Abstract: An apparatus includes an acoustic source for directing an acoustic wave towards a workspace, a variable acoustic diffractive device positioned in a path of the acoustic wave between the acoustic source and the workspace, the variable acoustic diffractive device including an array of elements each having independently variable acoustic properties, and an electronic controller in communication with the acoustic source and the variable acoustic diffractive device, the electronic controller programmed to supply signals to cause the acoustic source to produce the acoustic wave and the variable acoustic diffractive device to diffract the acoustic wave from the acoustic source to provide non-uniform acoustic forces in a medium located in the workspace.

Abstract: Vehicles and multi-place dining tables for vehicles are provided. In one example, the vehicle includes a vehicle structure having a first sidewall, a second sidewall, and a floor disposed therebetween. The vehicle structure at least partially surrounds an interior area that has an aisleway extending therethrough. A multi-place dining table is disposed in the interior area and includes a first table section that is disposed between the first sidewall and the aisleway. The first table section includes a first tabletop. A second table section is disposed between the second sidewall and the aisleway and includes a second tabletop. The second tabletop is movable between a stowed position where the first and second tabletops are spaced apart from each other by at least the aisleway and a deployed position where the second tabletop extends across the aisleway and is coupled to the first tabletop.

Abstract: A residue tube assembly includes a residue tube having an open upper end and a cap assembly including a cap sealingly secured with the open upper end and an adjustable member assembled with the cap and defining an outlet passage extending into the residue tube to define a fill limit of the residue tube, and an overflow passage extending radially outward and downward of the open upper end of the residue tube. The adjustable member is vertically adjustable in the cap to adjust the fill limit of the residue tube.

Abstract: A multiple port connecting assembly includes a connector body and a fluid isolation adapter. The connector body includes a first fluid passage extending from an adapter port to a first connector port, a second fluid passage extending from the adapter port to a second connector port, a first seat portion disposed between the first fluid passage and the second fluid passage, and a second seat portion disposed between the second fluid passage and an open end portion of the adapter port. The fluid isolation adapter is removably assembled with the adapter port and includes an adapter body defining a first end passage that connects with the first fluid passage, a second end passage that connects with the second fluid passage, a first seal portion sealing against the first seat portion, and a second seal portion sealing against the second seat portion.

Abstract: A method including identifying an activity pattern of a subject's brain, determining, based on the identified activity pattern of the subject's brain and a target parameter, a set of stimulation parameters, generating, by two or more emitters and based on the set of stimulation parameters, a composite stimulation pattern at a portion of the subject's brain, wherein each of the two or more emitters generates a stimulation pattern using a different modality, measuring, by one or more sensors, a response from the portion of the subject's brain in response to the composite stimulation pattern; and dynamically adjusting, for each emitter and based on the measured response from the portion of the subject's brain, a set of stimulation parameters.

Abstract: A sampling container assembly includes a sample receiving residue tube, a residue tube cap, inner and outer pipes, a container cap, a fixture block, and a supply conduit. The residue tube cap is assembled with the residue tube and defines inlet and outlet ports. The inner pipe has a lower end sealingly mounted to the fixture block and surrounding the residue tube to define an inner cavity for receiving a heat transfer fluid. The outer pipe has a lower end sealingly mounted to the fixture block and surrounding the inner pipe to define an outer annulus, with the container cap sealingly assembled with an upper end of the outer pipe. The supply conduit extends through the fixture block and the outer annulus and is connected with the inlet port of the residue tube cap for providing a sample fluid to the residue tube. The fixture block defines a passage extending to the outer annulus for supplying a chilling fluid to the outer annulus for chilling the heat transfer fluid in the inner cavity.

Abstract: A transcranial ultrasonic stimulation headset includes a coupling system, one or more ultrasound transducers configured to generate and direct a first focused ultrasound beam at a region within a portion of a subject's brain, one or more sensors configured to measure a response from the portion of the subject's brain in response to the first focused ultrasound beam, and an electronic controller in communication with the one or more ultrasound transducers configured to dynamically adjust, based on the measured response from the portion of the subject's brain, a particular stimulation parameter for the one or more ultrasound transducers to generate and direct a second focused ultrasound beam at the region within a portion of the subject's brain.

Abstract: A server, method, and non-transitory computer readable medium for ranking a plurality of data sources are provided. The server includes a network interface, a memory storage unit and a processor. The method involves sending a test message, monitoring an external network for a response to the test message, determining whether a service level is satisfied and adjusting the rank of the data source. The non-transitory computer readable medium is encoded with programming instructions to direct a processor to carry out the method.

Abstract: Closed-loop neurostimulation of large-scale brain networks includes a neurostimulation headset having at least two ultrasound transducer modules configured to generate within a first time period, a first focused ultrasound wave at a region within a portion of a subject's brain, one or more sensors configured to measure, within the first time period, a response from the portion of the subject's brain in response to the first focused ultrasound wave, and an electronic controller in communication with the at least two emitters and the one or more sensors configured to dynamically adjust, based on the measured response from the portion of the subject's brain, a power level of one or more of the at least two ultrasound transducer modules to generate a second focused ultrasound wave at the region within the portion of the subject's brain.

Abstract: A system for therapeutic ultrasound includes one or more ultrasound transducer modules that are configured to generate ultrasound waves at a first power level and at a second power level, the first and second power levels being different and the second power level being sufficient to provide a therapeutic effect for a living subject, and an electronic controller in communication with the one or more ultrasound transducer modules, the electronic controller being programmed to cause the one or more ultrasound transducer modules to generate a first ultrasound wave at the first power level and detect a reflected ultrasound wave from the subject in response to the first ultrasound wave, determine a location of a target within the subject based on the detected reflected ultrasound wave, and, after determining the location of the target, generate a second ultrasound wave at the second power level focused at the target.

Abstract: A sampling container assembly includes a sample receiving residue tube, a residue tube cap, inner and outer pipes, a container cap, a fixture block, and a supply conduit. The residue tube cap is assembled with the residue tube and defines inlet and outlet ports. The inner pipe has a lower end sealingly mounted to the fixture block and surrounding the residue tube to define an inner cavity for receiving a heat transfer fluid. The outer pipe has a lower end sealingly mounted to the fixture block and surrounding the inner pipe to define an outer annulus, with the container cap sealingly assembled with an upper end of the outer pipe. The supply conduit extends through the fixture block and the outer annulus and is connected with the inlet port of the residue tube cap for providing a sample fluid to the residue tube. The fixture block defines a passage extending to the outer annulus for supplying a chilling fluid to the outer annulus for chilling the heat transfer fluid in the inner cavity.

Abstract: An apparatus includes an acoustic source for directing an acoustic wave towards a workspace, a variable acoustic diffractive device positioned in a path of the acoustic wave between the acoustic source and the workspace, the variable acoustic diffractive device including an array of elements each having independently variable acoustic properties, and an electronic controller in communication with the acoustic source and the variable acoustic diffractive device, the electronic controller programmed to supply signals to cause the acoustic source to produce the acoustic wave and the variable acoustic diffractive device to diffract the acoustic wave from the acoustic source to provide non-uniform acoustic forces in a medium located in the workspace.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a precursor dispenser for dispensing a precursor material into a workspace, one or more acoustic sources configured to direct acoustic waves towards the workspace to provide acoustic fields that arrange the precursor material in a three-dimensional shape in the workspace, one or more sensors configured to detect a distribution of the precursor material in the workspace, and an electronic controller in communication with the precursor dispenser, the one or more acoustic sources, and the one or more sensors, the electronic controller being programmed to cause the one or more acoustic sources to adjust the acoustic fields to reduce deviations in the distribution of the precursor material from the three-dimensional shape in the workspace.

Abstract: A vehicle includes a chassis, an engine coupled to the chassis, a primary electrical system including a primary alternator and a primary battery, and an auxiliary electrical system including an auxiliary alternator and an auxiliary battery. At least one of (a) the primary alternator is electrically decoupled from the auxiliary battery and (b) the auxiliary alternator is electrically decoupled from the primary battery, and the primary battery is electrically coupled to one or more electrical loads.

Abstract: An electroencephalogram (EEG) system is disclosed. The EEG system includes an EEG controller and an EEG sensor that includes a contact surface, the contact surface including an electrically-conductive portion in communication with the EEG controller and a sensor release element in communication with the EEG controller, the sensor release element being configured to perform, in response to a signal from the EEG controller, a release action to reduce adhesion of an electrically-conductive gel between the contact of the sensor and the user's skin.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method, system using at least one computing device, and computer program product are disclosed for linking an ontology provided by a content service with a word expansion ontology. The content service ontology is referred to as a category ontology and the word expansion ontology is referred to herein as a lexical ontology. A user may provide an input such as an input command to an application. The input command is processed by a natural language processing engine to derive the user's intent and to extract relevant entities embodied in the command. The NLP engine may create a composite concept set containing multiple permutations of the concepts (entities extracted) and provide the composite concept set to a concept mapper. The concept mapper applies searches an ontology map and applies one or more scoring operations to determine a best match between the composite concept set and at least one category provided by the category ontology.

Abstract: A vehicle includes a chassis, an engine coupled to the chassis, a primary electrical system including a primary alternator and a primary battery, and an auxiliary electrical system including an auxiliary alternator and an auxiliary battery. At least one of (a) the primary alternator is electrically decoupled from the auxiliary battery and (b) the auxiliary alternator is electrically decoupled from the primary battery, and the primary battery is electrically coupled to one or more electrical loads.

Abstract: Systems and methods for sensing an amount of a liquid in a container are provided. A conduit is provided that has a length positioned relative to a portion of the container where a level of the liquid in the container changes when liquid is added to the container or liquid is removed from the container. The conduit is in fluid communication with the container to therefore allow an amount of the liquid to enter the conduit that is proportional to the amount of the liquid in the container. An outlet is provided along with a valve. The valve is in fluid communication with the conduit and the outlet, where the valve is selectable to allow the amount of liquid in the conduit to pass to the outlet, the amount of liquid passing to the outlet proportional to the amount of liquid in the container.

Abstract: The invention described herein relates to a method of detecting malaria comprising the steps of: (i) delivering an evanescent IR beam through said ATR substrate in contact with a patient blood sample; (ii) detecting IR radiation transmitted from the ATR substrate to produce a signal characteristic for one or more lipids in the sample, and (iii) processing said signal and a set of reference library spectra of lipids associated with malaria parasites in order to detect matches and quantify said one or more lipids in the sample. In contrast to the prior art, the present invention relies on detecting lipids instead of hemozoin.

Abstract: A vehicle includes a chassis, an engine coupled to the chassis, a primary electrical system including a primary alternator and a primary battery, and an auxiliary electrical system including an auxiliary alternator and an auxiliary battery. At least one of (a) the primary alternator is electrically decoupled from the auxiliary battery and (b) the auxiliary alternator is electrically decoupled from the primary battery, and the primary battery is electrically coupled to one or more electrical loads.