Image processing acceleration for intelligent unmanned aerial vehicle on mobile GPU

In this paper, we present an algorithm for providing visually-guided unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control using visual information that is processed on a mobile graphic processing unit (GPU). Most real-time machine vision applications for UAVs exploit low-resolution images because the shortage of computational resources comes from size, weight and power issue. This leads to the limitation that the data are insufficient to provide the UAV with intelligent behavior. However, GPUs have emerged as inexpensive parallel processors that are capable of providing high computational power in mobile environments. We present an approach for detecting and tracking lines that use a mobile GPU. Hough transform and clustering techniques were used for robust and fast tracking. We achieved accurate line detection and faster tracking performance using the mobile GPU as compared with an x86 i5 CPU. Moreover, the average results showed that the GPU provided approximately five times speedup as compared to an ARM quad-core Cortex-A15. We conducted a detailed analysis of the performance of proposed tracking and detection algorithm and obtained meaningful results that could be utilized in real flight.     

An ontology-based personalized target advertisement system on interactive TV

We design and implement a personalized target advertisement (PTA) system in IPTV using ontology-based semantic relations between IPTV program and advertisement. In the PTA system, we focus on the development of an ontology reasoning technique of improving advertisement recommendation ability and exploiting efficient information reuse. For this purpose, we first build the IPTV program ontology and viewer profiling ontology based on the IPTV program and viewers’ content consumption behavior, using OWL (Web Ontology Language) standardized by W3C. We then classify each viewer into his/her corresponding reference group using a similarity metric. After that, we define the semantic relations between advertisement and shopping products consumed by the prototype through shopping sites in IPTV. Based on these semantic relations, we infer the preferred advertisements for each viewer through our reasoning process. In the experimental section, we demonstrate a prototype of our system and the algorithm of the PTA system using various cases.     

Influence of wall charge distribution on time lag of address discharge in AC plasma display panels

The influence of wall charge distribution on the time lag of address discharge in an AC plasma display panel is investigated using two different reset waveforms: one (typical reset) induces both face and surface discharges and the other (TR reset) induces face discharges only. The measured formative time lag and statistical time lag of address discharge for TR were 21–31 ns and 31–74 ns shorter than the one for the typical reset, respectively. The TR reset resulted in much less increase of statistical time lag than the typical reset when the reset-to-address time interval was increased, and 70 ns smaller deviation of the statistical time lag among different color cells. Calculations show that the TR reset forms a much smoother wall charge profile, which is less susceptible to cell parameter variations, than the typical reset. The observed differences in the time lags of address discharge between different scan lines and color cells are strongly correlated to the differences of the wall charge profile, indicating that a smooth wall charge profile formed by the reset using face discharges only reduces the time lag of address discharge and minimizes the susceptibility of address discharge to cell parameter variation.     

Electron beam lithography-assisted fabrication of Au nano-dot array as a substrate of a correlated AFM and confocal Raman spectroscopy

This paper documents a study of an Au nano-dot array that was fabricated by electron beam lithography on a glass wafer. The patterns that had features of 100nm dots in diameter with a 2-mum pitch comprised a total area of 200x200mum(2). The dot-shaped Cr underlayer was open to the air after developing Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). When dipped into the Cr etchant, the exposed Cr layer was eliminated from the glass wafer in a short period of time. In order to ultimately fabricate the Ti/Au dot arrays, Ti and Au were deposited onto the arrays with a thickness of 2 and 40nm, respectively. The lift-off procedure was carried out in the Cr etchant using sonication in order to completely remove the residual Cr/PMMA layer. The fabricated Au nano-dot array was then immersed in an Ag enhancing solution and then into an ethanol solution containing (N-(6-(Biotinamido)hexyl)-3'-(2'-pyridyldithio)-propionamide (Biotin-HPDP). The substrate was analyzed using a correlated atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal Raman spectroscopy. Through this procedure, position-dependent surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) signals could be obtained.     

Mucoadhesive Phenolic Pectin Hydrogels for Saliva Substitute and Oral Patch

Oral disease is one of the most common conditions worldwide, negatively affecting general health, reducing the quality of life, and often developing into systemic illness. However, the design of therapeutic agents for oral diseases is challenging due to various unique features of the oral cavity, including its wet and dynamic environment and curved shape. Herein, the development of highly biocompatible mucoadhesive functional hydrogels for oral applications is reported, generated by introducing bio-inspired phenolic moieties into a pectin polymer. Pyrogallol-functionalized pectin (Pec-PG) can be crosslinked in situ via autoxidation without chemical agents and readily fabricated as various formulations. Sprayable Pec-PG hydrogel exhibits strong mucoadhesion and outstanding hydration ability ex vivo and in vivo, thus displaying significant potential as a novel saliva substitute for dry mouth. The authors further show that topical application of mucoadhesive Pec-PG patches pre-loaded with corticosteroid significantly promotes the repair of diabetic oral ulcer tissue via prolonged drug release, free radical scavenging, and physical barrier effects. Moreover, similar applications for oral ulcer treatment using a pectin hydrogel modified with catechol (Pec-CA), another phenolic moiety are demonstrated. Together, these findings suggest that mucoadhesive phenolic pectin derivatives can provide highly biocompatible, convenient, and effective hydrogel platforms for treating oral diseases.     

Photonic Crystal Palette of Binary Block Copolymer Blends for Full Visible Structural Color Encryption

Structural color (SC) arising from a periodically ordered self-assembled block copolymer (BCP) photonic crystal (PC) is useful for reflective-mode sensing displays owing to its capability of stimuli-responsive structure alteration. However, a set of PC inks, each providing a precisely addressable SC in the full visible range, has rarely been demonstrated. Here, a strategy for developing BCP PC inks with tunable structures is presented. This involves solution-blending of two lamellar-forming BCPs with different molecular weights. By controlling the mixing ratio of the two BCPs, a thin 1D BCP PC film is developed with alternating in-plane lamellae whose periodicity varies linearly from ≈46 to ≈91 nm. Subsequent preferential swelling of one-type lamellae with either solvent or non-volatile ionic liquid causes the photonic band gap of the films to red-shift, giving rise to full-visible-range SC correlated with the pristine nanostructures of the blended films in both liquid and solid states. The BCP PC palette of solution-blended binary solutions is conveniently employed in various coating processes, allowing facile development of BCP SC on the targeted surface. Furthermore, full-color SC paintings are realized with their transparent PC inks, facilitating low-power pattern encryption.     

5 nm Silver Nanoparticles Amplify Clinical Features of Atopic Dermatitis in Mice by Activating Mast Cells

The triggering effect of silver nanoparticles (NPs) on the induction of allergic reactions is evaluated, by studying the activation of mast cells and the clinical features of atopic dermatitis in a mouse model. Granule release is induced in RBL‐2H3 mast cells by 5 nm, but not 100 nm silver NPs. Increases in the levels of reactive oxygen species (hydrogen peroxide and mitochondrial superoxide) and intracellular Ca⁺⁺ in mast cells are induced by 5 nm silver NPs. In a mouse model of atopic dermatitis induced by a mite allergen, the skin lesions are more severe and appear earlier in mice treated simultaneously with 5 nm silver NPs and allergen compared with mice treated with allergen alone or 100 nm silver NPs and allergen. The histological findings reveal that number of tryptase‐positive mast cells and total IgE levels in the serum increase in mice treated with 5 nm silver NPs and allergen. The results in this study indicate that cotreatment with 5 nm silver NPs stimulates mast cell degranulation and induces earlier and more severe clinical alterations in allergy‐prone individuals.     

Spatial Micropatterning of Growth Factors in 3D Hydrogels for Location‐Specific Regulation of Cellular Behaviors

Growth factors are potent stimuli for regulating cell function in tissue engineering strategies, but spatially patterning their presentation in 3D in a facile manner using a single material is challenging. Micropatterning is an attractive tool to modulate the cellular microenvironment with various biochemical and physical cues and study their effects on stem cell behaviors. Implementing heparin's ability to immobilize growth factors, dual‐crosslinkable alginate hydrogels are micropatterned in 3D with photocrosslinkable heparin substrates with various geometries and micropattern sizes, and their capability to establish 3D micropatterns of growth factors within the hydrogels is confirmed. This 3D micropatterning method could be applied to various heparin binding growth factors, such as fibroblast growth factor‐2, vascular endothelial growth factor, transforming growth factor‐betas and bone morphogenetic proteins while retaining the hydrogel's natural degradability and cytocompability. Stem cells encapsulated within these micropatterned hydrogels have exhibited spatially localized growth and differentiation responses corresponding to various growth factor patterns, demonstrating the versatility of the approach in controlling stem cell behavior for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.