Abstract: A heat and acid resistant probiotics microsphere having a size from 20 to 250 ?m that can readily be incorporated into food or beverages that subsequently undergo thermal treatment. The synbiotic core includes a seed layer formed from at least one polysaccharide. A probiotic microorganism is coated on the seed layer. An acid-resistant shell layer is positioned over the synbiotic core, the acid-resistant shell layer comprising one or more pH-responsive polymers. A heat-resistant bilayer shell is positioned over the acid-resistant shell layer, the heat-resistant bilayer shell including an inner shell layer and an outer shell layer, wherein the inner shell layer includes a heat-resistant liposome layer and the outer layer includes a heat-resistant disaccharide or polysaccharide.

Abstract: An electroporation system including one or more of a pipette, a pipette tip, a pipette docking assembly, and a pulse generator. The pipette docking assembly includes a pipette station, a pipette station guard, and a reservoir (e.g., a buffer tube). A method for transfecting a cell with a payload including providing an electroporation system, providing the cell, providing the payload, introducing the cell and the payload into a pipette tip, and electroporating the cell within the pipette tip by operating the electroporation system.

Abstract: A tricuspid valve apparatus may include a frame and an associated neo-prosthetic valve. The frame acts as a stabilizing structure that extends cephalad into the morphologic or functional right atrium (upstream) and caudally into the morphologic or functional right ventricle (downstream). The frame comprises a strutted atrial dome that conforms to the atrium without obstruction of blood flow from the incoming great veins (i.e. superior vena cava and inferior vena cava) or other anomalous veins and/or tributaries. The frame further comprises ventricular struts to be placed within the right ventricle to secure the neo-prosthetic valve in a desired position. The assembly of the frame and valve is collapsible so that prior to deployment the assembly is placed in a vascular catheter, and then self-expands upon release in the heart.

Abstract: Predicting non-conformance of vehicle parts is provided. The method comprises collating historical work records related to a vehicle model, wherein each work record specifies a work task, non-conformances discovered during the work task, replacement parts required for the work task, when the work task occurred, and where the work task occurred. From the historical work records the system calculates probabilities of non-conformances according to types of work tasks, locations of the work tasks, and timing of the work tasks. Replacement part requirements are determined according to types of non-conformances, and requests are sent for replacement parts for specified service locations according to scheduled work tasks for the vehicle model at the service locations and anticipated probabilities of non-conformances related to the work tasks.

Abstract: Method for preparing a sustainable construction material, the method including: combining construction waste, food waste comprising calcium, and water thereby forming a waste mixture; optionally moulding the waste mixture; and contacting the waste mixture with CO2 under conditions in which at least a portion of the calcium present in the waste mixture is converted to calcium carbonate thereby forming a treated waste mixture thereby forming the sustainable construction material.

Abstract: A logical clock is implemented in networked nodes. Messages between nodes can include either a scalar timestamp or a vector timestamp. The scalar timestamp leads to an overhead reduction, and nodes can select whether to send a scalar or vector timestamp depending on requirements. Message recipients update their logical clock vector differently depending on whether the scalar or vector timestamp is received. Applications to multi-master databases are also provided. The clock conforms to Lamport clock requirements when the scalar timestamp is sent, and conforms to both Lamport and vector clock requirements when the vector timestamp is sent.

Abstract: Systems and methods related to centrifuge energy harvesting chambers (CEHCs) for gas production simulation are provided. Certain CEHCs may include a high-pressure chamber, high-pressure syringe pumps, cooling systems, an actuator and surcharge, backpressure control inside the wellbore, a heating element on the wellbore, water gas separation systems, and flow measurement systems. Certain CEHCs may also provide software operably connected to sensors and instrumentation, comprising a module to continuously, in real-time, periodically, or asynchronously, measure and monitor simulation variables.

Abstract: An appliance for making a beverage comprising: a conduit defining a liquid flow path for the liquid; a pump to move the liquid under pressure along the flow path and configured to operate in a first mode and a second mode, different to the first mode, a sensor assembly configured to determine a first flow rate of the liquid in the flow path when the pump operates in the first mode and determine a second flow rate when the pump operates in the second mode; and a controller operatively coupled with the pump and the sensor assembly and configured to cause the pump to switch from the first mode to the second mode if the first flow rate is below a first threshold and to cause the pump to switch from the second mode to the first mode if the second flow rate is above a second threshold. In the second mode, the pump causes the liquid to move under increased pressure than in the first mode to at least aid in resolving cavitation. A method of controlling the appliance to make a beverage is also disclosed.

Abstract: Disclosed herein at methods and systems for monitoring and analyzing code and identifying a suitable substitute for the identified code. A central server identifies inserted code configured to communicate session data to a second server. The central server then identifies an application having functionality corresponding to the inserted code. The central server then provides an indication of the corresponding application.

Abstract: A health condition of a person may be assessed from a thermal sensor signal. By increasing performance indices of a thermal camera (for example, resolution, frame rate, sensitivity), operation may be extended to identification verification, biometric data extraction and health condition analysis, and so forth. Prediction may be carried out by monitoring a time sequence of thermal images, and consequently early warning of the health condition may be provided. The apparatus may be used for, but not limited to, personalization of smart home devices through supervised and reinforcement learnings. The application of the apparatus may be, but not limited to, smart homes, smart buildings and smart vehicles, and so forth.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a method for performing enhancement on an audio signal to generate an enhanced audio signal in response to feedback indicative of amount of compression applied to at least one frequency band of the enhanced audio signal. In typical embodiments, the enhancement is or includes bass enhancement. Examples of other types of enhancement performed in other embodiments include dialog enhancement, upmixing, frequency shifting, harmonic injection or transposition, subharmonic injection, virtualization, and equalization. Other aspects are systems (e.g., programmed processors) and devices (e.g., devices having physically-limited bass reproduction capabilities, such as, for example, a notebook, tablet, mobile phone, or other device with small speakers) configured to perform any embodiment of the method.

Abstract: In various embodiments, software architecture and network topology are provided to implement a decentralized distributed computing environment. In some embodiments, the novel network topology is configured as a mesh network such that individual hub devices are connected directly or indirectly with each other. An individual worker can be added to or removed from this network via connection with the hub devices without affecting the rest of the workers in the network and without user intervention or knowledge.

Abstract: Disclosed herein at methods and systems for monitoring and analyzing code and identifying a suitable substitute for the identified code. A central server identifies inserted code configured to communicate session data to a second server. The central server then identifies an application having functionality corresponding to the inserted code. The central server then provides an indication of the corresponding application.

Abstract: Various embodiments facilitate a user to program and control one or more devices through a control system. In some embodiments, an interface is provided to enable the user to manipulate one or more program elements graphically. The one or more program elements include a first program element corresponding to the task, and a user input is provided by the user through a user manipulation of the first program element in the interface. The user manipulation comprises drag and drop, voice control, gesture control and/or any other mode of control. In those embodiments, the user input is then converted a first code understandable to the control system. The first code is then transmitted to the control system through a communication protocol. After the first code is received, a first instruction is generated by the control system and is transmitted to an end device for execution by the first instruction.

Abstract: A hardware accelerator for accelerating the zero knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge (zk-SNARK) protocol by reducing the computation time of the cryptographic verification is disclosed. The accelerator includes a zk-SNARK engine having one or more processing units running in parallel. The processing unit can include one or more multiply-accumulate operation (MAC) units, one or more fast Fourier transform (FFT) units; and one or more elliptic curve processor (ECP) units. The one or more ECP units are configured to reduce a bit-length of a scalar di in an ECP algorithm used for generating a proof, thereby the cryptographic verification requires less computation power.

Abstract: Disclosed herein at methods and systems for monitoring and analyzing code and identifying a suitable substitute for the identified code. A central server identifies inserted code configured to communicate session data to a second server. The central server then identifies an application having functionality corresponding to the inserted code. The central server then provides an indication of the corresponding application.

Abstract: A method is provided for identifying operating conditions of a system. Input data relating to operation of the system is applied to a multi-class model for classification, where the multi-class model is configured for classifying the data into one of a plurality of predefined classes, and each class corresponds to a respective operating condition of the system. A confidence level of the classification by the multi-class model is determined. If the confidence level is below a threshold confidence level, the input data is applied to a plurality of binary models, where each binary model is configured for determining whether the data is or is not in a respective one of the predefined classes. If the plurality of binary models determine that the data is not in any of the respective predefined classes, the data can be taken into consideration when updating the multi-class model.

Abstract: A device (1) comprises: a cylindrical shell (4); a first spring (5) encased inside the cylindrical shell (4); a second spring (6) encased inside the cylindrical shell (4); a separator (13) in the cylindrical shell (4) separating the first and second springs (5, 6); a first end plate (12) on a first side (13a) of the separator (13) and a second end plate (11) on a second side (13b) of the separator (13); a first rod (2) and a second rod (3) passing openings (20a, 20b) provided at each end of the cylindrical shell (4), with the first rod (2) connected to the first end plate (12) and the second rod (3) connected to the second end plate (11); and a spacer (14) inserted between the first end plate (12) and the first spring (5).

Abstract: The present invention refers to a method and apparatus and computer program for detecting communities in a radio access network with a plurality of vertices (C, BBU), wherein the method comprises calculating (S11) relationship strengths (31, 41) for network connections between the vertices (C, BBU) by executing a connection strength calculation process by analyzing performance factors, decisive for network performance including cell coverage overlap, signal strength, and inter-cell interference. The method further creates (S12) a network graph with nodes, representing the vertices (C,BBU) in the network and edges, representing the network connections based on the calculated relationship strengths (31, 41) and applies (S13) an extended iterative disjoint community detection algorithm for clustering nodes into communities, wherein in each iteration imposed one or more constraints for clustering cooperating nodes into the same community are analyzed (S14).

Abstract: A device includes a vertical transistor comprising a first gate in a first trench, wherein the first gate comprises a dielectric layer and a gate region over the dielectric layer, and a second gate in a second trench, a high voltage lateral transistor immediately adjacent to the vertical transistor and a low voltage lateral transistor, wherein the high voltage lateral transistor is between the vertical transistor and the low voltage lateral transistor.