Abstract: A siphon for use in a brew basket includes a first portion formed from a first material and a second portion formed from a second material. The first portion has a first passageway and an outlet. The first passageway is fluidly coupled to said outlet. The second portion has a second passageway and is removably coupled to the first portion. The first passageway and said second passageway form a flow path extending from an interior of the brew basket to the outlet.

Abstract: A plant growing system and method that uses a chamber having a plurality of holes through which plant stalks can extend. A heating device in fluid communication with the chamber is configured to receive a liquid nutrient solution from the chamber, to vaporize the received liquid nutrient solution to create a nutrient vapor, and to supply the nutrient vapor to the chamber to create a first pressure inside the chamber that is greater than a second pressure immediately outside the chamber. The increased vapor pressure on the roots of the plants relative to the leaves of the plants accelerates plant growth.

Abstract: A nested insulated packaging assembly includes an outer box including an outer top side wall, an outer bottom side wall, and a plurality of outer lateral side walls, the outer box defining a cavity; an inner cardboard portion including a plurality of inner lateral side walls, the inner cardboard portion positioned within the cavity; a first thermal liner positioned at least partially between the inner cardboard portion and the outer bottom side wall; and a second thermal liner defining a first end and a second end disposed opposite from the first end, the second thermal liner defining an inner surface and an outer surface disposed opposite from the inner surface, the second thermal liner positioned between the plurality of outer lateral side walls and the plurality of inner lateral side walls, the inner surface facing the inner cardboard portion, the outer surface facing the outer box.

Abstract: A system to aid in design for manufacturing an object includes a processor and a memory configured to store instructions. The processor is configured to receive first data representing a design of the object to be manufactured and second data representing a machine-learning model. The processor is configured to execute the instructions to generate third data using the first data and the second data. The third data indicates at least one of a modification to the design of the object or process conditions for production of the object. The processor is configured to send the design of the object, the process conditions, or both, to a manufacturing tool to enable production of the object. The machine-learning model is representative of production data and based at least partially on one or more of: object features, process parameters, environmental factors, and quality data.

Abstract: A nested insulated packaging assembly includes: an outer box including an outer top side wall, an outer bottom side wall, and a plurality of outer lateral side walls; an inner box received in the outer box, the inner box including an inner top side wall, an inner bottom side wall, and a plurality of inner lateral side walls; a first thermal liner contacting a one of the outer lateral side walls of the outer box and a one of the inner lateral side walls of the inner box; and a second thermal liner contacting a second of the outer lateral side walls of the outer box and a second of the inner lateral side walls of the inner box.

Abstract: A method of operating a furnace having process tubes and multiple burners where it is desired to conform the temperatures of the process tubes to selected target temperature criterion. The present method provides a systematic and quantitative approach to determine how to adjust burner flow rates to result in desired tube wall temperatures, for example, using objective functions to decrease the probability that temperatures pertaining to the plurality of process tubes exceed their selected limit temperatures. An objective function can also be used to reduce the excess oxidant requirement for the furnace.

Abstract: Provided is a system, method, and apparatus for forming surface designs in hard-setting materials. The method includes depositing a hard-setting material mix to create a construction component, controlling a movable unit to manipulate a surface of the construction component with a first profile tool arranged on the movable unit based on surface design data before the hard-setting material mix sets, and controlling the movable unit or at least one other movable unit to manipulate the surface of the construction component with a second profile tool arranged on the movable unit or the at least one other movable unit based on the surface design data before the hard-setting material mix sets, wherein the second profile tool comprises a blade edge and a trowel edge.

Abstract: A clip-on reducer tool assembly for seating a spinal fixation rod in a rod receiving implant, the tool assembly has an outer sleeve. The outer sleeve has a proximal end with a cylindrical portion having a threaded opening, a first leg extension extending therefrom to a distal end, and a second leg extension joined to the first leg extension at an intermediate location between the distal end and proximal end. The second leg extension extends from the distal end toward the proximal end to a lever end spaced from the cylindrical portion. The leg extensions at the distal end have grasping members to engage an outer surface of a rod receiving implant and a fulcrum proximally located near the intermediate location configured to enlarge the space between the leg extension at the distal end as the lever end is depressed inwardly relative to a longitudinal axis of the outer sleeve.

Abstract: A surgical instrument includes a housing, an outer shaft, an inner shaft, a trial sizer, a rod, and a head. The outer shaft is operatively coupled with the housing such that rotation of the housing causes axial displacement of the outer shaft. The outer shaft includes a keel cutter configured to form a channel in a vertebral body. The inner shaft disposed within the outer shaft. The trial sizer is configured to be received in intervertebral space. The trial sizer includes a pair of wings transitionable between a retracted position and an extended position in which the pair of wings extends transversely outward. The head is connected to the rod, wherein the head is operatively coupled with the pair of wings such that axial displacement of the rod causes transition of the pair of wings between the retracted and extended positions.

Abstract: The methods and assays described herein relate to detection, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer, e.g., by detecting the level of expression of certain miRNAs described herein and/or by therapeutically increasing the level of those miRNAs.

Abstract: In one aspect, a system for detecting worn or damaged components of an agricultural machine may include first and second acoustic sensors positioned at first and second locations on the agricultural machine, respectively, with the second location being spaced apart from the first location. A controller of the system may be configured to determine a first acoustic parameter associated with the first location of the agricultural machine based on acoustic data received from the first acoustic sensor. The controller may also be configured to determine a second acoustic parameter associated with the second location of the agricultural machine based on acoustic data received from the second acoustic sensor. Furthermore, the controller may be configured to determine a component of the agricultural machine is worn or damaged when the first acoustic parameter differs from the second acoustic parameter by a predetermined amount.

Abstract: A nested insulated packaging assembly includes: an outer box including an outer top side wall, an outer bottom side wall, and a plurality of outer lateral side walls; an inner box received in the outer box, the inner box including an inner top side wall, an inner bottom side wall, and a plurality of inner lateral side walls; a first thermal liner contacting a one of the outer lateral side walls of the outer box and a one of the inner lateral side walls of the inner box; and a second thermal liner contacting a second of the outer lateral side walls of the outer box and a second of the inner lateral side walls of the inner box.

Abstract: Systems and methods are directed to monitoring the status of a vehicle controller or other autonomy system during operation of an autonomous vehicle. In one example, a system includes one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations. The operations include obtaining a message from a vehicle controller. The operations further include, based at least partly on the message, determining whether a failure mode exists. The operations further include providing, in response to determining the failure mode exists, one or more commands to implement a safety measure response for the autonomous vehicle.

Abstract: A system and method includes mounting one or more sensors to an infrastructure component, identifying movement patterns in an intersection adjacent to the infrastructure component, and creating a map of the intersection based on the movement patterns.

Abstract: Embodiments of a method for the preparation of an electrode assembly, include removing a population of negative electrode subunits from a negative electrode sheet, the negative electrode sheet comprising a negative electrode sheet edge margin and at least one negative electrode sheet weakened region that is internal to the negative electrode sheet edge margin, removing a population of separator layer subunits from a separator sheet, and removing a population of positive electrode subunits from a positive electrode sheet, the positive electrode sheet comprising a positive electrode edge margin and at least one positive electrode sheet weakened region that is internal to the positive electrode sheet edge margin, and stacking members of the negative electrode subunit population, the separator layer subunit population and the positive electrode subunit population in a stacking direction to form a stacked population of unit cells.

Abstract: A method and apparatus includes at least one environmental sensor mounted to an infrastructure component that is capable of moving relative to ground. The at least one environmental sensor determines an object position. A system uses environmental data collected over time to learn a fixed environment that includes at least one learned reference point. The system determines an amount of movement of the infrastructure component in relation to the learned reference point. The system corrects object position to compensate for movement of the infrastructure component.

Abstract: A method and apparatus includes at least one first sensor configured to be mounted to an infrastructure component, wherein the at least one sensor comprises an environmental sensor. At least one second sensor is configured to be mounted to the infrastructure component, and is configured to sense movement of the infrastructure component. The method and apparatus also includes a system that uses the at least one first sensor to detect an object position and determines an amount of correction for the object position based on movement detected by the at least one second sensor.

Abstract: An apparatus for building an artificial-intelligence system is provided. The apparatus accesses images of a real-world scene and generates an image of a simulated object corresponding to a real-world object using a first generative adversarial network (GAN). The apparatus inserts the image of the simulated object into the images of the real-world scene to produce images of the real-world scene including the simulated object. The apparatus applies the images of the real-world scene including the simulated object to a second GAN to remove visual artifacts thereby producing a training set of images of the real-world scene including the simulated object. The apparatus trains an artificial-intelligence algorithm using the training set of images to build the artificial-intelligence system to detect the real-world object in further images of the real-world scene and outputs the artificial-intelligence system for deployment on an autonomous vehicle.

Abstract: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may facilitate insurance-related tasks. UAVs may actively be dispatched to an insured asset and the area surrounding an insured asset, such as with the policyholder or insured's permission and collect data related to the insured asset, such as images, video, audio, weather conditions, thermal signatures, wood and soil samples, etc., and transmit this data to a computing device. The computing device may be associated with and/or utilized by an insurance provider to perform insurance-related tasks, such as processing the data to determine an amount of risk associated with the insured asset. If the amount of risk has increased, the computing device may provide a recommendation to a mobile device of the policyholder on how to reduce the risk such that corrective action may be taken. Insurance discounts may be provided based upon following recommendations that mitigate risk.

Abstract: A network-based synchronization system includes a server executing an electronic tax preparation program. The server is in communication with first and second computing devices through first and second networks. The first computing device utilizes the electronic tax preparation program. The second computing device is a mobile communication device including an image acquisition component and a mobile application executing thereon. The server, and the first and second computing devices are cooperatively operable through the first and second networks to synchronize the electronic tax preparation program and the mobile application based at least in part upon data acquired by the image acquisition component. The server receives the data acquired by the image acquisition component and transmits the data to the first computing device to synchronize the mobile application and the electronic tax preparation program.