Abstract: The disclosed and claimed subject matter relates to selective thermal atomic layer etching with a novel series of halogen-free organic acids cycled with an oxidant as a co-reactant to etch metals.

Abstract: This application relates to oligomer barcodes for labeling extracellular vesicles (EVs). The labeled extracellular vesicles can be used to monitor EV movement for research purposes and for the development of treatments in a variety of diseases and disorders.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for estimating immune response effected by patient specific and plan specific radiation treatments (such as, e.g., SBRT). The systems and methods may take into account radiation impact on circulating immune blood cell types or sub-types, such as T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, natural killer cells, erythrocytes, and/or neutrophils, and predict time dependent fractional blood count and cell kill following radiation therapy treatment. Additionally, the system, method, and computer readable medium provide parameters such as a dose dependent lymphocyte kill function and average net release rate of new lymphocytes into circulating blood (including promotion of cytotoxic T cells and suppression of lymphocytes in blood), which may be used for optimization of RT treatment plans.

Abstract: A retractor/protector suitable for use in a surgical incision or a natural orifice comprises a longitudinal axis defining an instrument access channel extending from a proximal end to a distal end; a flexible outer ring; an inner ring; a flexible sheath extending between the outer ring and the inner ring; and at least one rigid segment adapted to attach to the flexible outer ring to thereby increase the rigidity of the outer ring. Embodiments of the retractor/protector are described that have interlocking and non-interlocking rigid segments. Embodiments are also described that have bases that insert into or under the flexible outer ring in addition to or in lieu of rigid segments to increase rigidity and/or provide support for a detachable cap.

Abstract: A roofing system includes a roof deck and at least one photovoltaic module installed on the roof deck. The first photovoltaic module includes at least one solar cell and a sealant. At least one fastener penetrates the sealant and the roof deck.

Abstract: Disclosures herein are directed to methods of regenerating cardiomyocytes in heart tissue damaged as a result heart failure in a subject by administering one or more aminoglycosides to a subject in need thereof. Accordingly, disclosures herein are also toward methods of administering one or more aminoglycosides to treat heart failure in a subject in need thereof.

Abstract: A cluster tool for fabricating substrates includes a factory interface; a first processing mainframe coupled to the factory interface, including: a processing chamber monolithic structure including four processing chambers in the same housing; four load locks coupled to the processing chamber monolithic structure, each load lock including a heater assembly configured to increase the temperature of a substrate disposed in the load lock; and a swapper assembly disposed between the four load locks and the processing chamber monolithic structure, wherein the swapper assembly includes four swappers, each swapper configured to swap substrates between one processing chamber and one load lock along a linear trajectory.

Abstract: Described herein are modified enzymes with increased thermostability. The modified enzymes of SEQ ID NO: 3 includes at least one amino acid substitution of SEQ ID NO: 3, the at least one amino acid substitution selected from the group consisting of A8E, S114N, N134Y, T136D, F173Y, Y187N, G193K, Q197H, Q197Y, G228D, S267L, A7R, L113Y, Q150F, Q150H, G155A, S171F, V175F, G177C, T199V, F216Y, S223Y, F261Y, and any combinations thereof. The modified enzymes may be used in methods of forming a first triglyceride by mixing a second triglyceride, a first fatty acid, and the modified enzyme to form the first triglyceride which is a mixture of fatty acids from the second triglyceride and the first fatty acid. Biodiesel may be produced by mixing a fatty acid or a triglyceride, a short-chained alcohol, and the modified enzyme to form a fatty acid ester of the short-chained alcohol.

Abstract: A thermally stable susceptor assembly used in a deposition reactor provides heat input and controls the temperature of a substrate tape as well as minimizes the build-up of errant deposition material. The susceptor heats a substrate tape within the reactor upon which one or more thin films are deposited, particularly high temperature superconductor (HTS) thin films produced in a MOCVD reactor.

Abstract: Robust optimal control techniques are provided that may shape driving pulses such that the gates are realised with high fidelity despite experimental uncertainty in all or some of the physical parameters of the qubits, drives, qubit-qubit coupling, and qubit-drive coupling. For example, a method for controlling a quantum system comprising a plurality of coupled qubits may comprise: i) assigning the qubits to a plurality of subgroups, wherein the assigning comprises selecting at least one driven qubit and a plurality of undriven qubits for each subgroup, such that each undriven qubit in a subgroup is coupled to a driven qubit in that subgroup and such that any two adjacent subgroups share at least one undriven qubit and do not share any driven qubit; and ii) applying drive signals to each driven qubit to implement a set of desired quantum gates at the driven qubits, wherein the application of the drive signals to the driven qubits at the same time implements the identity gate at each undriven qubit.

Abstract: Disclosed and claimed herein are novel non-polymeric, aromatic-based core molecules containing oxygen bearing, acid or base reactive, crosslinking functionalities with improved sensitivity (photospeed), resolution (Line Width Roughness) or both when formulated in EUV photoresists. Also disclosed are formulations and processes made from the molecules disclosed.

Abstract: In multi-threaded or multi-processor computing systems, a deadlock may occur when two or more processes or threads are unable to proceed because they are each waiting for a resource that the other holds. As a result, progress is halted because conflicting entities are stuck in a circular dependency, and none can release the resources they hold to let the others continue. Systems and methods are provided wherein a resource reservation is carried out in two steps. The first step causes query nodes to add an identifier to a queue and, upon a request and the identifier being in a first position, a non-sharable resource is reserved. As a result, non-sharable resources are reserved in order and when needed, thereby preventing deadlocks.

Abstract: Provided is an information processing system configured to: acquire a question based on input from a user; acquire answer basis information corresponding to the question from a database; request a language model to create an answer to the question based on the acquired answer basis information and acquire a model answer from the language model; determine whether the model answer matches the acquired answer basis information; and generate an answer to be output to the user based on a result of the determination and the model answer.

Abstract: A method for producing a purified stream of vinyl chloride monomer, the method comprising (i) providing a gaseous stream that includes vinyl chloride monomer, carbon dioxide, and water; (ii) dehydrating the gaseous stream to remove substantially all of the water from the stream to thereby produce a substantially dehydrated stream; (iii) liquifying at least the vinyl chloride monomer within the substantially dehydrated stream; and (iv) separating the carbon dioxide as a gaseous stream from the liquid vinyl chloride monomer to thereby produce a purified vinyl chloride monomer stream.

Abstract: A system for utilizing heating and cooling pads that are in different system configurations. The overall system includes one or more heating and cooling pads, a power supply such as a battery, and mobile and cloud-based applications. The overall system includes a flexible thermoelectric device and a controlling module with or without an integrated power source such as a battery. The overall system is in a standalone configuration if a power source is integrated into the control module and is in a meshed configuration when powered by an external power source. The mobile and cloud-based applications include mobile User Interfaces or UIs that include one or more monitoring UIs and one or more control UIs. The mobile and cloud-based applications include a mobile app or a cloud computing infrastructure.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to a method for forming a rare-earth-containing layer, an apparatus, and a structure. The method comprises providing a substrate within a process chamber and depositing the rare-earth-containing layer over the substrate. The process of depositing the rare-earth-containing layer comprises providing a rare-earth precursor into the process chamber, providing a metal precursor into the process chamber, and providing one or more non-metal element reactants into the process chamber. The apparatus comprises a process chamber, a precursor supply unit for supplying a rare-earth precursor and a metal precursor into the process chamber, and a reactant supply unit for supplying one or more non-metal element reactants into the process chamber.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to extrusion processes. In at least one embodiment, a method of forming a functionalized polymer includes introducing a polymer and a coupling agent to an extruder at a feed throat of the extruder. The method includes extruding the polymer and the coupling agent through at least a portion of the extruder via a plurality of intermeshing screws disposed within the extruder to form the functionalized polymer. The at least one screw of the plurality of intermeshing screws has a first mixing zone having a total length of about 4 L/D to about 6 L/D, a second mixing zone having a total length of 2.5 L/D to 3.5 L/D, and a third mixing zone having a total length of about 2.5 L/D to about 4.5 L/D.

Abstract: In an example method for forming a variable optical viewing optics assembly (VOA) for a head mounted display, a prepolymer is deposited onto a substrate having a first optical element for the VOA. Further, a mold is applied to the prepolymer to conform the prepolymer to a curved surface of the mold on a first side of the prepolymer and to conform the prepolymer to a surface of the substrate on a second side of the prepolymer opposite the first side. Further, the prepolymer is exposed to actinic radiation sufficient to form a solid polymer from the prepolymer, such that the solid polymer forms an ophthalmic lens having a curved surface corresponding to the curved surface of the mold, and the substrate and the ophthalmic lens form an integrated optical component. The mold is released from the solid polymer, and the VOA is assembled using the integrated optical component.

Abstract: An optical apparatus includes a light emitting apparatus and a host apparatus. The light emitting apparatus includes a housing extending in a first direction, a light emitting device mounted in the housing, an optical connector including a first optical connection part provided at one end of the housing, and an electrical connector including a first electrical connection part provided at one end of the housing and receiving a voltage to drive the light emitting device. The host apparatus includes a host optical connector including a second optical connection part which faces the first optical connection part and is optically coupled thereto, a host electrical connector including a second electrical connection part facing the first electrical connection part and being electrically connected to the first electrical connection part, and a host board mounting the host optical connector and the host electrical connector thereon.

Abstract: Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) may transmit a sidelink transmission associated with a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index. The UE may monitor a quantity of retransmissions associated with the sidelink transmission within a time window. The UE may selectively retransmit the sidelink transmission based at least in part on the MCS index and the quantity of retransmissions. Numerous other aspects are described.