Abstract: Methods of increasing thermal conductivity of a bulk polymer are provided. The methods include contacting a bulk polyelectrolyte polymer comprising an ionizable repeating pendant group with an aqueous liquid having a pH that ionizes the pendant group and isotropically extend the polyelectrolyte polymer to an extended non-globular chain conformation. The polyelectrolyte polymer so treated thus exhibits a thermal conductivity of greater than or equal to about 0.6 W/m·K and optionally greater than or equal to about 1 W/m·K. In other aspects, the present disclosure provides a high thermal conductivity material comprising a bulk polyelectrolyte polymer bearing a repeating charged group and having an extended non-globular chain conformation and that exhibits a thermal conductivity of greater than or equal to about 0.6 W/m·K and optionally greater than or equal to about 1 W/m·K. The high thermal conductivity material may be used in electronic devices, including as housings/encapsulation and thermal interfaces.

Abstract: Methods of increasing thermal conductivity of a bulk polymer are provided. The methods include contacting a bulk polyelectrolyte polymer comprising an ionizable repeating pendant group with an aqueous liquid having a pH that ionizes the pendant group and isotropically extend the polyelectrolyte polymer to an extended non-globular chain conformation. The polyelectrolyte polymer so treated thus exhibits a thermal conductivity of greater than or equal to about 0.6 W/m·K and optionally greater than or equal to about 1 W/m·K. In other aspects, the present disclosure provides a high thermal conductivity material comprising a bulk polyelectrolyte polymer bearing a repeating charged group and having an extended non-globular chain conformation and that exhibits a thermal conductivity of greater than or equal to about 0.6 W/m·K and optionally greater than or equal to about 1 W/m·K. The high thermal conductivity material may be used in electronic devices, including as housings/encapsulation and thermal interfaces.

Abstract: A multi-core processing system that uses computational sprinting to generate high levels of computational output for short periods of time at power consumption levels that are not sustainable over longer periods of time due to thermal and/or other constraints. This is done using a number of processing cores that, when operated simultaneously, utilize available thermal capacity within the system to consume power and produce heat that is in excess of a thermal design power (TDP) of the system, but is tolerable because of the short period of operation. The system and/or method described herein may include thermal capacitors in the form of phase change materials (PCMs), may implement normal, sprint and/or cooling modes of operation, and may employ parallel sprinting, frequency sprinting, sprint pacing and/or sprint-and-rest techniques, to cite several possibilities.

Abstract: A surgical instrument for treating a tissue includes a handpiece and a tissue engaging portion arranged to be received by the handpiece. The tissue engaging portion includes first and second opposed jaw members having an open position and a closed position for engaging the tissue therebetween, where the first and second jaw members are arranged to receive surgical energy from a surgical generator. The tissue engaging portion further includes at least one cooling member spaced from at least one of the first and second jaw members, where the cooling member has an open position and a closed position for engaging the tissue. Positioning the jaw members in their closed position and applying surgical energy to the tissue allows for treatment of the tissue, and positioning the cooling member in its closed position provides at least one of a pressure gradient or a thermal gradient between the jaw members and the cooling member.

Abstract: A surgical instrument for treating a tissue includes a handpiece and a tissue engaging portion arranged to be received by the handpiece. The tissue engaging portion includes first and second opposed jaw members having an open position and a closed position for engaging the tissue therebetween, where the first and second jaw members are arranged to receive surgical energy from a surgical generator. The tissue engaging portion further includes at least one cooling member spaced from at least one of the first and second jaw members, where the cooling member has an open position and a closed position for engaging the tissue. Positioning the jaw members in their closed position and applying surgical energy to the tissue allows for treatment of the tissue, and positioning the cooling member in its closed position provides at least one of a pressure gradient or a thermal gradient between the jaw members and the cooling member.

Abstract: A surgical instrument for treating a tissue includes a handpiece and a tissue engaging portion arranged to be received by the handpiece. The tissue engaging portion includes first and second opposed jaw members having an open position and a closed position for engaging the tissue therebetween, where the first and second jaw members are arranged to receive surgical energy from a surgical generator. The tissue engaging portion further includes at least one cooling member spaced from at least one of the first and second jaw members, where the cooling member has an open position and a closed position for engaging the tissue. Positioning the jaw members in their closed position and applying surgical energy to the tissue allows for treatment of the tissue, and positioning the cooling member in its closed position provides at least one of a pressure gradient or a thermal gradient between the jaw members and the cooling member.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing characterization of devices is presented. The characteristic of the device are determined by obtaining a first temperature measurement in a first location of a device, obtaining a second temperature measurement, computing the difference between the temperature measurements and, using the temperatures and/or the temperature difference, a characteristic of the device is determined.