Syracuse University

A structure and a related method of assembling a structure made up of a plurality of individual building elements. A 2-dimensional continuous digital or analog image, such as a texture pattern, is mapped onto a 3-D model of the structure to be assembled. Portions of the continuous image are imprinted on a common facing surface of each of the individual building elements to serve as a visual guide for assembling the structure in conjunction with a unique naming code for each building element, the code being based on mapped coordinates of the 3-D model. A texture or other pattern can also be imbedded into a facing side of the assembled structure.

The present invention relates to engineered peptides and to methods of making engineered peptides. The present invention also relates to methods of treatment comprising administration of the engineered peptides to a subject in need thereof.

A process for converting avocado peels into hard carbon-based anodes for sodium ion batteries and a hard carbon material formed according to that process. The avocado peels are simply washed and dried, and then carbonized using a high temperature conversion step. Electrochemical measurements confirmed the applicability of avocado-derived hard carbon as electrode active materials, with high reversible capacities of 320 mAh/g over 50 cycles at 50 mA/g, good rate performance of 86 mAh/g at 3500 mA/g, and Coulombic efficiencies above 99.9% after 500 cycles.

A torchiere style sanitizing device for disinfecting airborne pathogens while providing aesthetic area lighting. A reversible fan exchanges air between the upper room air plume and the lower air plume by passing the air through a center disinfecting section. The disinfection section may include a linear UV-C light, reflective tube, and light trap positioned at one or both ends of the disinfection section to maximize the exposure of the air to the UV-C light and contain the UV-C light within the device. The device includes a conventional illumination source in an upper shade and can selectively provide one of more of room air flow, room air disinfection, and room illumination.

Methods and devices for masking emotional information of a user population, e.g., from a voice assistant device. For instance, the device may comprise one or more processor; a microphone; and a speaker. The one or more processor is configured to: listen, using the microphone, to multiple samples of speech by the user population; iteratively create emotionally obfuscating noises, using the multiple samples of speech, to determine a final emotionally obfuscating noise; recognize, using the microphone, a wake word of the voice assistant device; and generate the emotionally obfuscating noise over utterances by a user.

Compositions and methods for the treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders using an GPR75 inhibitor are provided herein.

A shape memory polymer hydrogel that is biodegradable, includes antimicrobial agents, and has a tunable drug delivery is used for wound healing internally and externally. The shape memory polymer is synthesized using a combination of hydrophilic precursors that are configured to have two to four functional end groups, with at least one component that has at least three functional groups. The synthesis route provides for a covalently crosslinked thermoset hydrogel. The chemistry can be tuned to provide desired transition temperatures for delivery (e.g. below 37° C.) and desired pore sizes for healing (e.g. 250-500 μm).

A method and system for probabilistic solar generation forecasting under rapidly changing weather conditions integrate copula theory with an extreme gradient tree boosting (XGBoost) classifier to enhance forecast accuracy. Historical weather data is partitioned into meteorological clusters, and bivariate copulas analyze spatiotemporal correlations to select optimal features. Multivariable Vine and Gaussian copulas model variable dependencies, with an XGBoost classifier dynamically selecting the optimal copula based on real-time weather conditions. Synthetic weather data, generated using the selected copula, captures uncertainties and is applied to a trained XGBoost regression tree to produce probabilistic forecasts. The method achieves up to 60% higher accuracy than conventional models under non-sunny conditions, leveraging Gaussian Kernel Density Estimation and Huber loss for robustness. The system supports real-time grid operations, offering reliable solar power predictions for diverse weather scenarios, validated with real-world data from multiple global locations.

An optimization solution based on quantum annealing for model predictive control (MPC) of a rooftop unit (RTU) for minimizing energy usage. The solution achieved less than 2 percent differences from conventional approaches and improved computational speed from hours to seconds. The solution also demonstrated an 80% reduction in total electric usage and a 21 percent electric bill reduction considering day-ahead price time-of-use demand response signals.

An approach to achieve highly tunable adhesion using low pressure by inducing sidewall buckling in soft hollow pillars (SHPs). Dry adhesion of these SHPs can be changed by two orders of magnitude (up to 145×) using low activating pressure (˜−10 kPa or ˜20 kPa). Negative pressure triggers sidewall buckling while positive pressure induces sidewall bulging, both of which can significantly change stress distribution at the bottom surface to facilitate crack initiation and reduce adhesion therein. A single SHP can be activated by a micropump to manipulate various lightweight objects with different curvature and surface texture. An array of SHPs can realize selective pick-and-place of an array of objects. Minor modifications to the SHPs in terms of geometry and material (with or without cap, circular or noncircular cross section) can further enhance the adhesion tuning performance of these SHPs.