Smartphone Screen Integrated Optical Breathalyzer

One third of fatal car accidents and so many tragedies are due to alcohol abuse. These sad numbers could be mitigated if everyone had access to a breathalyzer anytime and anywhere. Having a breathalyzer built into a phone or wearable technology could be the way to get around reluctance to carry a separate device. With this goal, we propose an inexpensive breathalyzer that could be integrated in the screens of mobile devices. Our technology is based on the evaporation rate of the fog produced by the breath on the phone screen, which increases with increasing breath alcohol content. The device simply uses a photodiode placed on the side of the screen to measure the signature of the scattered light intensity from the phone display that is guided through the stress layer of the Gorilla glass screen. A part of the display light is coupled to the stress layer via the evanescent field induced at the edge of the breath microdroplets. We demonstrate that the intensity signature measured at the detector can be linked to blood alcohol content. We fabricated a prototype in a smartphone case powered by the phone’s battery, controlled by an application installed on the smartphone, and tested it in real-world environments. Limitations and future work toward a fully operational device are discussed.

Smartphone Screen Integrated Optical Breathalyzer

One third of fatal car accidents and so much tragedies are due to alcohol abuse. These sad numbers could be mitigated if everyone had access to a breathalyzer anytime and anywhere. Having a breathalyzer built into a phone or a wearable could be the way to get around the reluctance to carry a separate device. Towards this goal, we propose an inexpensive breathalyzer that could be integrated in the screen of mobile devices. Our technology is based on the evaporation rate of the fog produced by the breath on the phone screen, which increases as a function of the breath alcohol content. The device simply uses a photodiode placed on the side of the screen to measure the signature of the scattered light intensity from the phone display that is guided through the stress layer of the Gorilla glass screen. A part of the display light is coupled to the stress layer via the evanescent field induced at the edge of the breath microdroplets. We demonstrate that the intensity signature measured at the detector can be linked to the blood alcohol content. We fabricated a prototype in a smartphone case powered by the phone’s battery, controlled by an application software installed in the smartphone and tested it in real-world environments. Limitations and future work toward a fully operational device are discussed.

Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality for Inexpensive Recording Equipment

This research studies the perceptual evaluation of speech signals using an inexpensive recording device. Different types of noise-reduction and electronic enhancement filters viz. Hamming window, high-pass filter (HPF), Wiener-filter and no-speech activity-cancelling were applied in compliance with the testing conditions such as P.835. In total, 41 volunteers participated in the study for identifying the effects of those filters following a repeatable approach. Performance was assessed in terms of advanced perceptual audio features. This study is believed to be beneficial for both users and device manufacturers as the suggested technique is relatively simple to embed in operational device algorithms or in the master GPU.

Embedding epitaxial (blue) phosphorene in between device-compatible functional layers

Large scale epitaxial (blue) phosphorene is embedded in between two functional layers aiming at its integration into an operational device.

The Governance of Human Capital-Intensive Firms

For the past 30 years, the organization and functioning of firms have considerably changed, especially with the growing importance of human capital. In parallel, the primacy of the shareholder governance model has maintained. The aim of this chapter is to review the main theoretical and empirical elements of this paradox and to propose a renewed model of firm governance that takes into account the intrinsic nature of critical human capital incorporated by key employees. The chapter shows that the inalienable residual rights of control inherent to specific human capital are inconsistent with traditional disciplinary models of corporate governance. They rather call for a model of regulation of economic power exercising based on work motivation. This original model that the author calls the “multi-resource model” aims to encourage, retain, and collectively enrich critical resources by using an original operational device based on complementary instruments of incentive and coordination.

Cross-plane Thermoreflectance Imaging of Thermoelectric Elements

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the first cross-plane thermoreflectance image of the temperature distribution in a thermoelectric (TE) element under bias. Using the technique of lock-in CCD thermoreflectance imaging, we can map the temperature distribution of an operational device with submicron spatial resolution and a temperature resolution of 10 mK. As such it offers a complete picture of the quasi-equilibrium transport within the device. The submicron resolution of the thermoreflectance image enables clear determination of localized heating due at interfaces - for example to due contact resistance - and thermal impedance mismatch within samples. The high spatial resolution is ideal for the characterization of thin-film thermoelectric materials where data from conventional techniques (such as the transient Harman method) are difficult to interpret. This paper also presents the first thermoreflectance data we are aware of for BiTe-based material systems. Identification and separation of the Peltier and Joule components of the heating are possible, and finite difference simulations of the devices are presented for comparison with experiment. In this way it is possible to simultaneously acquire information about the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity of the thermoelectric material. The measurements demonstrate the feasibility of non-contact thermal measurements at the sub-micron scale.

A Systems Approach to the Design of Training Devices: A Model and its Application

Due to the increasing costs of operation and maintenance of hardware, the use of training devices as an alternative to the use of the operational device is taking on an increasingly important role. As the state of simulation technology advances, much “better” devices, from the standpoint of training utility, are available. Unfortunately, the cost of a device increases almost exponentially as a function of its complexity. The goal of designing a set of training devices for a given system, therefore, is to maintain maximum training utility while minimizing overall device costs (i.e., device complexity). This paper discusses a methodology developed by Calspan Corporation which approaches this problem in a systematic manner.