Optimal visual sensor placement for coverage based on target location profile

The proper placement of visual sensors across a sensor field for covering targets with arbitrary location and orientation is a mission-critical decision in surveillance applications. The specifics of sensor deployment in these applications not only determine the maximum achievable coverage, but it also affects the quality of the target’s appearance in cameras for subsequent use in vision tasks. However, the inaccuracies inherent in localization techniques and the lack of knowledge regarding the target orientation render existing proposals insufficient for real-life scenarios. In this paper, we address both challenges. First, we extend the conventional point representation of targets with a circular model to account for full-angle coverage of targets with known location yet with unknown orientation from all directions. We then assume, in the absence of precise location information, a trajectory profile of targets could instead be generated through the importance sampling of the environment, indicating spots where the target is most likely located. This profile-based abstraction enables us to capture the uncertainty in target’s location by encircling every agglomeration of proximal samples within one cluster. Each cluster can then be viewed as a virtual macroscopic circular target for which we formulate the coverage problem in terms of a Binary Integer Programming (BIP) model. We have also taken into account the presence of obstruction in between multiple targets by calculating the angles of view of the sensors in an occlusion-dependant manner, effectively determining optimal placement for maximal instead of full-angle coverage. Evaluation results derived from our simulation experiments reveal that the proposed mechanism can effectively achieve high coverage accuracy with minimum number of deployed sensors.     

A partial-SOI LDMOSFET with triangular buried-oxide for breakdown voltage improvement

In this paper, a near-triangular buried-oxide partial silicon-on-insulator (TB-PSOI) lateral double-diffused MOS field-effect transistor is proposed. The electric field and electrostatic potential in this structure are modified by the gradual buried-oxide thickness increase. The modification includes the addition of a new peak in the electric field in comparison to that of the conventional PSOI. To assess the efficiency of the proposed structure, its breakdown voltage is compared with that of conventional PSOI using two-dimensional simulations. A comparative study is performed in terms of silicon-film and buried-oxide layer thicknesses, drift region and buried-oxide layer lengths, and drift region doping concentrations. The study shows that under the same drain current, the breakdown voltage of TB-PSOI is nearly two times higher than its PSOI counterpart (108% improvement). Simulation results show that the three-stepped oxide layer closely follows the TB-PSOI structure with a breakdown voltage improvement of 96% compared to that of the PSOI structure.     

Effect of light,acidified processing and storage on carbohydrates and other nutrients in mung bean sprouts

Fresh 4-day-old etiolated mung bean seedlings were analysed for proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, and vitamins A and C. Exposure of the sprouts to artificial light for 24 h increased the content of most constituents, especially provitamin A. Changes in the composition of the seedlings after preservation and storage for 6 months were followed. The sprouts were either canned or bottled, and then kept at various storage temperatures, regardless of storage conditions, hydrolysis of complex carbohydrates took place. There is some evidence that the reducing sugars released during storage underwent a Maillard reaction, leading to browning of the sprouts.     

Local oscillator chain for 1.55 to 1.75THz with 100-/spl mu/W peak power

We report on the design and performance of a fix-tuned /spl times/2/spl times/3/spl times/3 frequency multiplier chain that covers 1.55-1.75THz. The chain is nominally pumped with 100mW at W-band. At 120K the measured output power is larger than 4/spl mu/W across the band with a peak power of 100/spl mu/W at 1.665THz. A similar chain operated at room temperature produced a peak power of 21/spl mu/W. These power levels now make it possible to deploy multipixel heterodyne imaging arrays in this frequency range.     

Extreme Two‐Phase Cooling from Laser‐Etched Diamond and Conformal,Template‐Fabricated Microporous Copper

This paper reports the first integration of laser‐etched polycrystalline diamond microchannels with template‐fabricated microporous copper for extreme convective boiling in a composite heat sink for power electronics and energy conversion. Diamond offers the highest thermal conductivity near room temperature, and enables aggressive heat spreading along triangular channel walls with 1:1 aspect ratio. Conformally coated porous copper with thickness 25 µm and 5 µm pore size optimizes fluid and heat transport for convective boiling within the diamond channels. Data reported here include 1280 W cm^?2 of heat removal from 0.7 cm² surface area with temperature rise beyond fluid saturation less than 21 K, corresponding to 6.3 × 10⁵ W m^?2 K^?1. This heat sink has the potential to dissipate much larger localized heat loads with small temperature nonuniformity (5 kW cm^?2 over 200 µm × 200 µm with <3 K temperature difference). A microfluidic manifold assures uniform distribution of liquid over the heat sink surface with negligible pumping power requirements (e.g., <1.4 × 10^?4 of the thermal power dissipated). This breakthrough integration of functional materials and the resulting experimental data set a very high bar for microfluidic heat removal.     

Room-Temperature Quantum Cascade Laser: ZnO/Zn1−x Mg x O Versus GaN/Al x Ga1−x N

A ZnO/Zn_1?x Mg _x O-based quantum cascade laser (QCL) is proposed as a candidate for generation of THz radiation at room temperature. The structural and material properties, field dependence of the THz lasing frequency, and generated power are reported for a resonant phonon ZnO/Zn_0.95Mg_0.05O QCL emitting at 5.27 THz. The theoretical results are compared with those from GaN/Al _x Ga_1?x N QCLs of similar geometry. Higher calculated optical output powers [ $ {P}_{\rm{ZnMgO}} $  = 2.89 mW (nonpolar) at 5.27 THz and 2.75 mW (polar) at 4.93 THz] are obtained with the ZnO/Zn_0.95Mg_0.05O structure as compared with GaN/Al_0.05Ga_0.95N QCLs [ $ {P}_{\rm{AlGaN}} $  = 2.37 mW (nonpolar) at 4.67 THz and 2.29 mW (polar) at 4.52 THz]. Furthermore, a higher wall-plug efficiency (WPE) is obtained for ZnO/ZnMgO QCLs [24.61% (nonpolar) and 23.12% (polar)] when compared with GaN/AlGaN structures [14.11% (nonpolar) and 13.87% (polar)]. These results show that ZnO/ZnMgO material is optimally suited for THz QCLs.     

Advanced Bioresponsive Multitasking Hydrogels in the New Era of Biomedicine

Advanced forms of hydrogels have many inherently desirable properties and can be designed with different structures and functions. In particular, bioresponsive multifunctional hydrogels can carry out sophisticated biological functions. These include in situ single-cell approaches, capturing, analysis, and release of living cells, biomimetics of cell, tissue, and tumor-specific niches. They can allow in vivo cell manipulation and act as novel drug delivery systems, allowing diagnostic, therapeutic, vaccination, and immunotherapy methods. In the present review of multitasking hydrogels, new approaches and devices classified into point-of-care testing (POCT), microarrays, single-cell/rare cell approaches, artificial membranes, biomimetic modeling systems, nanodoctors, and microneedle patches are summarized. The potentials and application of each format are critically discussed, and some limitations are highlighted. Finally, how hydrogels can enable an “all-in-one platform” to play a key role in cancer therapy, regenerative medicine, and the treatment of inflammatory, degenerative, genetic, and metabolic diseases is being looked forward to.     

Sol–gel fabrication and enhanced optical properties,photocatalysis, and surface wettability of nanostructured titanium dioxide films

TiO₂ photocatalytic film, annealed at temperatures of 500 °C and 700 °C, was prepared on SiO₂ pre-coated glass via sol–gel technique for photocatalytic purposes and effects of catalyst-type on its properties were investigated by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope, UV–vis spectrophotometer, and contact angle measurements. The XRD results showed that present phases depend upon catalyst used in the solution and phase transformation behaves in a temperature-dependent manner. For the layers derived from sols containing acidic catalysts, the anatase structure dominated and exhibited much better photocatalytic activity. The results indicated that the sample derived from sol comprises H₂SO₄ as catalyst, and exhibits anatase grains with the lowest size. This could be the reason for its better photocatalytic activity. Finally, samples derived from sol containing acidic catalysts showed superhydrophilicity and superior cleaning ability.     

A library-based synthesis methodology for reversible logic

Synthesis of reversible logic has received significant attention in the recent years and many synthesis approaches for reversible circuits have been proposed so far. In this paper, a library-based synthesis methodology for reversible circuits is proposed where a reversible specification is considered as a permutation comprising a set of cycles. To this end, a pre-synthesis optimization step is introduced to construct a reversible specification from an irreversible function. In addition, a cycle-based representation model is presented to be used as an intermediate format in the proposed synthesis methodology. The selected intermediate format serves as a focal point for all potential representation models.In order to synthesize a given function, a library containing seven building blocks is used where each building block is a cycle of length less than 6. To synthesize large cycles, we also propose a decomposition algorithm which produces all possible minimal and inequivalent factorizations for a given cycle of length greater than 5. All decompositions contain the maximum number of disjoint cycles. The generated decompositions are used in conjunction with a novel cycle assignment algorithm which is proposed based on the graph matching problem to select the best possible cycle pairs. Then, each pair is synthesized by using the available components of the library. The decomposition algorithm together with the cycle assignment method are considered as a binding method which selects a building block from the library for each cycle. Finally, a post-synthesis optimization step is introduced to optimize the synthesis results in terms of different costs.To analyze the proposed methodology, various experiments are performed. Our analyses on the available reversible benchmark functions reveal that the proposed library-based synthesis methodology can produce low-cost circuits in some cases compared with the current approaches. The proposed methodology always converges and it typically synthesizes a give function fast. No garbage line is used for even permutations.     

All two-input logic gates by a single-stage single electron box

In this paper, the design of all two-input logic gates is presented by only a single-stage single electron box (SEB) for the first time. All gates are constructed based on a same circuit. We have used unique periodic characteristics of SEB to design these gates and present all two-input logic gates (monotonic/non-monotonic, symmetric/non-symmetric) by a single-stage design. In conventional monotonic devices, such as MOSFETs, implementing non-monotonic logic gates such as XOR and XNOR is impossible by only a single-stage design, and a multistage design is required which leads to more complexity, higher power consumption and less speed of the gates. We present qualitative design at first and then detailed designs are investigated and optimised by using our previous works. All designs are verified by a single electron simulator which shows correct operation of the gates.