Multi-layer topography measurement using a new hybrid single-shot technique: Chromatic Confocal Coherence Tomography (CCCT).

Often measurement tasks occur, where specimens consist of multiple layers or topography shall be examined through contaminations. Especially for unknown layer materials, it is important to measure the layer's refractive index to compensate for the errors induced on the measurement of underlying surfaces. Chromatic Confocal Coherence Tomography is proposed as a new hybrid single-shot scheme for a simultaneous measurement of thickness and refractive index of semitransparent layers, combining chromatic confocal and interferometric information. As a proof of concept, first measurements are presented along with a short discussion about their uncertainties, where minimal layer thickness and resolution are dominated by the confocal part of the signal, that is mainly influenced by the chosen microscope objective.

Allen: A High-Level Trigger on GPUs for LHCb.

We describe a fully GPU-based implementation of the first level trigger for the upgrade of the LHCb detector, due to start data taking in 2021. We demonstrate that our implementation, named Allen, can process the 40 Tbit/s data rate of the upgraded LHCb detector and perform a wide variety of pattern recognition tasks. These include finding the trajectories of charged particles, finding proton-proton collision points, identifying particles as hadrons or muons, and finding the displaced decay vertices of long-lived particles. We further demonstrate that Allen can be implemented in around 500 scientific or consumer GPU cards, that it is not I/O bound, and can be operated at the full LHC collision rate of 30 MHz. Allen is the first complete high-throughput GPU trigger proposed for a HEP experiment.

Physiologic Status Monitoring via the Gastrointestinal Tract.

Reliable, real-time heart and respiratory rates are key vital signs used in evaluating the physiological status in many clinical and non-clinical settings. Measuring these vital signs generally requires superficial attachment of physically or logistically obtrusive sensors to subjects that may result in skin irritation or adversely influence subject performance. Given the broad acceptance of ingestible electronics, we developed an approach that enables vital sign monitoring internally from the gastrointestinal tract. Here we report initial proof-of-concept large animal (porcine) experiments and a robust processing algorithm that demonstrates the feasibility of this approach. Implementing vital sign monitoring as a stand-alone technology or in conjunction with other ingestible devices has the capacity to significantly aid telemedicine, optimize performance monitoring of athletes, military service members, and first-responders, as well as provide a facile method for rapid clinical evaluation and triage.

Robust detection of individual forensic profiles in DNA mixtures.

For a forensic identification method to be admissible in international courts, the probability of false match must be quantified. For comparison of individuals against complex mixtures using a panel of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the probability of a random man not excluded, P(RMNE) is one admissible standard. While the P(RMNE) of SNP alleles has been previously studied, it remains to be rigorously defined and calculated for experimentally genotyped mixtures. In this report, exact P(RMNE) values were calculated for a range of complex mixtures, verified with Monte Carlo simulations, and compared alongside experimentally determined detection probabilities.