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Low Voltage, High Mass Range Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer for Mars Atmosphere and Other Harsh Environments

The invention is an ion trap mass spectrometer designed for use on the surface of Mars to detect minute qualities of organic and biological compounds that might indicate the presence of life or former life on that planet. Though compact, the instrument has a high mass range that will enable it to fo
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Methods to Reduce Damage from Stroke and Other Neurological Disorders.

Description (Set) Cerebral ischemia (stoke) is an acute neurological condition that is caused by a blood clot that blocks a blood vessel in the brain, while a cerebral hemorrhage (stroke) is caused by a blood vessel that breaks and bleeds into the brain. The result of a stroke is the initiation of
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Inhibition of Vif-Cul5 Interaction Through Use of Zinc Chelator

The Vif ? A3G axis is one of the most promising new drug targets in HIV research. Previous studies have discovered that Vif is an HIV-derived protein that acts to derail antiviral efforts from the host cell. Vif tags Apobec3G (A3G), an antiviral host factor, with ubiquitin for destruction in the 26
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Small Molecules Targeting 5-meCpG Binding Domain Proteins (MBDs) for Cancer Prevention and Treatment, and for Other Clinical Uses

JHU scientists have discovered new small molecules inhibitors of the transcriptional repression pathway mediated by the 5m-CpG-binding family domain proteins (MBD), MBD2 and MeCP2. Both MBD2 and MeCP2 have been found to play critical roles in both the epigenetic silencing of gene in human cancer cel
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Novel Breast Cancer Cells That Stably Express a New Orange-red Fluorescent Protein Provides Facile Tracking of Metastatic Progression in Live Animal Model Systems

Modeling human disease states in mice has a profound impact on our understanding of disease progression and treatment development. The need for noninvasive longitudinal monitoring of such model systems has resulted in the development of small animal imaging technologies. Endogenously expressed fluor
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Protective Effect of Carbon Monoxide (CO) in Stroke

Carbon monoxide (CO) has been shown to mediate both beneficial and deleterious processes in the central nervous system depending on its concentration. CO is produced endogenously through the breakdown of hemoglobin by heme oxygenase (HO) to produce biliverdin, iron and CO, and these physiological co
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Rapid Predictive Assay for Malignancies Treated with Polo-like Kinase-1 (PLK1) Inhibitors and Cell Cycle Modulators

Scientists at JHU have developed a pharmacodiagnostic assay for patients treated with targeted therapies directed at modulating the cell cycle, including but not limited to Polo-Like Kinase-1 (PLK1) inhibitors. The assay uses a fine needle aspirate (FNA) of a neoplastic lesion that is exposed ex viv
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Improved Fitting Calculation for Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Diffusion tensor imging is a new MRI modality, which is becomig a very important technque to assess various tyes of brain diseases. However, this technque has one weakness; its extreme sensitivity to patient motions. The image is often corrpted by patient motions as small as cardiac pulsation of the
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Method of Identifying Patients Suitable for High-Dose Cyclophosphamide Treatment

Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) are intracellular enzymes responsible for oxidizing aldehydes. A number of studies seem to suggest that ALDH confers resistance of cells to cyclophosphamide, which is routinely used for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. High dose cyclophosphamide therap
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Use of High Dose Cyclophosphamide in Combination with Immune Therapeutics in Anti-Cancer Therapy

Cyclophosphamide and especially high-dose cyclophosphamide has been used for the treatment of certain autoimmune diseases such as severe aplastic anemia. Low to intermediate doses of cyclophosphamide have also been used in combination chemotherapy for treating certain cancers and appears to work eit
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Use of High Dose Cyclophosphamide in Combination with Anti-Idiotypic Vaccines in Anti-cancer Therapy

Recently, immunotherapy based techniques have been developed for the treatment of various cancers. The central premise underlying immunotherapy for cancer is the presence of antigens which are selectively or abundantly expressed or mutated in cancer cells. Despite advances in the development of var
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Histone Mutant Plasmid Collections

Epigenetics, the study of stable alterations in gene expression that arise during development and cell proliferation, is a popular area of modern bioscience. The epigenetic context in which genes are expressed is important for understanding normal phenotypic variation and disease. DNA methylation ha
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Inhibition of Transplantation Rejection By Suppressing HVEM

Decoy lymphotoxin beta receptor (LT? has potent immune inhibitory activities, and thus represents a promising biologic for the treatment of inflammation, autoimmune diseases and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). As this reagent interrupts multiple molecular interactions, including LT?T?and LIGHT-HVE
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Use of Novel Derivatives of Artemisinin to Inhibit Toxoplasma Gondii

Toxoplasmosis, caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, is a medically important infection that is distributed worldwide. Current treatments for the prevention and treatment of toxoplasmosis are of limited efficacy and have undesirable side-effects. According to recent studies, the natural product
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Use of EP3 Receptor Ligands to Reduce Damage from Stroke and Other Neurological Disorders

Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors are well known for their use as anti-inflammatory agents and have also been shown to reduce the damage associated with neuroinflammatory disorders. They act by inhibiting the production of prostaglandins, many of which mediate the inflammatory response. The effect o
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An Approach to Guide the Individualize Development of New Anticancer Agents

The development of new oncology drugs has not resulted in a meaningful improvement in survival of cancer patients. Major reasons are the lack of criteria, models and guidelines to develop individualized treatment plans most likely to produce a successful clinical outcome in a given patient. JHU scie
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Pkd1 T3041R: Pkd1 Cleavage-deficient Mouse

Scientists at JHU have created a novel mouse model of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), one of the most common human genetic disorders. The mice are deficient in Pdk1 cleavage due to missense mutations with the polycystin-1 gene. The mice develop polycystic disease during neo-natal development but un
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Use of High-dose Oxazaphosphorine Drugs in Combination with Monoclonal Antibodies for Treating Immune Disorders

(Set) Autoimmune diseases afflict more than 8 million people in the U.S alone. Autoimmunity usually occurs when lymphocytes, which are designed to defend the body against infections and foreign agents, start attacking one or more of the body's tissues or organs. The conventional treatment for many
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Controlled Local Delivery of Glucosamine (GlcN) for Musculoskeletal Repair

The novel feature of this discovery is the application of GlcN to joint and spine (cartilage) tissue engineering/repair. Because of this discovery of the relevant concentrations one can envision new therapies such as: 1.) injection into the joint space of GlcN in drug delivery vehicles after microfr
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Development of a Biomarker for the Early Detection of Diabetes ("Pre-Diabetes") Based Upon O-GlcNAc

JHU scientists have identified markers in human blood that might readily identify individuals at the early stages of type II diabetes, when life-style changes will be most effective in disease prevention. The markers derive from hexosamine metabolism, and in particular the dynamic O-GlcNAc (modifica
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Inhibitors of Human Methionine Aminopeptidase 1 As Novel Anticancer Drug Leads

JHU researchers have unraveled an important function of human type 1 aminopeptidase (hMetAP1) in the timely progression of cells through mitosis. In addition, a new structural class of isoform specific inhibitors of hMetAP1 has been discovered that induces a significant delay in mitosis (>3 hrs) and
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Generation of Xenografts on Mice to Tailor Anticancer Therapy from Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsies

Xenografts can be made from resected tumors of pancreatic cancer patients in order to generate tumor tissue for the testing of tailored drug regimes. However, the majority of patients with pancreatic cancer (and other types of cancer) are not candidates for tumor resection. Scientists at Johns Hopki
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Reversal of Aberrant Cancer Gene Silencing By Inhibition of SIRT1

The class III histone deactylase (HDAC), SIRT1, has cancer relevance because it regulates lifespan in multiple organisms, down-regulates p53 function through deacetylation, and is linked to polycomb gene silencing in Drosophila. JHU inventors have shown that SIRT1 localizes to promoters of several a
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Hospital at Home Care Model

Acute hospital care can be burdensome for elderly patients. Providing acute hospital-level care to a patient in his home in lieu of an acute hospital admission may improve patient outcomes and be less expensive. As a result, Dr. Bruce Leff has developed a Hospital at Home model of care that include
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The Transcriptome Interaction Database (TID): a Novel Bioinformatic Method and Software Package for Analysis of MicroRNA-mRNA Interactions and their Consequences

Researchers at JHU have developed the Transcriptome Interaction Database (TID), a centralized relational database and analysis toolset for combining microRNA (miRNA) data with large scale microarray mRNA data, to make predictions of miRNA-mRNA interactions in a given cell type. The TID uses a simpli
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MicroRNA Expression and Control of Stem Cell Pluripotency, Differentiation and Cellular Processes

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs that bind to the 3' untranslated region of mRNAs and downregulate their translation to protein. MiRNAs play critical roles in many different cellular processes including metabolism, apoptosis, differentiation, and development. Researchers at J
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A Novel Cystic Fibrosis Therapeutic Agent

Abstract (Set) JHU scientists found that a known drug has a novel function as a stimulator of calcium-activated Cl- channels (CaCCs) and, thus, is a potential therapeutic drug in the treatment of cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is the number one genetic killer of children and young adults in the U
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A Novel Method for Generating and Screening Peptides and Libraries Displayed on Adenovirus Fiber

Abstract (Set) Capsid-displayed adenoviral peptide libraries have been a significant yet unfeasible goal in biotechnology. Three barriers have made this difficult: the large size of the viral genome, the low efficiency of converting plasmid-based genomes into packaged adenovirus, and the fact that
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Methods to Block or Reduce Damage from Stroke and Other Neurological Disorders

Description (Set) An acute neurological condition caused by blood clots that block blood vessels in the brain is cerebral ischemia (stroke) similarly; blood vessel breakage in the brain is cerebral hemorrhage (stroke). These blood vessel miscues result in the initiation of an ischemic cascade that
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Facile, PCR Free Detection of DNA with Single Nucleotide Discrimination

Abstract (Set) Single nucleotide modifications in DNA have important affects on gene expression. This results in significant phenotypic effects. Mutations in genes can also result in the development of diseases, including cancer. The ability to rapidly analyze DNA sequence is useful for correlating
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Detection of Antibodies to Specific Glycans as a Novel Diagnostic Test for Autoimmune Disease

Abstract (Set) JHU scientists have identified biomarkers specific for autoimmune disease. Systemic autoimmune diseases are life- threatening, complex and can involve various organ systems including skin, joints, the renal system, the hematopoietic system, and the cardiovascular system. In autoimmun
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MKK4/MAP2K4 KO Lines for Drug Discovery

Description (Set) MKK4 (JNKK1, MAP2K4, and SEK1), a dual-specificity kinase gene on chromosome 17p11, is a tumor suppressor gene that is mutated in a subset of most tumor types. MKK4 protein is activated by several kinases, and active MKK4 cooperates with MKK7 to phosphorylate and thereby activate
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Nano-patterning with Nanospheres (28079)

INVENTION: The invention is a low-cost, "maskless" photolithography method to produce highly uniform arrays of nanopillars and nanoholes over a large area. The invention has the following advantages over existing methods by which to form nanoholes and nanopillars: Single Stage: The process is ma
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Atomic Force Photovoltaic Microscopy (27148)

INVENTOR: Mark Hersam and Benjamin Leever INVENTION: An atomic force photovoltaic microscope (AFPM) has been developed to characterize spatially localized inhomogeneities in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. A biased conductive atomic force microscopy (cAFM) probe is raster-scanned over an arra
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Mixed-phase nano-structured TiO2 composite photocatalyst for energy and energy efficiency applications

INVENTION: Northwestern scientists chemists have designed, synthesized and tested a highly active mixed-phase nano-structured titanium dioxide (TiO2) composite, which shows significantly enhanced photoactivity ADVANTAGES: The mixed-phase TiO2 nanocomposite showed higher photoactivity than it
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A Gene Expression Barcode for Normal and Diseased Tissue Classification

This invention measures absolute gene expression and shows that with hundreds of samples it is possible to demarcate expressed from unexpressed genes. The utility of the method is demonstrated by defining a gene expression barcode for human and mouse tissues, which is then used to differentiate dis
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Controlled Microencapsulation of Mammalian Cells

The present invention is directed to an automated device and method to prepare polyelectrolyte microcapsules for controlled microencapsulation of mammalian cells. This device and method delivers precision control of volume of microcapsules at picoliter scale with narrow size distribution and with co
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Diagnostic Assays for a Polymorphism in a Gene That Affects Cardiovascular Health

High density lipoproteins (HDL) are considered good or healthy cholesterol that can protect against heart disease. However, there are people who have health problems despite having desirable levels of HDL. There are a number of factors that can contribute to the blood levels of HDL, including geneti
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Persistence Switch Involved in Persister Formation and Tolerance to Multiple Antibiotics and Stresses, as a Drug Target for Persister Bacteria

Persister bacteria are metabolically quiescent cells that neither grow nor die in the presence of antibiotics. The biological mechanism of bacterial persistence is not fully understood but it is clear that they reduce antibiotic efficacy, which leads to millions of infectious disease deaths each yea
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Derivation of Multipotent Mesenchymal Cells from Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Biomaterials-Directed in Vivo Commitment

Heterogeneous differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) limits the potential use of hESCs for cell-based therapies and studies of specific differentiation programs. Clearly, more efficient and selective methods are needed to direct the proliferation and differentiation of hES cells to pro
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Methods for Inducing Immune Tolerance By Inhibiting the Fas Pathway

Fas ligand ("FasL") is a protein with an activity to induce apoptosis of a Fas antigen ("Fas")-expressing cell. Apoptosis of the Fas antigen-expressing cells is believed to be induced by binding of FasL with Fas on the cell surface, which results in the transfer of an apoptosis signal to the cell vi
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PECAM-1 Related Compositions and Associated Methods of Use

PECAM-l (CD 31), a member of the IG superfamily, is expressed strongly at endothelial cell junctions, leukocytes and platelets. PECAM-l has been suggested to play a role in angiogenesis, vasculogenesis and is critical in mediating the transendothelial migration of monocytes. This is an important fir
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Biofunctional Fibers

The present invention describes a method to functionalize polymeric fibrous scaffolds. Surface biofunctionalization is achieved by linking bio-functional ligands and growth factors onto polymeric biocompatible fibers. These biofunctional ligands are crucial for cell attachment, proliferation, and fu
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Biodegradable Polyphosphates for Controlled Release of Bioactive Substances

The present invention includes a series of polycationic biodegradable polymers, the process for making the polymers, and the process for making compositions contain polymers and bioactive ligands. The biodegradable polymers are capable of forming a complex with biological active substances which inc
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Biofunctional Fibers

The present invention is directed to surface functionalization of polymeric fibers. Surface biofunctionalization is achieved by covalent conjugation of biofunctional igands and/or cell growth factors that are crucial for cell attachment, proliferation and functions. Biofunctional fibers could be fab
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Development of a Combinational Paradigm Combating HIV, HIV/HSV or HIV/HPV Infections in Humans

million have been infected in the year 2006 alone. AIDS death reached 2.9 million this year which is the highest ever reported in any year. There are 40,000 new AIDS cases a year in U.S. along. The anti-HIV compounds that are currently being used to treat AIDS patients include several reverse transc
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Toxic Role of Heme Oxygenase in Hemorrhage

JHU scientists have investigated the contribution of inducible HO-1 to early brain injury produced by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). In vivo studies determined that after induction of ICH, HO-1 proteins are highly detectable in the peri-ICH region predominantly in microglia/macrophages and endothe
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A Functional Assay Distinguishing Pathogenic and Nonpathogenic Variant Alleles of the BRCA2 Gene

Some inherited mutations that inactivate BRCA2 and cause a high familial risk of breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer are common in the population. Other mutations are less frequent and referred to as Variants of Unknown Clinical Significance (VUCS). These individual gene mutations are uncharacter
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Formulation of Toll-like Receptor Ligand with Whole Cell Tumor Vaccine to Enhance Anti-tumor Responses

Established reports in literature have shown that the innate immune system can modulate immune responses against cancer. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a Toll-like receptor ligand 4 (TLR4), was absorbed onto whole cell tumor vaccine using a liposome formulation. The liposome reagent was titrated with LPS
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Quantitative Detection of Promoter Hypermethylation as a Biomarker of Acute Kidney Injury During Transplantation

Kidney repair after injury is a recapitulation of normal morphogenesis, with similarities to malignant transformation, and aberrant promoter hypermethylation, also known as epigenetics, is a promising biomarker approach to diagnose malignancies. Therefore, JHU researchers investigated whether methyl
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Mutations of the Cholecystokinin Receptor Type 2 in Human Cancers

Gastrin and the cholecystokinin type B/gastrin receptor (CCKBR) have been shown to be expressed in colorectal adenocarcinoma. Colorectal adenocarcinoma is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States. The CCKBR was screened for mutations in colon, lung, and breast, gastric, pan
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293 Cell Line for Flag-tagged HIMF (flag-HIMF-293)

Hypoxia-induced mitogenic factor (HIMF) is highly up regulated in the lungs as a result of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension, and has proangiogenic and proinflammatory effects in the lung. As a research tool for studying the function and activity of HIMF, JHU researchers have developed a trans
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A Novel Agent to Reduce the Requirement of Analgesics in Clinical Pain Management

N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation has been demonstrated to play an important role in the processing of spinal nociceptive information. Postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95), a scaffolding protein, has been identified to attach NMDA receptors to internal signaling molecules at neuron
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Novel Drugs That Can Induce EBV Lytic Infection as a Potential Therapy for EBV Associated Tumor or to Assist in Diagnostic Imaging

Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) is a human gamma herpes virus that can establish either a latent or lytic infection in host cells. In its latent form, EBV is associated with a number of malignancies such as Burkett?s lymphoma, nasopharyngeal and gastric carcinomas and B-cell lymphoproliferative tumors. EBV
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Myc-repressed microRNAs as Novel Anti-cancer Therapeutic Agents

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 18-24 nucleotide RNA molecules that regulate the stability or translational efficiency of target mRNAs. miRNAs are frequently dysregulated in cancer cells and can act as oncogenes and tumor-suppressors. The proto-oncogene c-MYC encodes a transcription factor that regulates cel
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Serum Response Factor (SRF) Conditional Knockout Mice

Scientists at JHU have created conditional serum response factor (srf) knockout mice to investigate the plasticity of adult neurons. The mice were generated to circumvent the embryonic lethality associated with Srf null mice and allow for the ablation of Srf in a spatially- and temporally-restricted
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An Assay to Identify Novel Targets and Personalize Combination Anticancer Therapy

Scientists at JHU have developed a pharmacodiagnostic assay to identify relevant targets and direct the design of individual patient combination anticancer therapy. The assay is based on fine needle aspiration of a neoplastic lesion, exposing the acquired materials ex vivo to control media or media
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Mechanism for Input, Transmission, and Analysis Mechanism of Self-assessed Pain Level for Patient Monitoring and Diagnostics

a. The device offers a novel method of monitoring pain in patients. The design allows doctors/nurses to track the pain levels felt by the patient much like heart rate and other metrics are currently viewed. By coupling the increase or decrease in pain with other events, better diagnosis�s can be mad
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Automate White Matter Parcellation Based on Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Brain white matter looks homogeneous in conventional MR. This makes it difficult to identify specific white matter regions (similar to locate a place in desert). DTI provides contrasts based on axonal fiber orientations, with which locations of specific white matter tracts can be visualized. This in
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Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Dosimeter for RF Power Deposition in MRI

The present invention addresses the critical need for direct and independent SAR by providing the first dosimeter for MRI which directly measures standard average head and body SAR. The device uses a transducer placed in the scanner, comprised of induction looping a resistive load and a small MRI se
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Novel Protein Increases Muscle Mass

Muscle mass is normally regulated by the activities of members of the transforming growth factor-B (TGF-B) superfamily, which act to limit muscle growth. Scientists at JHU have now found a protein that is capable of binding certain members of the TGF-B family and inhibiting their activities in vitr
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CanScript for Gene Therapy: a DNA Enhancer Element Conveying Cancer-specific Expression to 30% of Human Malignancies

One of the major requirements for effective cancer gene therapies are DNA sequences that, when inserted into a gene-expression construct, will drive high-level gene expression exclusively in cancer cells. These sequences are termed cancer specific enhancers or promoters of gene transcription. Until
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Novel Drug Development for Cancer

vivo. Although, the BPU analogs are effective in the palliative management of a wide variety of human malignancies, their utility as chemotherapeutic agents is limited for several reasons: 1) They are almost insoluble in water; 2) they are difficult to formulate; and 3) they have relatively low bioa
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Automated, Inexpensive, Liquid Delivery Device for the Robust, Reproducible, Efficient, Multiplexed and Gentle Processing of Affinity Matrices

Scientists at JHU have developed an inexpensive device for the automated delivery of unlimited solvent volume in a manner that provides constant, gentle, suspension of the column/support matrices (including affinity, ion exchange, reversed phase matrix, etc), without packing the matrix (e.g. beads)
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BRCA2 KO Lines for Drug Discovery

BRACA2 is a DNA repair gene. Mutations in BRACA2 cause an inherited risk of breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers. The cancer cell lines are engineered to lack BRACA2 and are useful screening tools for chemotherapeutic or chemopreventative agents Description (Set) Proposed Use (Set) The BRACA
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Identification of a Novel Vertebrate-specific chaperone, BBS12, That Causes Bardet-Biedl Syndrome

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is an autosomal recessive disorder that occurs in approximately 1in 150,000 individuals. The syndrome is characterized by retinitis pigmentosa, polydactyly, obesity, mental retardation, hypogenitalism, renal dysplasia, and short stature. Scientists from JHU, Baylor and Fr
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Methods and Protein Biomarkers Predictive of Toxic Exposure, Health Status and Disease

The present work describes a list of novel and specific biomarker targets and a novel data analysis strategy for determining current health status, the occurrence of past exposures to toxic chemicals, and associated adverse health outcomes. Biomarkers are specific physiological, biochemical and biol
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MicroRNA-based Diagnostic Testing and Therapies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) are the two most common chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). They often share similar clinical characteristics, such as acute and chronic inflammation of the colon, which makes accurate diagnosis difficult. Studies examining the global gene expr
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The Human C3b/C4b Receptor (CR1)

The present invention relates to the C3b/C4b receptor (CR1) gene and its encoded protein. The invention also relates to CR1 nucleic acid sequences and fragments thereof comprising 70 nucleotides and their encoded peptides or proteins comprising 24 amino acids. The expression of the CR1 protein and f
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Tunable, Full-Color Electroluminescent Array

BACKGROUND: A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. Traditionally, LEDs were made with inorganic materials. However, inorganic semiconductor LEDs lack ease of processibility on large and flexible substrates. In the
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Method of Retarding the Progression of Chronic Renal Failure

Progression of chronic renal failure can be retarded (slowed or arrested) by administering to humans suffering from such disorder an agent which suppresses the production of glucocorticoids in the human. The agents may be administered alone or in combination with a protein restricted and/or phosphor
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Regional Chemotherapy with 4-Hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (Intrathecal Administration)

A method of treating human tumors is provided in which tumors are regionally treated with a cytolytic, pre-activated, bifunctional alkylating agent, namely 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide. The treatment is effective against a variety of tumor types within the central nervous systems. Cyclophosphamide,
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A Manual Scan Imaging Sonar

Background Sonar systems of similar application as this invention fall into three categories: single-beam mechanical scan, single-beam hand-held, and multiple-beam hand-held. Existing mechanically scanned single-beam sonars require a stable platform and stepper motor controls, which prevents their u
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A Method for Reducing the Viscous Drag on a Submerged Surface

Background A submerged surface (e.g., a ship hull) traveling through a liquid, as well as liquid flowing through a pipeline, experience viscous drag, requiring increased power to overcome such drag. Invention Description The solution proposes creating a pattern of small holes on a submerged surf
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A New Method for Anion Metathesis

vBackground Organic salts are essential reactants in a number of important applications, including the preparation of reaction media, catalysts, precatalysts, analytical materials, solvent, and sensory materials. The properties of organic salts greatly depend on the nature of the associated anion. M
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Additive technology to eliminate bio-fouling in membranes; e.g., desalinization

Background One of the major roadblocks to widespread use of membranes for water purification is membrane fouling. Fouling occurs when certain impurities in water are deposited on the surface of a membrane or in its internal pore structure. This deposition leads to a dramatic reduction in water flux,
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Advanced Polymer Membranes for the Purification of Hydrogen and Other Gases

Background Current methods for carbon dioxide removal and hydrogen purification are not only very expensive but also cause large losses of gas and use toxic chemicals. The hydrogen required in the refining business is generated through costly, toxic, and inefficient systems like steam methane reform
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Algorithm for Vibration Analysis Simulators

Background Over the years, engineers have had great success in regulating unwanted noises created in automobiles/machines. These noise frequencies are caused by vibrations in the machine. Conventional ways for analyzing such vibrations in automobiles involves first calculating the natural frequencie
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Protein Expression Markers for the Detection of Thyroid Cancer Metastasis

Description (Set) Approximately 80% of all thyroid cancers are papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs). Correct staging of PTC is one of the most important parts of the work up of patients for both prediction of outcome and determination of the most appropriate treatment. PTC generally has a high cure
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An Auto-Calibrated Refractometer for Single-Shot Measurement of Ultra-Fast Phenomena

Background Materials index of refraction (IOR) is a sensitive measure to variations of density, charge-state, conductivity, temperature, chemical composition, and microscopic structure. IOR measurements are common in a wide range of industrial and research applications, including materials processin
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High-speed Diode for Low-cost Organic Circuitry

Abstract (Set) The Johns Hopkins University seeks a partner to commercialize a new organic diode useful for constructing complex organic electronic circuitry. The diode utilizes polymer and inorganic oxide layers to achieve high-frequency alternating current (AC) rectification, an operational requi
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Analog-to-Digital Conversion Methods and Apparatus Enabled by Active and/or Passive Variable Delay Transmission Lines

Background Technology scaling adversely affects most parameters relevant to analog design, and ADCs are no exception. To achieve a high linearity, high sampling speed, and high dynamic range with low supply voltages and low power dissipation in ultra-deep submicron silicon technology is a major chal
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Binder Compositions for Laser Sintering Processes

Background Rapid prototyping has developed steadily as an industry over the past two decades. The leading four companies in the field had aggregate sales estimated at $387 million in 2007, approximately a 10% increase over 2006. However, currently there is no binder capable of providing the structur
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PET32a O-GlcNAcase-thioredoxin Expression Vector

Abstract (Set) Expression and Purification of Recombinant and Endgenous 0- GlcNAcase The human O-GlcNAcase cDNA was subcloned into the commercial expression bacterial expression vector PET32a (Novagen, Madison, WI), as was the shorter splice variant (MGEA5 s), to yield fusion proteins with thioredo
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Carbon Dioxide Capture by Aqueous Piperazine

Background The conventional process for CO2 absorption/stripping uses aqueous amines such as monoethanolamine (MEA). Piperazine has previously been identified as a very reactive amine. It is an attractive alternative to MEA because it reacts with CO2 thirty times faster than MEA. However, piperazine
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Centrifuge Permeameter for Unsaturated Soils System

Current testing methods cannot measure the unsaturated hydraulic properties of granular materials simultaneously, and require long testing periods. They are impractical and involve the use of several granular specimens as well as destructive or intrusive measurements of the relevant testing variable
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Centrifuge Permeameter for Unsaturated Soils System

Background Current testing methods cannot measure the unsaturated hydraulic properties of granular materials simultaneously, and require long testing periods. They are impractical and involve the use of several granular specimens as well as destructive or intrusive measurements of the relevant testi
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Centrifuge Permeameter for Unsaturated Soils System

Current testing methods cannot measure the unsaturated hydraulic properties of granular materials simultaneously, and require long testing periods. They are impractical and involve the use of several granular specimens as well as destructive or intrusive measurements of the relevant testing variable
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Chlorine-Resistant Reverse-Osmosis Membrane

Current state-of-the-art technology for reverse osmosis filtration of water has one major flaw: the addition of chlorine can cause the membrane to degrade. However, when treating saltwater or brackish water, it is necessary to introduce chlorine for sanitation and disinfection purposes. Unfortunatel
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Constant Force Suspension

There are several drawbacks to a traditional, passive suspension system. First, the system cannot eliminate the transmission of ground irregularities to the passenger. Second, ground disturbances are magnified by the suspension system, resulting in large disturbances to the passenger. Further, choos
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Electron-Blocking Layer / Hole-Transport Layer for Organic Photovoltaics

INVENTION: An electron-blocking / hole transport layer has been developed for organic photovoltaics. The overall power conversion efficiency of MDMO-PPV:PCBM and P3HT:PCBM active layer devices exhibited significantly greater open circuit voltage with electron blocking layer incorporation versus cont
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Formation of a Nano-Scale Catalyst Phase in SOFC Anodes via Controlled Precipitation

INVENTION: A new method for introducing Ni or another electrocatalyst phase (e.g. Ru) only in the anode active layer, after high temperature firing. The process provides well dispersed nano-scale catalyst microstructure without additional processing relative to conventional anode-supported SOFC meth
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Operation of Anode Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells on Methane and Natural Gas

INVENTION: A solid oxide fuel cell design and process has been developed at Northwestern to accommodate direct use of hydrocarbon fuels without chemical reforming. Conditions to foster stable operation below 800°C without coke formation have been demonstrated. ADVANTAGES: Fuel cell system directl
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Integrated Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

INVENTION: Northwestern researchers have devised a new integrated solid oxide fuel cell (ISOFC) construct that combines the advantages of tubular and planar stack designs. An operating 4 cell unit has been demonstrated. The ISOFC is well suited for hydrogen or direct hydrocarbon oxidation. ADVANT
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Fuel-Flexible Anodes for Solid Oxide Cells

INVENTION: Northwestern researchers have developed new solid oxide fuel cell anodes that operate efficiently with a range of hydrocarbon fuels as well as hydrogen. ADVANTAGES: Solid oxide fuel cell anodes that directly utilize hydrocarbon fuels, without reforming and provide stable operation with
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BioNetGen - Software to Discover Novel Biotransformations

INVENTION: This software solution has been extensively used at Northwestern to identify novel reaction pathways. This offers an opportunity to look for ways to produce materials from renewable resources, such as plants and crops, or to produce novel products. ADVANTAGES: There have been other at
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Polymer-Cellulose Composites via Solid-State Shear Pulverization

INVENTION: Process for producing polymer-cellulose composites with enhanced properties. ADVANTAGES: A scalable process to produce well dispersed polymer-cellulose composites having enhanced properties, without need of compatibilizing agents. SUMMARY: Cellulose provides many opportunities to
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Novel Ion Exchange Materials for Heavy Metals Removal

INVENTION: The novel ion exchange materials are metal sulfide based materials. They are made of inexpensive, non-toxic elements. They can be prepared by solid state or hydrothermal synthesis and are chemically and thermally stable. The current production scale is on the order of grams, however the c
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Oligo(p-phenylene vinylene) amphiphiles and methods for self-assembly

INVENTION: Amphiphilic oligo(p-phenylene vinylene) compounds and methods of use en route to self-assembled composites and device fabrication. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide OPV compounds and/or methods for assembly, thereby overcoming various deficiencies and sh
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Soil Probe

INVENTION: "Soil Probe" samples ionic soil contaminants such as heavy metals in hazardous waste sites. Contaminated soil must be characterized and monitored to determine the best approach and cost to clean up a hazardous waste site. Soil Probe is the only known device that enables on-site analysis o
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