Wu, P. W.; et al., "The influences of surface treatment and gas annealing conditions on the inversion behaviors of the atomic-layer-deposition Al2O3/nIn0.53Ga0.47As metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor," Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 042903 (2010); http:// dx

Magnetic/fluorescent barcodes, which combine quantum dots (QDs) and superparamagnetic nanoparticles in micrometer‐sized host microspheres, are promising for automatic high‐throughput multiplexed biodetection applications and “point of care” biodetection. However, the fluorescence intensity of QDs sharply decreases after addition of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) due to absorption by MNPs, and thus, the encoding capacity of QDs becomes more limited. Furthermore, the intrinsic toxicity of cadmium‐based QDs, the most commonly used QD in barcodes, has significant risks to human health and the environment. In this work, to alleviate fluorescence quenching and intrinsic toxicity, cadmium‐free NIR‐emitting CuInS2/ZnS QDs and Fe3O4 MNPs are successfully incorporated into poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride) microspheres by using the Shirasu porous glass membrane emulsification technique. A “single‐wavelength” encoding model is successfully constructed to guide the encoding of NIR QDs with wide emission spectra. Then, a “single‐wavelength” encoding combined with size encoding is used to produce different optical codes by simply changing the wavelength and the intensity of the QDs as well as the size of the barcode microspheres. 48 barcodes are easily created due to the greatly reduced energy transfer between the NIR‐emitting QDs and MNPs. The resulting bifunctional barcodes are also combined with a flow cytometer using one laser for multiplexed detection of five tumor markers in one test. Assays based on these barcodes are significantly more sensitive than non‐magnetic and traditional ELISA assays. Moreover, validating experiments also show good performance of the bifunctional barcodes‐based suspension array when dealing with patient serum samples. Thus, magnetic/fluorescent barcodes based on NIR‐emitting CuInS2/ZnS QDs are promising for multiplexed bioassay applications.

The diffusional reaction between titanium and zirconia was carried out isothermally at 1550°C in argon. The distinct reaction layers in the reaction‐affected zone between Ti and ZrO2 were investigated using analytical scanning electron microscopy, analytical transmission electron microscopy, and electron probe microanalyses. In the metal side, there existed five reaction layers in a sequence of α‐Ti(O), Ti2ZrO+α‐Ti(O, Zr), Ti2ZrO+α‐Ti(O, Zr)+β′‐Ti (O, Zr), α‐Ti (O, Zr)+β′‐Ti (O, Zr), and β′‐Ti (Zr, O) after cooling. In the zirconia side, two reaction layers were found: near the original interface, β′‐Ti coexisted with fine spherical c‐ZrO2−x and Chinese‐script‐like c‐ZrO2−x, which dissolved a significant amount of Y2O3 in solid solution; further away from the original interface, the coarsened intergranular α‐Zr was excluded from metastable ZrO2−x, resulting in the lenticular t‐ZrO2−x and ordered c‐ZrO2−x. An attempt was made to determine and propose the microstructural evolution and formation mechanism of the reaction layers between titanium and zirconia isothermally annealed at 1550°C.

Monitoring heart rates using conventional electrocardiogram equipment requires patients to wear adhesive gel patches or chest straps that can cause skin irritation and discomfort. Commercially available pulse oximetry sensors that attach to the fingertips or earlobes also cause inconvenience for patients and the spring-loaded clips can be painful to use. Therefore, a novel robust face-based heart rate monitoring technique is proposed to allow for the evaluation of heart rate variation without physical contact with the patient. Face reflectance is first decomposed from a single image and then heart rate evaluation is conducted from consecutive frames according to the periodic variation of reflectance strength resulting from changes to hemoglobin absorptivity across the visible light spectrum as heartbeats cause changes to blood volume in the blood vessels in the face. To achieve a robust evaluation, ensemble empirical mode decomposition of the Hilbert-Huang transform is used to acquire the primary heart rate signal while reducing the effect of ambient light changes. Our proposed approach is found to outperform the current state of the art, providing greater measurement accuracy with smaller variance and is shown to be feasible in real-world environments.Index Terms-Computer vision, biomedical signal processing.

The interfacial reaction layers in the Ti/ZrO2 diffusion couples, isothermally annealed in argon at temperatures ranging from 1100° to 1550°C for 6 h, were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, both attached with an energy‐dispersive spectrometer. Very limited reaction occurred between Ti and ZrO2 at 1100°C. A β′‐Ti(Zr, O) layer and a two‐phase α‐Ti(O)+β′‐Ti(Zr, O) layer were found in the titanium side after annealing at T≥1300°C and T≥1400°C, respectively. A three‐phase layer, consisting of Ti2ZrO+α‐Ti(O, Zr)+β′‐Ti (O, Zr), was formed after annealing at 1550°C. In the zirconia side near the original interface, β′‐Ti coexisted with fine spherical c‐ZrO2−x, which dissolved a significant amount of Y2O3 in solid solution at T≥1300°C. Further into the ceramic side, the α‐Zr was formed due to the exsolution of Zr out of the metastable ZrO2−x after annealing at T≥1300°C: the α‐Zr was very fine and dense at 1300°C, continuously distributed along grain boundaries at 1400°C, and became coarsened at 1550°C. Zirconia grains grew significantly at T≥1400°C, with the lenticular t‐ZrO2−x being precipitated in c‐ZrO2−x. Finally, the microstructural development and diffusion paths in the Ti/ZrO2 diffusion couples annealed at various temperatures were also described with the aid of the Ti–Zr–O ternary phase diagram.