Other

Sensata Technologies, Inc.

Aspen Technology, Inc.

USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Koch-glitsch, Inc.

Eccrine Systems, Inc.

Brian P Hanley

Timothy L Holmes

Robert Beech

Nicholas Bailey

Jacob A Bertrand

Gavi Begtrup

Mikel Larson

Austin Morgan

Choong K Oh

Bernard L Lantz

Garry M Gibson

Cory Newland

A sensor includes a port body which defines an axial passage for receiving fluid. An electrical connector extends through an opening in the port body near a crimp portion opposite the axial passage and forms an upper seal with the port body. Within the interior of the port body, a support ring and base cover form a cavity which retains a sensing element. The sensing element is exposed to the fluid within the axial passage and determines the pressure. An annular seal is retained by the base cover. The crimp portion of the port body is crimped to provide an upper seal and apply a force on the components within the interior, pinching the annular seal between the sensing element and the base of the port body to create a lower seal.

Fluid pressure sensor

Embodiments of the disclosed invention provide devices and methods to incorporate suspension-based, i.e., hydrogel-based and thixotropic compound-based, ion-selective electrodes and reference electrodes into a wearable sweat sensing device. Embodiments of this device are configured to monitor sweat electrolyte concentrations, trends, and ratios under demanding use conditions. The accompanying method includes use of the disclosed device to track fluid and electrolyte gain and loss in order to produce an electrolyte estimate, such as a sweat electrolyte concentration, a sweat electrolyte concentration trend, a sweat rate, or a concentration ratio between a plurality of electrolytes.

Sweat electrolyte loss monitoring devices

A method for increasing capacitive response to applied pressure by including a glass layer in the air gap of an improved capacitive sense element. The glass layer has additional thickness compared to previously known capacitive sense elements. The additional thickness is selected to achieve a predetermined increase in dielectric constant across the gap between electrodes. In an illustrative embodiment, the resulting capacitive sense element includes a gap having two dielectric media, air and glass, between the electrodes, wherein the thickness of the glass media in the gap and the thickness of the remaining air gap are predetermined based on the dielectric constant of glass and air to achieve desired capacitive response characteristics of the sensor design.

Pressure sensor element with glass barrier material configured for increased capacitive response

A product output rate for a packed column is optimized by setting a desired product output rate from the distillation column, calculating a fraction of flood point of the distillation column at a reflux ratio, and determining a pressure drop value within the distillation column at the fraction of flood point. The step of determining the pressure drop employs the method of producing a plot of pressure drop as a function of fraction of flood point at any liquid flow rate, or producing a mathematical expression thereof. The method of optimizing a product output rate from a distillation column then includes calculating a pressure at a point in the distillation column for a pressure at a different point in the distillation column, calculating the pressure drop within the distillation column of a given length, calculating a temperature corresponding to the calculated pressure at a point in the distillation column, and adjusting the desired product output rate or the reflux ratio or the pressure at a different point in the distillation column.

Method of optimizing product output rate of packed columns

A composition and method comprising an anti-adjuvant such as DOI (an anti-inflammatory) together with any gene therapy plasmid is disclosed. A method for GHRH production in-vivo using a set of compositions and methods for use of those compositions is provided.

Methods and compositions for gene therapy and GHRH therapy

A method of designing or optimizing a column for a separation process includes the computer implemented steps of, in a digital processor, providing vapor-side and liquid-side mass transfer coefficient expressions and a mass transfer area expression relevant for a subject column, the vapor-side and liquid-side mass transfer coefficient expressions and the mass transfer area expression having been derived from defining a column average height equivalent to a theoretical plateHETP) as a mathematical relationship in whichHETPis proportional to a vapor flow rate, is inversely proportional to effective packing area participating in mass transfer, has a first correction factor with respect to liquid-side mass transfer, and has a second correction factor with respect to vapor-side mass transfer. The expressions are further derived from reducing error of curve fittingHETPempirical data of various columns by using the definedHETPto obtain expressions for the vapor-side and liquid-side mass transfer coefficients and mass transfer area. The method also includes using the provided expressions to determine column height and column width configurations of the subject column, and outputting the determined column height and column width configurations of the subject column.

Apparatus and method of designing or optimizing a column for a separation process

A flood point for a packed column is determined by providing a data set of gas pressure drop values as a function of gas flow rate values at several liquid flow rates through a packed column, known flood point value for one liquid flow rate, setting flood point values for higher liquid flow rates at values lower than the known flood point value, and setting flood point values for lower liquid flow rates at values higher than the known flood point value, followed by expressing gas flow rates for liquid flow rates as fractions of the flood point value for each respective liquid flow rate. At a constant gas pressure drop, the method then includes calculating an average fractional flood point value for the liquid flow rates and minimizing the standard deviation between the fractional flood point value at different liquid flow rates and the calculated average fractional flood point value by iteratively resetting fractional flood point values and recalculating the average fractional flood point value for the liquid flow rates, thus resulting in determining a flood point for the packed column at any liquid flow rate, and thereby producing a plot of pressure drop as a function of fraction of flood point at any liquid flow rate, or a mathematical expression thereof that can be used in a computer-implemented column design and process modeling.

Method of determining flood points of packed columns

The present invention provides a method and device for the improvement of intraplexed assays. This improvement is based upon the use of multiple assay chemistries having different affinity constants (K) for an analyte. The overall assay displays high precision and predictable behavior because ratios between SMPCS-IDGs having different affinity constants (K) change based on concentration. The advantages of the Applicant's improved system relative to the system of the '290 patent are that the improved system (1) further increases the statistical significance of results from assays applied to single well samples, (2) improves compensation for multiple sources of error, (3) makes possible further increased precision for each analyte, and (4) improves correlation between instruments, even if the instruments have significantly varying responses to an identical stimulus, (4) makes possible improved determination of a margin of error.

Method and device for affinity differential intraplexing

The present invention determines optimal positions of a variable antenna using an artificial intelligence-based genetic algorithm (GA). The GA acquires a fitness value for an individual of a genetic algorithm population by updating positions of the antenna. The population improves through an evolutionary computational process using a fitness measure based on the signal strength. At the end of the process, the system positions the antenna to the best position found by the GA. Therefore, the final position gives exceptionally clear reception for a chosen received frequency.

Self-optimizing adaptive antenna

A method for making suspended microarray readings from a single sample statistically significant in a reliable manner. It can be applied to any assay system that uses discrete particles where the particles are coupled with an assay. Most of these systems suspend the particles in fluid and read the assay result using flow cytometry. However, other methods such as the distribution of tiny assay devices coupled with miniature transponders, where the sampling is of the environment, can also make use of this method. This invention combines multiple separately identified assays of one sample, where the multiple assays are for a single analyte and sets of assays have differing sensitivity to said analyte. By elimination of outliers, averaging, and taking ratios of averages, this method makes possible highly reliable diagnostics. This method compensates for multiple stochastic and non-stochastic sources of errors that can occur in this type of assay system.

Intraplexing method for improving precision of suspended microarray assays

This is an entirely new type of tactile display based upon cuneiform writing concepts which is an alternative to Braille. This invention uses electromechanical components to display a tactile coding of letters, numbers and symbols using rotating linear components and pointer variations of these. These pointer parts rotate on the surface of the device. A user places fingers or skin on the surface and by feeling the direction in which the components are pointing determines the coded symbol.

Pseudo-cuneiform tactile display

A mass transfer column is provided with an external shell defining an internal region. Packing elements are positioned within the internal region of the mass transfer column. The packing elements have one or more plates formed from sheet material that has been shaped to form a plurality of corrugations on each side of the plate as a series of peaks separated by valleys. A plurality of apertures are arranged across at least a portion of the plate and a plurality of tangs extend outwardly from the surface of the plate surrounding at least some of the apertures. At least some of the outwardly extending tangs are deformed toward the plate.

Structured packing plate and element and method of fabricating same

Agricultural operations by applying flexible manufacturing software, robotics and sensing techniques to agriculture. In manufacturing operations utilizing flexible machining and flexible assembly robots, work pieces flow through a fixed set of workstations on an assembly line. At different stations are located machine vision systems, laser based raster devices, radar, touch, photocell, and other methods of sensing; flexible robot armatures and the like are used to operate on them. This flexible agricultural automation turns that concept inside out, moving software programmable workstations through farm fields on mobile robots that can sense their environment and respond to it flexibly. The agricultural automation will make it possible for large scale farming to take up labor intensive farming practices which are currently only practical for small scale farming, improving land utilization efficiency, while lowering manpower costs dramatically.

Growing community of inventors

Davis, CA, United States of America

Brian P Hanley