Eye gaze tracking is increasingly popular due to improved technology and availability. In the domain of assistive device control, however, eye gaze tracking is often used in discrete ways (e.g., activating buttons on a screen), and does not harness the full potential of the gaze signal. In this article, we present a method for collecting both reactionary and controlled eye gaze signals, via screen-based tasks designed to isolate various types of eye movements. The resulting data allows us to build an individualized characterization for eye gaze interface use. Results from a study conducted with participants with motor impairments are presented, offering insights into maximizing the potential of eye gaze for assistive device control. Importantly, we demonstrate the potential for incorporating direct continuous eye gaze inputs into gaze-based interface designs; generally seen as intractable due to the ‘Midas touch’ problem of differentiating between gaze movements for perception versus for interface operation. Our key insight is to make use of an individualized measure of smooth pursuit characteristics to differentiate between gaze for control and gaze for environment scanning. We also present results relating to gaze-based metrics for mental workload and show the potential for the concurrent use of eye gaze for control input as well as assessing a user’s mental workload both offline and in real-time. These findings might inform the development of continuous control paradigms using eye gaze, as well as the use of eye tracking as the sole input modality to systems that share control between human-generated and autonomy-generated inputs.

This letter presents an improved analytical model for analyzing probe-fed microstrip antennas loaded by metallic vias with lumped terminations. The proposed formulation is based on the resonant cavity model and enables efficient analysis of such perturbed radiators for various types of terminations. The model is validated through the analysis of two antennas: one operating in a TM00 mode and the other with four capacitive terminations to produce circular polarization. Moreover, a reconfigurable RHCP/LHCP antenna based on the patch with capacitive terminations has been manufactured and tested, showing a broadside axial ratio below 0.5 dB at 1.575 GHz.

This article presents a bioinspired pneumatic soft actuator designed to mimic the flexo-extension movement of the human finger, with a particular focus on stiffness modulation through granular jamming. Three-chamber geometries – honeycomb, rectangular, and half-round – were evaluated to optimize curvature performance, utilizing Mold Star 15 Slow elastomer for actuator fabrication. Granular jamming, both passive and active, was implemented within the inextensible layer using chia and quinoa grains to enhance stiffness modulation. Experimental results revealed that the honeycomb geometry most closely aligned with the natural index finger trajectory. Stiffness evaluations demonstrated a range of 0–0.47 N/mm/° for quinoa and 0–0.9 N/mm/° for chia. The actuator’s force output increased by 16% for quinoa and 71% for chia compared to the nonjammed configuration. This enhanced performance is particularly beneficial for applications such as hand rehabilitation, where adaptive stiffness and force modulation are critical. Granular jamming, especially with active chia, provided superior adaptability for tasks requiring variable stiffness and resistance, making it a promising candidate for wearable robotic applications in rehabilitation.

The antenna characterization from planar near-field (NF) measurements is generally realized by using the classical NF to far-field transform technique of plane wave expansion (PWE). This approach imposes strong constraints on NF sampling. To overcome these limitations, an equivalent model of the antenna under test (AUT) is created based on a distribution of infinitesimal dipoles. A reduced-order model (ROM) of the problem is constructed to obtain a decomposition basis defining the radiated field. The powerful ability of the ROM in determining the number of points needed for accurate NF measurements is demonstrated. Also, efficient non-conventional sampling strategies are applied to the case of planar NF measurements and the influence of these distributions on the reduction of the number of samples is studied. The global analysis of our approach on simulated and measured NF data shows that only 20% of the total number of points are needed with respect to the classical PWE technique to achieve an accurate characterization.

This paper presents a multibeam dielectric rod antenna for mm-wave wireless power transfer (WPT) applications. The proposed solution utilizes its unique multibeam setup which allows the generation of adjustable beams simultaneously, without the need for an additional beamforming network. To enhance the compactness of the system, each Rexolite rod is fed through an annular slot etched on a Rogers RO4003. The generated beams are steered toward the desired directions by adjustment in the configuration of these rods. The final configuration consists of five rods that were fabricated and measured. In this configuration, a beam coverage between $-30^{\circ}$ and 30∘ can be obtained, while in the frequency of interest, a gain value above $12\,\mathrm{dBi}$ is achieved. With its adjustable configuration, the proposed solution can be adapted to different operating scenarios. Moreover, the low cost and flexibility of the solution make it a promising candidate for Radio Frequency Wireless Power Transfer (RF-WPT) Internet of things applications.

This work presents the design of a wide-band frequency-selective surface (FSS) with its analysis for the performance enhancement of a microstrip antenna. To demonstrate the concept, a dual-band microstrip antenna is also designed and combined with the proposed FSS to investigate its advantages and performance enhancement capabilities. The proposed FSS is designed for a frequency range of 3.5–6.5 GHz, whereas the designed antenna operates in dual frequency bands of 3.5 and 5 GHz. The combined effect of the antenna and FSS is investigated at 5 GHz for improving the gain of the antenna from 2.8 to 3.2 dBi. The outcome of the measured performance validates that the proposed surface has potential capability for enhancing the gain of an antenna for 5G, WLAN, and Wi-Fi communication.

Multipath components (MPCs) are both the challenge and the resources to exploit in high-frequency wireless communication, especially in environments with complex reflections. On the one hand, late-arriving MPCs cause inter-symbol interferences in digital communication. On the other hand, techniques such as multiple-input multiple-output and rake receivers have been widely applied to utilize the information carried in the math-path components. To this end, identifying and clustering MPCs is the foundation for tackling the challenges and boosting the utilization of reliable and correct information. Past research focuses either on extracting the path information or on clustering the extracted components. In this paper, we propose a complete workflow that performs identification as well as clustering of MPCs. We extend our previous work in clustering algorithms to indoor propagation measurements of three different frequency bands, as well as multiple transmitter–receiver locations. We verify that the fast attenuation of terahertz-band signals results in clear separations of peaks in measurements, which in turn facilitates the identification and clustering solutions. The ease of application highlights the wide-applying potential of high-frequency communication.

This study introduces a novel method for gait analysis using a single inertial measurement unit placed on the sacrum. This method is valid not only on level ground but also on incline and decline conditions. The method leverages the “crackle” function, the third derivative of the sacral resultant acceleration, to identify right and left gait events. This approach is particularly effective in capturing the initial peak in acceleration data during foot impact with the ground, often overlooked by other methods. The study aimed to demonstrate the method’s accuracy in identifying the right- and left-side impacts during level ground, incline, and decline runs across a range of speeds. Additionally, the algorithm was applied in outdoor running scenarios, where it performed very well, further validating its robustness and reliability. The results are compared with other existing methods to highlight the effectiveness of this approach.

The Mamyshev oscillator (MO) is well-known for its high modulation depth, which provides an excellent platform for achieving both high average power and short pulse durations. However, this characteristic typically limits the high-repetition-rate pulse generation. Herein, we construct an MO that achieves a gigahertz (GHz) repetition rate through harmonic mode-locking. The laser can reach up to the 93rd order, which corresponds to the repetition rate of 1.6 GHz. The maximum achieved output average power is 3 W at a repetition rate of 1.2 GHz (69th order), with the corresponding pulse duration compressed to 51 fs. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the GHz repetition rate in an MO has been obtained simultaneously with the recorded average power and pulse duration.

The room-temperature X-ray powder diffraction data for bosentan monohydrate, an API used in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, is presented. Bosentan monohydrate is monoclinic, P21/c (No. 14), with unit cell parameters a = 12.4520(7) Å, b = 15.110(1) Å, c = 15.0849(9) Å, β = 95.119(5)°, V = 2827.0(3) Å3, Z = 4. All the diffraction maxima recorded were indexed and are consistent with the P21/c space group. The crystal structure of this material corresponds to the phase associated with Cambridge Structural Database entry NEQHEY, which was determined at 123 K. The successful Rietveld refinement, carried out with TOPAS-Academic, showed the single-phase nature of the material and the good quality of the data. A comprehensive analysis of intra- and intermolecular interactions corroborates that the structure is dominated by extensive hydrogen bonding, accompanied by C▬H⋯π and π⋯π interactions. Hirshfeld surface analysis and fingerprint plots indicate that the most important interactions are H⋯H and O⋯H/H⋯O in bosentan and the water molecule and C⋯H/H⋯C interactions in bosentan.

Stochastic generators are essential to produce synthetic realizations that preserve target statistical properties. We propose GenFormer, a stochastic generator for spatio-temporal multivariate stochastic processes. It is constructed using a Transformer-based deep learning model that learns a mapping between a Markov state sequence and time series values. The synthetic data generated by the GenFormer model preserve the target marginal distributions and approximately capture other desired statistical properties even in challenging applications involving a large number of spatial locations and a long simulation horizon. The GenFormer model is applied to simulate synthetic wind speed data at various stations in Florida to calculate exceedance probabilities for risk management.

The crystal structure of diroximel fumarate has been solved and refined using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data, and optimized using density functional theory techniques. Diroximel fumarate crystallizes in space group P-1 (#2) with a = 6.12496(15), b = 8.16516(18), c = 12.7375(6) Å, α = 85.8174(21), β = 81.1434(12), γ = 71.1303(3)°, V = 595.414(23) Å3, and Z = 2 at 298 K. The crystal structure consists of interleaved double layers of hook-shaped molecules parallel to the ab-plane. The side chains form the inner portion of the layers, and the rings comprise the outer surfaces. There are no classical hydrogen bonds in the structure, but 9 C▬H⋯O hydrogen bonds contribute to the crystal energy. The powder pattern has been submitted to ICDD for inclusion in the Powder Diffraction File™ (PDF®).

Based on a 4f system, a 0° reflector and a single laser diode side-pump amplifier, a new amplifier is designed to compensate the spherical aberration of the amplified laser generated by a single laser diode side-pump amplifier and enhance the power of the amplified laser. Furthermore, the role of the 4f system in the passive spherical aberration compensation and its effect on the amplified laser are discussed in detail. The results indicate that the amplification efficiency is enhanced by incorporating a 4f system in a double-pass amplifier and placing a 0° reflector only at the focal point of the single-pass amplified laser. This method also effectively uses the heat from the gain medium (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet) of the amplifier to compensate the spherical aberration of the amplified laser.