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An embodiment of the invention provides a method for classifying a received signal. The method includes determining a covariance matrix of signal values of the received signal, and determining an eigenvalue matrix of the covariance matrix. The eigenvalue matrix includes the eigenvalues of the covariance matrix. A first function is determined from at least one eigenvalue of the eigenvalues of the covariance matrix. A second function is determined from at least one eigenvalue of the eigenvalues of the covariance matrix, wherein the second function is different from the first function. Dependent from a comparison between a value of the first function and a value of the second function, the received signal is classified into a signal comprising data or into a noise signal.

There is disclosed a method and system for detecting a surface plasmon resonance associated with a fluid sample. The method includes the step of providing a piezoelectric substrate having at least two electrodes thereon, wherein at least one of said electrodes is coupled to a fluid sample. A light beam is transmitted toward the fluid sample to induce a oscillation frequency in the piezoelectric substrate. The oscillation frequency from said electrodes is then measured during transmittance of the light to detect the surface plasmon resonance associated with the fluid sample.

The present invention is directed to novel methods of imprinting substrate-supported or freestanding structures at low cost, with high pattern transfer yield, and using low processing temperature. Such methods overcome many of the above-described limitations of the prior art. Generally, such methods of the present invention employ a sacrificial layer of film.

In a process of forming a hydrogel from a mixture comprising hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and a polymer comprising a crosslinkable phenol group, the gelation rate in the solution and the crosslinking density in the hydrogel can be independently adjusted or controlled by selection of the molarity of H2O2 and concentration of HRP in the solution when the molarity of H2O2 is limited to be within a range and the concentration of HRP is limited to be above a threshold. A method for determining the range and threshold is disclosed. The hydrogel may be used to grow cells, in which case, the molarity of H2O2 may be selected to affect the differentiation or growth rate of the cells in the hydrogel.

A micromechanical structure and a method of fabricating a micromechanical structure are provided. The micromechanical structure comprises a silicon (Si) based substrate; a micromechanical element formed directly on the substrate; and an undercut formed underneath a released portion of the micromechanical element; wherein the undercut is in the form of a recess formed in the Si based substrate.

The invention relates to organic semiconducting materials, methods for their preparation and organic electronic devices incorporating the said organic semiconducting materials. The organic semiconductors contain a compound of formula (I) Ar1=(Qu)m=Ar2??(I) where Qu is independently a substituted or unsubstituted, substantially planar 5 to 8 membered conjugated ring, and Ar1 and Ar2 each independently is a substituted or unsubstituted, substantially planar conjugated aromatic structure having from 5 to 50 carbon atoms. The compounds of formula may generally form an H-shaped molecular structure. The said organic semiconducting materials could be used as the active layers for organic electronic devices, e.g. thin film transistors, photovoltaic cells, photo detectors, light emitting diodes, memory cells, sensors etc.

An amphiphilic block copolymer is provided, which comprises a first polymeric block of repeat units and a second polymeric block of repeat units. The first block comprises hydrophilic antifouling side chains bonded to a first backbone segment. The first backbone segment has a length of 10 to 200 repeat units. The side chains have an average length of 5 to 23 monomer units. The repeat units in the first block have a polydispersity index of 1.3 or less, such as about 1.15. The second block comprises hydrophobic antifouling side groups bonded to a second backbone segment. The second backbone segment has a length of 10 to 200 repeat units. In a composition comprising the block copolymer, the block copolymer has a polydispersity of 1.3 or less. The first and second blocks may be copolymerized by living radical polymerization. The copolymer or composition is suitable for forming antifouling coatings.

A method of manufacturing an organic electronic or optoelectronic device, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a substrate having a plurality of banks formed thereon with alternating well formations formed therebetween, the surface of said banks having imprint formations formed thereon of a dimension conferring a selected wetting property to the surface of said banks that is different from the surface of said wells; and (b) depositing an organic solution into said well formations, wherein the wetting property of said banks causes any organic solution deposited thereon to be at least partially repelled.

An apparatus for processing a biological and/or chemical sample in a liquid droplet (1) is provided. The apparatus includes a processing compartment (20), a base (21) and at least one circumferential wall (25). The processing compartment (20) is defined by at least a part of the base (21), at least a part of the circumferential wall (25) and an inlet member (4). The inlet member (4) is located on top of the processing compartment (20), and includes at least one droplet inlet channel (3), which extends through the inlet member (4) and includes a contraction (2) between the inlet opening (28) of the droplet inlet channel (3) to the environment and the outlet opening (27) to the processing compartment (20). There is furthermore provided a method of processing a biological and/or chemical sample in a liquid droplet (1). The method includes disposing a medium into the processing compartment (20) of the apparatus of the invention that is immiscible with the liquid droplet (1), so that the contraction (2) is immersed in the medium. The droplet (1) is disposed into the droplet inlet channel (3) such that it is located below the contraction (2) of the droplet inlet channel (3). A process is performed on the biological and/or chemical sample in the droplet (1).

A method of determining as to whether a received signal includes an information signal is provided. The method provided includes determining a covariance matrix from a received signal and transforming the covariance matrix into a transformed covariance matrix, wherein the transformation is configured such that the transformed covariance matrix is a non-diagonal matrix in case the received signal includes the information signal, wherein the non-diagonal matrix includes non-zero non-diagonal matrix elements. The method provided further includes determining a first function using at least one of the non-zero non-diagonal matrix elements of the transformed covariance matrix, determining a second function using at least one matrix element of the transformed covariance matrix, wherein the second function is different from the first function, and determining as to whether a received signal includes an information signal based on a comparison of a value of the first function and a value of the second function.