InnoSense (United States)

Microelectronic devices (MEDs) that utilize functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for hydrazine (HZ) sensing applications were developed and investigated, demonstrating their selective and sensitive detection of trace level HZ (0.01 ppm) in the presence of high-concentration interfering gases in ambient air at room temperature. These MEDs were fabricated with excellent reproducibility by the site-specific deposition of functionalized SWCNTs using a dielectrophoretic technique. Rigorous gas exposure testing conducted on these MEDs demonstrated a fast response with high sensitivity, selectivity, reproducibility, and reliability for detecting HZ. A dynamic response range was established from a linear relationship between the sensor response and the concentration of HZ (0.01 to 0.33 ppm). Additionally, these MEDs exhibited a linear trend relationship between device resistance and sensor response, which provided tunability in selecting and fabricating devices for improving sensing response. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy images showed the morphology of SWCNTs as a bundle on MEDs. Additional analytic gas exposure tests revealed negligible responses from these MEDs for high concentrations of interfering gases, such as 300 ± 17 ppm methanol (MeOH), 85 ± 6 ppm ethanol (EtOH), 145 ± 12 ppm formaldehyde (CH2O), and 500 ppm ammonia (NH3), compared to that of HZ (≤0.33 ppm), with HZ to interfering gas concentration ratios of 1:900, 1:250, 1:440, and 1:1500, respectively, demonstrating high sensor selectivity for HZ.

Conventional fluorescence tomography provides images of the distribution of fluorescent agents within highly scattering media, but suffers from poor spatial resolution. Previously, we introduced a new method termed "temperature-modulated fluorescence tomography" (TM-FT) that generates fluorescence images with high spatial resolution. TM-FT first uses focused ultrasound to locate the distribution of temperature-sensitive fluorescence probes. Afterward, this a priori information is utilized to improve the performance of the inverse solver for conventional fluorescence tomography and reveal quantitatively accurate fluorophore concentration maps. However, the disadvantage of this novel method is the long data acquisition time as the ultrasound beam was scanned in a step-and-shoot mode. In this Letter, we present a new, fast scanning method that reduces the imaging time 40 fold. By continuously scanning the ultrasound beam over a 50 mm by 25 mm field-of-view, high-resolution fluorescence images are obtained in less than 29 min, which is critical for in vivo small animal imaging.

Considered contribution to the phase of the atom interferometer caused by the gravity field of the massive proof mass. Demonstrated the method of finding the extrema of this contribution for 100kg Tungsten proof mass of the specific shape and specific parameters of $^{133}Cs$ atom interferometers. Calculated variations of the double difference response under the small deviations of atomic and proof mass variables. The choice of the extremal values of the atomic variables allows one to release requirements for atom positioning on 2 orders of magnitude.

not Available.

Optical fluorescence sol-gel sensors have been developed for the detection of carbon dioxide gas in the 0.03-30% range with a detection limit of 0.008% (or 80 ppm) and a quantitation limit of 0.02% (or 200 ppm) CO(2). Sol-gels were spin-coated on glass slides to create an organically modified silica-doped matrix with the 1-hydroxypyrene-3,6,8-trisulfonate (HPTS) fluorescent indicator. The luminescence intensity of the HPTS indicator (513 nm) is quenched by CO(2), which protonates the anionic form of HPTS. An ion pair technique was used to incorporate the lipophilic dye into the hydrophilic sol-gel matrix. TiO(2) particles (<5 microm diameter) were added to induce Mie scattering and increase the incident light interaction with the sensing film, thus increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. Moisture-proof overcoatings have been used to maintain a constant level of water inside the sensor films. The optical sensors are inexpensive to prepare and can be easily coupled to fiber optics for remote sensing capabilities. A fiber-optic bundle was used for the gas detection and shown to work as part of a multianalyte platform for simultaneous detection of multiple analytes. The studies reported here resulted in the development of sol-gel optical fluorescent sensors for CO(2) gas with sensitivity below that in the atmosphere (ca. 387 ppm). These sensors are a complementary approach to current FT-IR measurements for real-time carbon dioxide detection in environmental applications.

This paper describes the successful test of a multi-point fiber optic oxygen sensor system during the static firing of an Evolved Expandable Launch Vehicle (EELV)/Delta IV common booster core (CBC) rocket engine at NASA's Stennis Flight Center. The system consisted of microsensors (optrodes) using an oxygen gas sensitive indicator incorporated onto an optically transparent porous substrate. The modular optoelectronics and multiplexing network system was designed and assembled utilizing a multi-channel opto-electronic sensor readout unit that monitored the oxygen and temperature response of the individual optrodes in real-time and communicated this information via a serial communication port to a remote laptop computer. The sensor packaging for oxygen consisted of two optrodes - one doped with an indicator sensitive to oxygen, and the other doped with an indicator sensitive to temperature. The multichannel oxygen sensor system is fully reversible. It has demonstrated a dynamic response to oxygen gas in the range of 0% to 100% with 0.1% resolution and a response time of ≤10 seconds. The sensor package was attached to a custom fiber optic ribbon cable, which was then connected to a fiber optic trunk communications cable (standard telecommunications-grade fiber) that connected to the optoelectronics module. Each board in the expandable module included light sources, photo-detectors, and associated electronics required for detecting oxygen and temperature. The paper illustrates the sensor design and performance data under field deployment conditions.

Abstract A method to incorporate 2,2′‐(or 4,4′‐)dipyridyl and tetra‐n‐butylammonium hydroxide into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) monoliths and the controlled‐release properties of these polymer monoliths for delivery of the reagents are reported. The monoliths were prepared by heating PVA beads until they formed a viscous liquid and then loading the molten polymers with the desired reagents. Several freeze‐thaw cycles were then carried out to provide the mechanically stable, reagent‐loaded monoliths. The release of the reagents from the PVA monoliths was monitored by UV–vis spectroscopy, and the release was found to proceed in a controlled manner, yielding consistent results among different reagent‐loaded PVA monoliths. In addition, the reagents underwent no chemical changes upon their release from the monoliths. Limitations of the use of the controlled‐released chemicals as replenished reagents in Fujiwara reactions for the continuous monitoring of halocarbons are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 1043–1048, 2007

Information systems security issues have usually been considered only after the system has been developed completely, and rarely during its design, coding, testing or deployment. However, the advisability of considering security from the very beginning of the system development has recently begun to be appreciated, and in particular in the system requirements specification phase. We present a practical method to elicit and specify the system and software requirements, including a repository containing reusable requirements, a spiral process model, and a set of requirements documents templates. In this paper, this method is focused on the security of information systems and, thus, the reusable requirements repository contains all the requirements taken from MAGERIT, the Spanish public administration risk analysis and management method, which conforms to ISO 15408, Common Criteria Framework. Any information system including these security requirements must therefore pass a risk analysis and management study performed with MAGERIT. The requirements specification templates are hierarchically structured and are based on IEEE standards. Finally, we show a case study in a system of our regional administration aimed at managing state subsidies.