the person's shoulders to restrain the person to the seat.

Abstract: Low density parity check (LDPC) codes (LDPCCs) have an identical code blocklength and different code rates. At least one of the rows of a higher-rate LDPC matrix is obtained by combining a plurality of rows of a lower-rate LDPC matrix with the identical code blocklength as the higher-rate LDPC matrix.

Abstract: The present invention, in one aspect, relates to a solar cell. In one embodiment, the solar cell includes an anode; an active organic layer comprising an electron-donating organic material and an electron-accepting organic material; a semiconducting layer formed between the anode and the active organic layer; and an electron-blocking layer (EBL) formed between the semiconducting layer and the active organic layer, where the EBL is transparent and adapted for blocking electron leakage from the active organic layer to the anode while transporting holes from the active organic layer to the anode.

Abstract: Water flooding at the cathode of a fuel cell is a common problem in fuel cells. By integrating an electroosmotic (EO) pump to remove product water from the cathode area, fuel cell power can be increased. Integration of EO pumps transforms the designs of air channel and air breathing cathodes, reducing air pumping power loads and increasing oxidant transport. Hydration of gas streams, management of liquid reactants, and oxidant delivery can also be accomplished with integrated electroosmotic pumps. Electroosmotic pumps have no moving parts, can be integrated as a layer of the fuel cell, and scale with centimeter to micron scale fuel cells.

Abstract: A nanopump for pumping small volumes of electrolyte solution under the control of a voltage source is described. The device includes a chamber and a nanopore membrane which partitions the chamber into upstream and downstream regions. When a voltage potential is applied across the membrane, electroosmotic flow through the membrane channels produces a precise-volume flow between the two chamber regions. A method for precise-volume pumping employing the nanopump and a nanopump device for determining the lengths of nucleic acid fragments in an electrolyte solution of different-length fragments are also described.

Abstract: A magnetic resonance system is disclosed. The system includes a transceiver having a multichannel receiver and a multichannel transmitter, where each channel of the transmitter is configured for independent selection of frequency, phase, time, space, and magnitude, and each channel of the receiver is configured for independent selection of space, time, frequency, phase and gain. The system also includes a magnetic resonance coil having a plurality of current elements, with each element coupled in one to one relation with a channel of the receiver and a channel of the transmitter. The system further includes a processor coupled to the transceiver, such that the processor is configured to execute instructions to control a current in each element and to perform a non-linear algorithm to shim the coil.

Abstract: A router in a survivable portion of a network may forward packets to a destination node even in the event of a double-link failure. For a given destination node, the router has previously been configured with a primary port, a primary backup port, and a secondary backup port. The router receives a packet addressed to the destination node within the survivable portion of the network, wherein the packet includes information indicating that the packet has encountered a failure. The router then selects one of (A) the primary port, (B) the primary backup port and (C) the secondary backup port on which to forward the received packet, such that a backup path with no dead loops is defined. The router may obtain a recovery distance of at least one of (A) the primary backup port based on a backup path to which it leads, and (B) the secondary backup port based on a backup path to which it leads, and may further obtain counter information in a packet indicative of a failure distance.

Abstract: Three-dimensional MR motion estimation on a single image plane based on tagged MRI and HARP processing. Tagged magnetic resonance imaging technique encodes and automatically tracks displacement of spatially modulated object in three dimensions, encoding both in plane and through-plane motion in a single image plane without affecting acquisition speed. Post-processing unravels encoding in order to directly track 3-D displacement of points within the image plane throughout image sequence. The invention is particularly suited to use on a heart for tracking and determining myocardial displacement. In one embodiment, an MR pulse sequence extends a slice following complementary spatial modulation of magnetization (CSPAMM) pulse sequence with two small z-encoding gradients immediately before the readouts in successive CSPAMM acquisitions, thereby adding a through-plane encoding from which through-plane motion can be computed from acquired images.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to an electromechanical pumping system for simulating the beating of heart in a cardiac surgery training environment. A computer-controllable linear actuator is used to control the electromechanical pumping system. In a preferred embodiment, the electromechanical pumping system is linked to a porcine heart. The heart is made to beat by inserting intra-ventricular balloons placed inside the heart and connected to the pumping system. When controlled by the electromechanical pumping system, the porcine heart is able to display normal and abnormal beating rhythms, as well as ventricular fibrillation. In addition, an electronic pressure sensor incorporated into the pumping system can be used to trigger a ventricular fibrillation mode when the porcine heart attached to the pumping system is handled by a trainee surgeon.