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A white light-emitting diode is fabricated by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), which can produce a broad band emission covering all the visible range in the spectrum by capping the Indium nitride (InN) and Indium-rich Indium Gallium Nitride (InGaN) quantum dots (QDs) in single or multiple InxGa1-xN/InyGa1-yN quantum wells (QWs) by introducing bursts of at least one of Timethylindium (TMIn), Triethylindium (TEIn) and Ethyldimethylindium (EDMIn), which serve as nuclei for the growth of QDs in QWs. The diode can thus radiate white light ranging from 400 nm to 750 nm by adjusting the In burst parameters.

A method is disclosed for obtaining the location of a landmark in an MR image of a brain. In a first step, a region of interest in a plane within the MR image containing the landmark is defined. In a second step, the ROI is binarised into foreground and background voxels based on at least one threshold selected using anatomical knowledge. In a third step a set of object voxels is identified from the foreground voxels, excluding voxels which were only classified as object due to proximity of cortical and non-cortical structures. This can be done by morphological processing which reclassifies voxels which may have been incorrectly classified as object, followed by restoring voxels due to the partial volume effect and/or morphological erosion/opening. In a fourth step, an automatic process is then carried out to identify one or more landmarks in the modified binarised image.

A method of producing a piezoelectric ceramic thick film on a substrate, said method comprising: providing a piezoelectric ceramic material in powder form; forming a liquid mixture by mixing the powdered material with a liquid phase precursor of a metal oxide of low-melting point, said precursor being adapted to decompose, upon subsequent annealing, into the metal oxide; drying the liquid mixture to form a precipitate; milling the precipitate to form a powdered precipitate; adding an organic carrier to the powdered precipitate; further milling the precipitate to form a paste; depositing a layer of the paste, as a wet film, onto the substrate; and annealing the layered substrate at a temperature and for a time sufficient to cause transformation of the paste into the thick film.

A proton-exchange composite includes a polymer matrix formed from a proton-exchange polymer and ionomer particles distributed therein. The polymer has side chains with ionic groups. The particles have an average particle size of less than 20 nm and include an oligomeric ionomer that interacts with the polymer and attracts the ionic groups on its side chains. The composite may be formed by a method in which an initiator is bonded to silica particulates. The initiator is used to initiate polymerization of a precursor monomer to form a salt form of the oligomeric ionomer bonded to the silica particulates, which is then reacted with an acid to produce the oligomeric ionomer, thus forming the ionomer particles. The ionomer particles are dispersed in a solution containing a solvent and the polymer dissolved therein. The solvent is removed. The residue is cured to form the composite.

An optical fiber strain sensor, a method of fabricating the same, and a method of sensing strain (1200). The method of strain sensing comprises providing an optical fiber having at least a first fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a second FBG formed therein (1202); subjecting the optical fiber to a strain inducing force such that a grating period in the first FBG compresses and a grating period in the second FBG extends (1204); and optically interrogating the first and second FBG to determine peak reflection wavelengths of the first and second FBGs respectively (1206), whereby a separation between the peak reflection wavelengths of the first and second FBGs is representative of the strain induced.

Apparatus for ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining, the apparatus comprising an ultrasonic transducer for generating ultrasonic waves in a vibration horn; first clamp on the vibration horn at a static node of the ultrasonic waves; and a second clamp between the first clamp and a lowermost end of the vibration horn. The second clamp comprises a linear bearing for reducing vibration of the vibration horn in a direction laterally of the vibration horn, and allowing vibration of the vibration horn in the direction of a longitudinal axial of the vibration horn.

Disclosed is a layer for use in a domestic appliance, based on a sol-gel precursor. This layer can be obtained by screen-printing and comprises an organosilane compound. The layer is obtained from a concentrated pre-polymerized sol-gel precursor. The layer can be used as an insulating layer or as a conductive layer in a heating element. Furthermore, the layer can be used for decorative purposes.

A system for the context-based for the context-based encoding of an input signal includes a domain transform module and a context-based coding module. The domain transform module is operable to convert the input signal into a sequence of transform coefficients c[i]. The context-based coding module includes a bit-plane scanning module, and context modeling module, and a statistical encoding module. The bit-plane scanning module is operable to produce a bit-plane symbol bps [i,bp] for each transform coefficient c[i] and each bit-plane [bp]. The context modeling module is operable to assign one or more context values to each of the received bit plane symbols bps [i,bp]. The statistical coding module is operable to code each of the bit plane symbols bps [i,bp] as a function of one or more of the corresponding context values to produce a context-based encoded symbol stream.

A method of micro forming an array of microstructures comprising: advancing a punch having an array of protrusions (620) towards a sheet of material (640) disposed between the punch (620) and a die (630), each protrusion (625) shaped to deform the sheet of material (640) into a corresponding microstructure; providing a holder for holding the sheet of material (640) in place; and punching the sheet of material (640) with the protrusions on the punch (620) to form the array of microstructures on the sheet of material (640).

A method of forming a metal contact and passivation of a semiconductor feature, and devices made using the method. The method comprises the steps of forming a dielectric mask on a semiconductor substrate utilising photolithography processes; etching the semiconductor substrate such that one or more features are formed underneath respective portions of the dielectric mask; depositing a passivation layer on the substrate with the dielectric mask in place above the features; subjecting the substrate to an etchant such that the dielectric mask is etched at a higher rate than the passivation layer, whereby portions of the passivation layer deposited on the dielectric mask are lifted off from the substrate; and depositing a metal layer on the substrate including over the remaining passivation layer and exposed portions of the features.