Abstract: Solar thermal devices are formed from a block of wood, where the natural cell lumens of the wood form an interconnected network that transports fluid or material therein. The block of wood can be modified to increase absorption of solar radiation. Combining the solar absorption effects with the natural transport network can be used for various applications. In some embodiments, heating of the modified block of wood by insolation can be used to evaporate a fluid, for example, evaporating water for extraction, distillation, or desalination. In other embodiments, heating of the modified block of wood by insolation can be used to change transport properties of a material to allow it to be transported in the interconnected network, for example, heating crude oil to adsorb the oil within the block of wood.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a material comprises a contiguous block of chemically-modified wood infiltrated with an index-matching polymer. The contiguous block has a first section that is substantially transparent to light and a second section that is translucent or opaque. The first section can have a lower lignin content than the second section. Alternatively, the first section can have a chromophore state altered from that of the wood in its natural state, and the lignin in the second section can retain a chromophore state of the wood in its natural state. In some embodiments, a material comprises a section of wood chemically-modified such that chromophores of lignin within the wood in its natural state are altered or removed, and the section retains at least 70% of the lignin of the wood in its natural state. Methods for forming such materials are also disclosed.

Abstract: An evaporative device has a piece of at least partially-delignified plant material. The at least partially-delignified plant material has a modified microstructure including a plurality of vessels, a plurality of fibers, and a plurality of engineered micropores. Each vessel can define a first lumen having a maximum cross-sectional dimension of at least 100 ?m. Each fiber can define a second lumen having a maximum cross-sectional dimension less than or equal to 20 ?m. The engineered micropores can extend through walls of the vessels or fibers so as to fluidically interconnect the first and second lumina. In some embodiments, the plant material is reed or bamboo.

Abstract: A piece of natural plant material is subjected to one or more chemical treatments to remove substantially all lignin therefrom, thereby allowing the extraction of delignified, cellulose-based fibers. For example, the natural plant material can be a grass, such as bamboo or gladiolus. Subsequent drying of the extracted fiber densifies the structure, yielding improved mechanical properties. In some embodiments, the extracted fibers can be used, either alone or in combination with other materials, as a structural material. For example, the extracted fibers can be embedded within, infiltrated with, coated by, or otherwise combined with a polymer or concrete to form a composite material.

Abstract: Evaluation information of a temporal description is displayed by: structuring data structures into a logical tree structure that is representative of the hierarchy of the temporal expressions, with each tree node representing a temporal primitive operator, and a unique index assigned to each primitive; evaluating the temporal expression, and recording the evaluation trace information that contains the corresponding unique index to the primitive node, the evaluation time stamp, and other information of the evaluation; and selectively displaying an evaluation sequence of the selected result at any level, including from the top of the tree structure of the temporal evaluation in order to show the evaluation history of the selected result at a lower level of the expression tree, where the selection methods include a graphical interface on the screen to select a child expression at a given tree level.

Abstract: The present invention discloses methods in structuring data structures into a logical tree structure that is representative the hierarchy of the temporal expressions, with each tree node represent a temporal primitive operator, and an unique index being assigned to each primitive. It further discloses methods for evaluating the temporal expression, and recording the evaluation trace information that contains the corresponding unique index to the primitive node, the evaluation time stamp, and other information of the evaluation; and methods for selectively displaying an evaluation sequence of the selected result at any level, including from the top of the tree structure of the temporal evaluation in order to show the evaluation history of the selected result at lower level of the expression tree, where the selection methods include a graphical interface on the screen to select a child expression at a given tree level.