University of Cincinnati's Technologies Available for Licensing

115070 - Nanofiber Synthetic Brain

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Current activities in brain neuroscience research focus on cognitive processes, mapping of neuronal activity in ever-larger segments, in-silico simulations and experiments. Given the number of neurons and the complex neural interconnection web that exist in the human brain, it is unlikely that an artificial brain of significant size can be achieved using approaches based on semiconductor devices.

The University of Cincinnati, led by Dr. Andrew Steckl, has developed the possibility of a “real artificial” brain that will duplicate as much as possible the functions and the look-and-feel of an actual working brain.

Using polymer fibers formed by electrospinning, we have created non-woven membranes whose physical structure closely resembles that of a neuronal array, including the diameter and length of the fibers being comparable. Further, the number of fiber cross-connects in a typical membrane are on the same order as the synapse density in the brain. Finally, our membranes exhibit an electrical conductance range which covers the typical axon conductance.

110005 - Arteriovenous Fistula Device

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Prabir Roy-Chaudhury in collaboration with Dr. Vesselin Shanov and Dr. Mark Schulz has developed a novel device for improving arteriovenous fistula (AVF) survival.

Arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) are currently the preferred mode of dialysis vascular access, patients with an AVF live longer and cost less, but have significant problems with early failure or non-maturation, which results in a very significant morbidity and economic cost. In addition, AVF non-maturation often results in prolonged catheter usage with its attendant complications of infection, thrombosis and central vein stenosis.

The device designed by our faculty, targets early AVF failure at a mechanistic level, and could complement national initiatives to increase AVF prevalence such as "Fistula First.”

113087 - Breath Test for Glucose

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Self-monitoring of blood glucose is an $8 billion industry worldwide. Current methods require a sample of blood, which is extracted via painful needle sticks that can lead to complications. Though acetone in the breath has long been known to correlate well with glucose in the blood, a breath test for glucose has yet to reach the market.

Anastasios Angelopoulos and Jonathan Bernstein, faculty members (engineering and medicine, respectively) at the University of Cincinnati have developed a patent pending device that signals the future of glucose sensing technology—a breath test for glucose. A patient will breathe into the device and, in seconds, receive an optical indication of blood glucose. Other breath-based approaches require more chemical transformations with additional steps.

112048 - Optimizing The Early Phases of Innovation

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Professor Craig Vogel, Associate Dean of DAAP and director of the Center of Design, Research and innovation at the University of Cincinnati, has developed a series of lectures sharing learning from his book Creating Breakthrough Products and years of experience in teaching design strategy and design thinking, regarding the successful integration of design research and design practice.

Craig is considered the "teacher's teachers" in the eyes of employers across the United States. While giving top marks to UC's design programs, these employers have also signed up Craig on the short list of America's best design professors.

115104 - Codon optimized uridine-specific ribonuclease MC1 gene

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Drs. Patrick Limbach and Balasubrahmanyam Addepalli have discovered a recombinant plasmid encoding a codon-optimized synthetic ribonuclease MC1 gene that holds promise to increase research productivity in the area of RNA structural analysis which has been inhibited by the lack of nucleoside-specific enzymes (RNases).

To improve RNA structural analysis, additional RNases with nucleoside specificity that complements what is available from RNase T1, RNase A and RNase U2 are desirable. Among other potential issues the current invention solves the following problems:

• Lack of nucleoside-specific ribonucleases for RNA structural analysis: This invention’s construct generates a uridine-specific RNase that complements the commercially available guanosine-specific RNase T1 and cytidine/uridine selective RNase A. In particular, RNase MC1 should have a greater utility than RNase A, which cleaves RNA at a greater frequency due to its lack of specificity.

• RNase MC1 should be useful for structural analysis of GC-rich RNAs: GC-rich RNAs, which tend to be more stable than AT-rich RNAs, are difficult to characterize with RNase T1, as the higher frequency of guanosine residues yields smaller oligomers that do not always yield useful scientific data on the parent RNA structure. GC-rich RNAs have, by definition, a lower frequency of adenosine and uridine residues. Thus, the uridine-specific MC1 RNase should yield larger oligomers from GC-rich RNAs, which provide a greater amount of structural information within a given experiment.

• Ambiguous isotope effects in mass spectrometric analysis: Improved mass spectrometry analysis for RNA modification mapping: uridine differs from cytidine by 1 Da (O versus NH) and the presence of C-13 isotopes, which are readily detected by mass spectrometry, can easily result in challenges in differentiating the number and sequence location of these pyrimidines. This challenge is particularly noteworthy for larger digestion products wherein the “all light” (C-12) isotope peak is no longer the most abundant. Digestion with MC1 will yield oligomers containing a single uridine in the sequence at the 5’-terminus of each digestion product. Moreover, the number of cytidines should also be more easily determined based on accurate mass measurements and prior sequence reconstruction challenges will be eliminated.

The technology of this invention is superior to the current state of the art because it solves the above stated problems by overexpressing the protein in bacteria where bacterial cells could serve as molecular factories for mass production of target proteins. Employment of the recombinant nucleobase-specific enzyme could ensure higher predictability and reproducibility of the data besides simplifying the experimental procedures and analysis.

The MC1 nuclease can also have further hi-tech and low-tech applications open to the labs that are interested in comparing the profiles of uridine modifications in the transcriptome (but do not necessarily employ mass spec based analysis). Here, the comparison of MC1 digest of in vitro transcript with that of the native RNA (can be tRNA, rRNA, etc.) would allow straightforward mapping of [m5U] and [s4U] and potentially other bulky modifications on a transcriptome wide scale by RNA-seq approaches or simple PAGE depending on the complexity of sample.

The target market for the invention is the RNA analysis/Transcriptomics market. RNA analysis is the study of the complete set of RNAs (transcriptome) encoded by the genome of a specific cell or organism at a specific time or under a specific set of conditions. RNA analysis has significant applications in the field of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and is used in the drug discovery, life science research and clinical diagnostic applications. The global RNA analysis/Transcriptomics market was valued at $1.7 billion in 2013 and it is expected to reach $3.8 billion by 2019

112024 - Preventing the Induction of Fatty Acid Oxidation in Response to S6K1 Inactivation

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. David Plas and his lab have identified a new method that enhances cancer cell cytotoxicity when used in combination with Rapamycin.

Although Rapamycin suppresses glycolysis in cancer cells, the cytotoxic benefit of Rapamycin is unexpectedly low in many cancers. Agents that inhibit fatty acid oxidation in tumor cells can compensate for this shortcoming by blocking a key metabolic pathway that cancer cells use to survive during Rapamycin therapy.

100037 - Enhanced tPA Activity and Therapy

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Researchers at UC have developed methods for inhibiting lysis of coagulated blood and reducing risk of excessive lysis comprising administration of lysis-inhibiting amounts of apolipoprotein E4, and methods for inhibiting lysis of coagulated blood and reducing risk of excessive lysis comprising administration of a specific level of a lysis-inhibiting agent wherein the specific level is based on the apolipoprotein phenotype of an individual, are provided. Methods for enhancing lysis of coagulated blood by administration of an Apo E peptide fragment to blood containing a clot lysis agent are also provided.

116019 - Training Management System

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

We have developed software to assist an organization manage their training programs.

As many organizations know, scheduling and managing training often can be a complex and overly complicated procedure. The accessibility of training creates its own, whether you are trying to provide the training as a requirement, voluntary, employee-only, or open to the public. In addition to accessibility, location and scheduling can be a challenge when you have a variety of options. In addition, many people use a paper and pen model to take attendance which requires extra data entry.

Our web-based organizational training management system addresses this need by providing a friendly, intuitive, multi-user, multi-agency system to manage the training workflow. The system includes the following features:

Ability to manage users (trainees, trainers, agencies)

Ability to schedule and manage a training session

Ability to add and monitor attendees

Ability to manage the appropriate contact information for users

Ability to schedule training sessions

Ability to provide pre-course, course and post-course materials

Ability to record training results, including monitoring attendance

Ability to search and provide a calendar view of training sessions Ability to print or email certificates to users based on completion status

Technology: The system is Web-based built on the Express web framework with Node.js and uses MongoDB and Redis databases. Further the system uses the following libraries and technologies under open source licenses as indicated:

115060 - Interview Management System

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

We have developed a multi-user, role-based and web-based system to schedule interviews.

Scheduling and managing interviews require intensive coordination effort to align the individual's schedule, the room, and the interviewer with the different possibilities of rescheduling. Scheduling two people is easy, but when you need to start scheduling three or four people the conflicts can become unwieldy. Doodle polls and other similar internet based services can be insufficient since they typically lack the tools to allow for automated rescheduling. Nor do those services allow others to track results of such interviews and/or allow for reports to be sent to others.

The Interview Scheduling Management system is a multi-user, role-based and web-based system. Administrators can create an event, assign a room and populate available individual slots. Users can come to the site to browse the different rooms and the availabilities. Interviewees can sign up for a time slot and can reschedule at a later time. A reschedule opens up the time slot allowing other interviewees to register as well. A third role is for the interviewer who administers the interview to the interviewee. They can, if desired, post the result of the event, which notified the interviewee as well as the administrator. Administrators can run reports per room, per individual and per interview. This system works equally well for exams as well as scheduling auditions.

The specific features of the system include:

A registration tool that allows individuals to register for events and reschedule as needed

A notification tool to remind interviewees of their scheduled interview

An event management tool to create, edit, and delete events with dynamically available rooms, schedules, and slots

A scoring tool to enter section scores and uses an algorithm to determine a final score A reporting tool that allows administrators to create reports from scores with the ability to export reports as PDF

Technology: The tool uses a variety of open source tools:

115059 - Applications' Authorization Audit System

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

We have developed web-based software to audit user access to a variety of software applications. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires public companies to report its internal controls over its financial reporting. In implementing said controls, many companies track and maintain access information over a variety of software systems. Many companies use a manual process to gather a list of which systems each user has access to. This list is provided to the managers to review, change or confirm users’ authorization. A report is then generated and included in the company’s SOX audit process.

Our system was developed as an automated solution for a Fortune 500 insurance company’s process. The system is configured to import data generated by a variety of applications. It further integrates with the company’s identity management system allowing managers to sign in to view a list of their employees, the applications they have access to and their access level.

Our web-based system has the following features:

An Import tool to import excel-format files with lists of applications and users

A Manager Dashboard enabling managers to review users’ access level to the different applications and confirm or change

A Notification tool to notify system admin with managers’ changes A Reporting tool to report on managers’ actions

Technology: The system uses Node.JS with Express, Angular JS and Bootstrap. The system uses the following libraries and technologies under open source licenses as indicated:

115056 - Reports Integration Tool

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

We have developed a set of tools to easily create, store and manage reports based on an organizations data.

Generating reports is an essential part of most software systems, especially those that manage a workflow or collect data from users or systems. Many enterprise software systems, to meet specific internal needs, already have fixed internal reports, or canned reports. These canned reports are generated by software modules that are strongly coupled with the enterprise system. Thus modifying the reports can be an expensive and time consuming process since it requires rewriting code that is already approved and certified as well as requiring expertise which may not be readily available.

Our reports integration tool has been developed to address this problem. The tool decouples the reporting engine from the software system and relies on the reporting engine to design and develop the reports and subsequently integrate those reports into the software system. It contains three major components:

An open-source reporting engine to design, create and edit reports.

A report edit tool to add, delete and edit the report name, description and connection to the reporting engine A report grouping tool to create and edit groups for the reports

Technology: The tool uses Bootstrap for responsive design and is primarily written in PHP, utilizing MySQL for the database needs and JasperReports as the reporting engine. Further the system uses the following libraries and technologies under open source licenses as indicated:

115054 - Staff Coaching Management System

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

We have developed software to assist an organization (specifically a coach/trainer/educator) to provide interactive one-on-one training.

Often general training is followed up with one-on-one training. This is usually done through in person meetings, etc. and often is confounded by scheduling problems. We have developed a software system and workflow to assist the coaches and trainees to better manage this relationship completely in a virtual environment.

Trainees using the materials provide reflections and observations as they are using them via audio recordings and writings. A coder will code the reflection on the rubric for the coaches to assess and evaluate.

Our web-based system to manage staff coaching includes the following features:

Ability to manage users (Training organization coders, coaches and admin)

Ability to manage agencies (an agency is an enterprise who contracts the training organization to provide coaching to its employees or volunteers)

Ability to manage agency users (employees, coaches and agency admin)

Ability to manage roles (assign users to roles at the system level and agency level)

Ability for trainees to upload audio reflection with direct links to the coach’s feedback

Ability to enable coders to listen to the audio and complete an assessment form

Ability to allow multiple different users to review the assessments forms

Ability to track or monitor the status of the audio submission

Ability to email notifications based on workflow actions Ability to print reports at each role

Technology: The system is Web-based built on the Drupal content management framework that uses PHP and MySQL database. Further the system uses the following libraries and technologies under open source licenses as indicated:

112005 - Appetite Stimulating Proteins

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Glenn Millhauser and his lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Benoit at the University of Cincinnati have discovered a group of proteins that will ultimately be of value in treating extreme cases of eating disorders such as anorexia or cachexia.

The agouti-related protein (AgRP) is produced in the brain and is a potent appetite stimulant. The normal 50 amino acid polypeptide is produced in the hypothalamus and binds with high affinity to the melanocortin 3 and 4 receptors (MC3R and MC4R). Along with alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (apha-MSH) and neuropeptide Y, AgRP plays a central role in the regulation of mammalian feeding and metabolism. From intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection studies, AgRP is well documented to enhance feeding for one to two days following a single injection, and is probably longer acting than any other known hormone or drug.

UCSC researchers have previously isolated the specific region of AgRP that is required to bind to the MC receptors. New studies show regions adjacent to those that make receptor contact are rich with positive charges, and while they do not influence receptor affinity, they’re critical for AgRP's long acting activity. UCSC researchers have now designed non-natural proteins where they’ve selectively enhanced certain charge characteristics and are able to greatly extend the time over which a single AgRP injection stimulates feeding. Normally, from ICV injections in rats, AgRP stimulates feeding over a 24 - 72 hour period, one to three days. UCSC researchers show that the newly designed protein stimulates feeding for six days. Moreover, the cumulative food intake stimulated by UCSC’s designed AgRP is approximately double that of control over the lifetime of the experiment. The animals increase their body weight by 15% in a one week period, compared to 5% in animals treated with wild type AgRP.

103036 - Bisbenzamidines for the Treatment of Pneumonia

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii (PcP) remains a major opportunistic infection associated with AIDS patients, even in the era of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART). In the previous 2 decades, patients with AIDS have been a primary target of PcP, the population in which it remains a leading opportunistic infection. Limited therapeutic choices and adverse reactions to the two standard treatments, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) and pentamidine (Mei, Gurunathan et al., 1998), cause the clinical management of this infection to remain problematic. Moreover, side effects in almost half of AIDs patients required switching to a less effective therapy.
Despite the efforts of several in vitro and in vivo screening projects, no better treatment than TMP-SMX for PcP has been identified. Strategies to exploit the effective combination of dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor and DHPS inhibitor of the TMP-SMX combination, by substitution of each component (e.g. TMP-dapsone) have not resulted in any therapies with increased efficacy. More recently, mutations in Pneumocystis genes which are the targets of TMP-SMX, atovaquone and dapsone were similar to those conferring resistance in other organisms such as Plasmodium falciparum. Previous therapy with these agents had a strong correlation to presence of the mutation, suggesting a selective mechanism was operational. Moreover, a Pc genotype with double mutations in the DHPS gene replaced the wild type genotype (no mutations) as the predominant type in certain regions of the country (e.g. San Francisco) implying that again, a dominant selection was occurring and these organisms were being transmitted throughout the human population in these regions.
The limited repertoire, problems in tolerance, and potential emerging resistance make it necessary to identify new efficacious treatments for PcP. Drug screening and development for anti-PcP agents has taken advantage of available rodent models of PcP and short term in vitro systems. Recombinant proteins have been used in some biochemical assays when the Pc gene was cloned as in the case of dihydrofolate reductase, but this application has been rarely used due to the paucity of Pc gene sequences previously available. Researchers at UC and Xavier University of Louisiana have developed a series of novel compounds which may be useful for the treatment of viral infections, such as pneumonia and for instance, pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii. In vitro evaluation of these compounds using a P. carinii ATP detection assay indicated that the bisbenzamidines of the present invention functioned as anti-P. carinii agents.

114064 - Inducing Liver Regeneration by Administering Hepatocyte-derived Exosomes

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Alex Lentsch has made the unexpected discovery that hepatocyte-derived exosomes, that contain neutral ceramidase and sphingosine kinase, promote hepatocyte proliferation and liver regeneration after partial liver hepatectomy (i.e. liver resection) or ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. I/R injury is regarded as one of the most important contributors to liver graft dysfunction. The results obtained suggest that hepatocyte-derived exosomes may be a therapeutic application for liver resection surgery and transplantation success.

Liver resection surgeries are most often indicated for patients with liver tumors. Up to 75% of the liver tissue may be removed, but this volume is often limited by other functional diseases such as cirrhosis which is a co-morbidity for 80% of liver cancer patients in the USA leaving only 10-20% of patients as candidates for surgery. For those that qualify the surgery can provide good results with the liver regenerating its preoperative size in about 6-8 weeks.

In the USA about 17,000 adults and children who have been medically approved for liver transplants are on a waiting list for donated livers to become available. Each year more than 1,500 people die while waiting for a donated liver to become available. About 6,000 liver transplants are performed annually. Given this transplant organ shortage it is critically important to preserve the integrity of each transplanted liver graft.

The success rate of liver transplantation is illustrated by the approximately 86% one-year and 78% three-year survival rate. Unfortunately complications do arise following even the most exacting liver transplant procedure. After liver transplantation the incidence of biliary complications varies from 10-30%. These biliary complications lead to an increase of graft dysfunction and patient morbidity and in some cases even to graft loss and retransplantation. The complications are associated with an increased mortality rate of 8-15%. Liver I/R injury following liver transplantation causes up to 10% of early transplant failures and can lead to acute and chronic rejection. Ischemic-type biliary lesions (IBTLs) which underlie liver transplant failures have an incidence of 10-15% following liver transplantation.

It is the hope of this new technology to be further developed into a standard protocol therapy during liver transplantation as well as liver surgery. It is the hope of this new technology to be further developed into a standard protocol therapy during liver transplantation as well as liver surgery. It is thought that when successful FDA clinical trials are completed that the invention could offer advantages such as: • Significant improvement in organ recovery after major liver surgery • Allowing use of marginal liver tissue in transplantation increasing the pool of transplantable livers • Permitting use of more radical resection of liver tissue in surgery to treat cancer

The global market for regenerative medicine was $16.4 billion in 2013 and was growing at a CAGR of 23.2%. The market portion associated with liver regeneration may be up to $1 billion. This suggests that the current invention might realize over $100 million in market potential.

104011 - Pancreatic Cancer Transgenic Mouse Model

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The mouse model titled Pdx-Cre transgenic mouse, is part of the first accurate pancreatic cancer mouse model ever developed. The mouse, when mated with a KrasGD12 mouse, produces offspring that reliably exhibit pancreatic cancer and pancreatic cancer precursors.
The potential applications of this mouse model are tremendous. This model is invaluable in developing new drugs to treat pancreatic cancer, as well as methods for early diagnosis of this disease because presently pancreatic cancer is very hard to detect before it is irreversibly terminal. A reliable detection method is much needed for this deadly disease because it has one of the highest mortality rates of all cancers. A mouse model that can help develop new treatment and detection methods fills an important void in the cancer research arsenal. In addition there are currently very few FDA approved drugs to treat pancreatic cancer underscoring the need for this type of research tool.

114089 - Non-invasive Detection of Spreading Depolarizations

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Jed Hartings has discovered the unexpected ability to detect spreading depolarizations of the cerebral cortex using non-invasive scalp electroencephalography (sEEG). Spreading depolarizations are pathophysiologic waves that occur spontaneously in the brain following neurological insults such as brain trauma or stroke. They are believed to cause further brain damage. In patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage clusters of spreading depolarizations are associated with delayed cerebral ischemia characterized by new neurological deficits and cortical infarcts. In traumatic brain injury (TBI) the occurrence of spreading depolarizations is an independent predictor of poor clinical outcomes.

Accumulating evidence suggests that monitoring of spreading depolarizations could have a similar value in acute brain injury as electrophysiological tools have in epilepsy and cardiology. However, the current gold standard method to detect spreading depolarizations in patients is with invasive intracranial electroencephalography (icEEG). This requires surgery to open a patient’s skull in order to place electrode strips on the cortical surface and subsequently performing continuous icEEG monitoring during intensive care patient management. This present requirement for invasive procedures has limited the application of such icEEG monitoring of spreading depolarizations to a small minority of patients often in a research setting.

Dr. Hartings research in an observational study with eighteen TBI patients has identified a unique invention of three methods to identify spreading depolarizations non-invasively using sEEG recordings. These methods are clinically complimentary. They include: 1) detection of spreading depolarizations as suppressions of pathologic high-amplitude delta activity, 2) shifts in direct current potential and 3) observing the spread delay in the time of occurrence of changes in delta activity suppression or direct current potential shifts from one head area to another. Detection of spreading depolarizations in patients using any of these non-invasive methods may be useful to identify causes of neurological symptoms, to guide treatments and to improve clinical outcomes. A validated sEEG method for detection of spreading depolarization would provide the first non-invasive method for routine bedside monitoring of a neuronal pathomechanism and marker of lesion development with broad application to TBI and hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about 2.5 million TBI’s occur either as an isolated injury or along with other injuries each year. More than 50,000 people die from TBI injury. The cost of TBI to society in the USA is estimated to be between $40-$75 billion. Every year nearly 800,000 people in the USA have a stroke of which 610,000 are first or new strokes and 87% are ischemic strokes. About 130,000 Americans die of stroke every year. The direct and indirect cost of stroke in the USA in 2010 was $36.5 billion. The global brain monitoring device market was worth slightly more than $1.0 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow nearly 9% yearly. This invention would participate in this device market.

103020 - A Family of Therapeutic Delivery Systems

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Fri, 12 May 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The present invention is in the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry and pharmaceuticals. In general, the invention provides compositions for the cellular delivery of nucleic acids, polypeptides and/or molecular complexes comprising nucleic acids and polypeptides, and methods of making and using such compositions. The present invention provides a new class of non-viral transduction vectors that can be used for both in vivo and in vitro applications. This includes unique polycationic polymers that can associate with many suitable bioactive molecules, including proteins and other compounds that posses multiple cationic sites. The polymer can act as a delivery vehicle for the associated bioactive molecule, in vivo or in vitro, to the cells of interest for the bioactive molecule. In one embodiment, the present invention provides for a new series of polyamides for use as gene delivery agents. Also disclosed are methods of using the polymers to bind products, e.g., oligonucliotides, and facilitate cellular uptake. In one embodiment, the invention provides for the in vitro delivery of plasmid DNA into cells. The present also provides for the use of these polymers for the delivery of a nucleic acid is biologically active into a cell.
Advantages
The polymers are nontoxic and suitable for (highly efficacious ) drug delivery, efficient intracellular gene delivery, as well as delivery of DNA, RNA, SiRNA and oligonucleotides. One family of polymers is completely biodegradable, yielding glucose and an oligoamine monomer that is similar in chemical structure to that found in the body. The polymers are suitable for noncovalent attachment of targeting agents for cell-type specific delivery.
Areas of Application
Both the polymers and the oligonucleotide decoys have clinical applications, either separately or in combination (i.e., with the polymer delivering the decoys into cells). The polymers also have applications as reagents for in vivo and in vitro delivery of bioactive molecules. Favorable in vitro test results have been achieved in a variety of primary cell lines. The oligonucleotides, both separately and with the polymers as a delivery vehicle, are being studied for treatment of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion.

115088 - Collagen Scaffolds Printed in 3D with Microscale Features

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Collagen is the preferred scaffold for regeneration of bone and other tissues. The global market for scaffold element technology is over $450 million and is expected to grow rapidly (13% CAGR).

Professor Vasile Nistor and his doctoral student, Alex Bell, working at the University of Cincinnati, have demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to print 3D structures with microscale features in collagen. This breakthrough allows for a closer recreation of the native cellular environment. The collagen is not chemically modified and the resultant structure is biocompatible.

In comparison to scaffolds made of bovine serum albumin (BSA) or other proteins, Dr. Nistor’s group creates structures that are of similar geometric resolution, while employing superior material—type I collagen is already inherently part of the native extracellular matrix and provides more realistic structural cues to cells.

115040 - Dynamic Wind Turbine

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Over the last 5 years, the U.S. wind industry has invested $12 billion annually on average while providing over 30% of all new power capacity installed.

Dr. Shaaban Abdallah, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati, has revolutionized vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT) by incorporating moving blades. Conventional VAWTs sacrifice efficiency as each blade, assists spin and opposes spin, during a revolution. (Think of the anemometer—the three spinning cups used to measure wind speed).

Dr. Abdallah’s invention is to boost efficiency by using hinged blades which swing out of the way when they would otherwise be opposing the rotation of the device. Even a conventional VAWT has all of these advantages:

• Stable at higher wind speeds

• Unaffected by wind direction

• Electric generators can be positioned near the ground for easier maintenance access

• more efficient land use in a wind farm

Dr. Abdallah’s invention includes these advantages, plus greater efficiency and an aerodynamic brake. With internal funding from the university, the VAWT with Dynamic Blades has proceeded to the stage of a full scale (1 meter by 3 meters) prototype.

115029 - Air-Cooling with Thermal Energy Storage for Efficient Energy Generation

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

A thermoelectric power plant in the US loses about half of a gallon of water to evaporation for every kilowatt-hour of end-use electricity supplied. In Arizona, the loss is about 7.85 gallons per kWh. All at substantial and growing cost.

Funded under a US Department of Energy ARPA-E grant, Dr. Raj Manglik is proving the benefits of his air-to-air heat exchanger with thermal energy storage. His closed-loop system retrofits to existing power plants.

The dry-cooling system combines and air-cooled condenser with an air cooling loop and a recharge loop with thermal energy storage. State-of-the-art fluid flow control permeates the entire system.

115019 - Nanoscale Additive Manufacturing by Electrochemical Deposition

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Due to the techniques employed, 3D printed parts of nanoscale dimensions are typically only available in polymer materials.

Dr. Murali Sundaram has invented a printer the size of desk lamp, which interfaces with an ordinary PC, and prints amazingly small parts in nickel, copper, and potentially other conductive materials. Whereas current methods can create thermally-induced strain, Dr. Sundaram’s method, electrochemical deposition, avoids thermal effects because it operates at room temperature.

115003 - interactive case studies

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Developed by a University of Cincinnati College of Nursing team led by Christine Colella, the interactive case study (ICS), is a novel way to enhance the teaching of distance learning students.

Are you looking to enhance the diagnostic education experience for your health care profession students? Do you want to provide similar learning opportunities for both on- and off-campus students? Start by engaging your students through our innovative case studies that challenge their critical thinking skills.

Our interactive case studies place students IN the shoes of a professional health care provider, allowing students to practice interacting with patients virtually. Students perform multiple patient interviews, physical assessments and laboratory tests to help them determine differential diagnoses ALL through responsive technology.

The first of their kind, our interactive case studies comprise a series of 15 cases: 5 pediatric, 5 adult and 5 geriatric case studies that feature a standardized patient with scenarios ranging from simple to complex diagnoses. Each module presents an original blend of video assessment and student journaling components that allow the learner to experience a variety of assessment scenarios related to pediatric, adult and geriatric populations. We created this active learning experience to offer students a risk-free environment in which to practice their skills. The student learner must think through their decisions. Expressing a rational for which questions to ask, which systems to assess, which labs to choose and their top differential is a key component to understanding the process.

Our interactive case studies provide students a unique chance to apply their skills and learn from a professional. Help your students grow as health care providers in the following ways and more:

Improve patient interviewing techniques
- Ask clinical questions and compare them to a professional’s
- Listen to a patient’s response
- Learn what questions to ask and why
Develop physical assessment skills
- Decide which physical assessments to perform
- Watch a professional assess the patient
- Learn the audible and silent signs to address
Study the role of laboratory testing
- Examine factors that contribute to testing
- Determine which laboratory tests to conduct
- Learn why certain tests aren’t necessary while reflecting on cost
Interpret differential diagnoses
- Compile and synthesize gathered information
- Determine top differential diagnoses
- Compare diagnoses with a professional provider’s
Measure learning through reflection
- Assess confidence as a provider before and after
- Journal thoughts throughout the process
- Determine rationale for all decisions
- Examine how the experience supported growth as a health care provider

PLUS, students can further their learning by checking out additional resources included throughout the case study! These original case studies provide educators an invaluable opportunity to expand their educational reach. The advanced virtual aspects create equal learning opportunities for on- and off-campus students alike.

109082 - Barber of Seville Set Rental

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The College Conservatory of Music offers you a beautifully crafted Barber of Seville stage set for rent. This sturdy and complete stage set is 57 feet 7 inches by 30 feet by 24 feet 5 inches with a fly height of 24 feet. A large portion of our props and set dressings are available for rent as well. Full costumes for both men and women are also available for rent.

Load in for the Barber of Seville set requires 14 crew members, 8 carpenters, 4 props crew members and 2 fly crew members. To run the production takes only 7 crew members, 4 carpenters, 2 props crew members and 1 fly crew member. We highly suggest 2 chain motors and 1 Genie Lift for load in.

The Barber of Seville stage set is available for $13,000.

109081 - La Boheme Set Rental

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The College Conservatory of Music has a beautifully crafted La Boheme stage set for you to rent. This 2008 stage set is 42' by 22' 6" by 34', with a fly height of 30'. The escape stairs offer a width of 53', and can be set up in a shallower configuration. Full props and set dressings are available, as are most hand props.

Load in for the La Boheme set requires 15 crew members, 10 carpenters, 1 electrician, 2 props crew members and 2 fly crew members. To run the production, 16 crew members, 10 carpenters, 1 electrician, 4 props crew members and 1 fly crew member are required.

This set was originally presented in our Corbett Auditorium. We are proud that this set has also graced the stage of the Sacramento Opera and we are confident that it will look beautiful in your production as well.

The La Boheme stage set is available for $10,000.00.

109079 - Audrey II Puppet Rentals

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Can’t do it without a set of Audrey II puppets. Beautifully crafted and sturdily built, the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music has Audrey II puppet sets for rent. Each set comes with all four sizes of puppets carefully crafted to match the original Broadway production in size and function. Each set comes with a small counter top puppet, ready to be used on your counter, complete with wilting leaves, a hand held puppet with fake arm and white jacket, a medium/large puppet operated by sitting in the pot, legs become the tentacles, and the largest puppet size, big enough to eat the cast!

Each set of puppets travels in 2 steel and wooden road boxes and can be shipped anywhere. Our puppets have graced the stages of numerous high schools, colleges, professional theaters and a German leg USO tour!

“We were extremely pleased with the quality of the Audrey II puppets. They were in fine shape and easy to use for all of our performers.”- Jill, US Army Entertainment Logistics

112109 - Total Brain Balance and Training Equipment

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Brian Terpstra, founder of the Parkinson’s Disease Rehabilitation Institute and Timothy Kemme have developed a device to improve strength, balance and gait which is especially useful for patients with balance disoreders.

Balance control is a complex relationship between the central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the skeletal muscle system.

Among the most important contributions of the CNS to balance control is cortical (higher learning center) integration of input from the proprioceptive, visual, and vestibular systems to interpret spatial orientation. Traditional balance equipment is designed to challenge either proprioception or the vestibular system. Proprioceptive training equipment is composed of a solid surface placed upon a base designed to cause the surface to tilt and rock to varying degrees. The magnitude of the challenge to the proprioceptive system is linearly related to the degree of movement.

Vestibular training equipment is composed of pliable foam, gel or air filled cushions that are designed to separate the source of proprioceptive input, the feet, from the ground. Additionally, this type of equipment provides very little movement, further limiting the input from the proprioceptive systems. Our new training devices combine the principles of a high degree of movement and employing a pliable surface to challenge all CNS systems involved in balance control.

By concurrently challenging the proprioceptive, vestibular and visual systems of the CNS during balance training our devices represent a new opportunity that can improve training for athletes and individuals with balance impairments resulting from disease or injury.

This technology has the following advantages:

easily allows individuals to move between different balance challenges.
applicable in a broader spectrum of disorders.

112046 - Test to Predict Hepatitis C Virus Improved Clearance Rates

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Kenneth Sherman and his colleagues have developed a rapid and inexpensive test methodology that utilizes the predictive nature of IL28b gene polymorphisms to evaluate likelihood of hepatitis C virus clearance spontaneously or clearance following treatment.

Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects more than 170 million people worldwide. Some individuals spontaneously clear the infection without treatment (approximately 25-30%), many do not and become chronically infected and are at increased risk of developing liver cirrhosis. In addition, more than half of HCV patients do not respond to standard HCV treatment of peginterferon alfa and ribavirin. By identifying patients who are more likely to spontaneously clear HCV or are more likely to respond to a treatment of peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, doctors can better plan treatment of HCV patients.

Dr. Sherman and his colleagues have developed a rapid and inexpensive methodology for the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the IL28B gene. This SNP has been closely associated with spontaneous clearance and clearance via treatment. The methodology is based on high resolution melting (HRM) analysis; HRM analysis is a rapid, low cost qPCR mutation scanning method. The method is based on computer analysis of DNA melting patterns resulting from gradual temperature dependent release of double-stranded DNA binding dye. Because our test relies on HRM it is: cost effective versus other genotyping technologies such as sequencing; ideal for large-scale genotyping projects; can accurately genotype many samples rapidly.

We believe that our method has the potential to be a simple, rapid and inexpensive standard test for preparing the treatment of HCV patients. For example a donor liver could be screened for the SNP prior to liver transplantation. Those livers which contain the SNP would be preferred for HCV patients because of the increased chance of clearance spontaneously or via treatment.

108060 - Arlitt Instructional Media

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Cincinnati's Arlitt Center has collaborated with Tom Purdy to create educational videos for the best practices in early childhood care and education.

The current titles in the series are:

106035 - Novel Mercury (and other metal) Vapor Sorbents

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Neville Pinto and his laboratory have developed a material to remove metal vapors from gas streams, particularly mercury.

Coal-fired power plants are the largest single man-made source of mercury pollution in the U.S. (approximately 48 tons of mercury annually, or about one-third of the total US anthropogenic mercury emissions). Mercury from coal-fired power plants is released into the air through the exhaust system when coal is burned. The primary exposure occurs when this mercury falls to the earth and runs into lakes, rivers, and streams and contaminates the fish, which subsequently contaminates humans when they eat these fish and shellfish. Coal-fired power plants also produce fly ash; the EPA has in recent decades required that fly ash be captured prior to release. This fly ash is also contaminated with mercury. Currently coal-fired power plants have taken to use activated carbon to trap mercury emissions. Activated carbon, often impregnated with iodine or sulfur, is widely used to trap mercury emissions from coal fired power stations, medical incinerators, and from natural gas at the wellhead.

UC has developed a sorbent that captures mercury for use in a coal-fired power plant. The UC sorbent can be produced from commercially available raw materials without the need for any exotic chemistry. This sorbent consists of a base of silica which has been functionalized and coated. The coating is a chemically active environment for reaction with mercury vapor. UC has observed Hg(II) capacity of up to 58 mg/g adsorbent at 160°C and thermal stability up to 200°C in lab testing (miligram quantities). UC is currently testing the sorbent (hundred gram quantities) in an EPA test facility in Research Park Triangle, NC. Based on UC's research the sorbent will cost less than activated charcoal (approximately 70-90% less). In addition the technology is greener because it minimizes secondary wastes and secondary emissions as well as reducing the amount of contamination in fly-ash. The sorbent also has the capability to be adapted to being used for other metal vapors, such as lead, zinc and cadmium.

In conclusion, UC investigators have developed a novel sorbent to remove mercury from flu gas which has high selectivity for mercury (both Hg(II) and Hg0), is capable of extended operation, minimizes secondary wastes and secondary emissions, costs less than $1000/lb Hg.

104015 - Threshold and Identity-based Distributed Key Management for Wireless MANETs

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

As various applications of wireless ad hoc network have been proposed, security has become one of the big research challenges and is receiving increasing attention. We have developed a distributed key management and authentication approach by deploying the recently developed concepts of identity-based cryptography and threshold secret sharing. Without any assumption of pre-fixed trust relationship between nodes, the ad hoc network works in a self-organizing way to provide the key generation and key management service, which effectively solves the problem of single point of failure in the traditional public key infrastructure (PKI)-supported system. This approach is comprised of two components: distributed key generation and identity-based authentication. The key generation component provides the network master key pair and the public/private key pair to each node in a distribute way. The generated private keys are used for authentication. Identity-based authentication mechanism provides end-to-end authentication and confidentiality between the communication nodes. If the authentication process succeeds, the communication nodes exchange a session key, which can be used for future communication.

101008 - Novel MEMS Pressure Sensor Fabricated on an Optical Fiber

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

MEMS (microelectromechanical structures) technology involves micro-engineered components capable of carrying out a variety of functions previously limited to larger and more expensive components. This technology is now used for many purposes including a variety of physical, chemical, and biological measurements capable of being carried out with minimal space, energy, and production cost.
A new MEMS device has been developed which is capable of both the measurement of pressure and the transmission of such measurement via optical fiber. The device consists of a detector and optical fiber combined in such a way that the total device diameter is no larger than the optical fiber itself.
The novel MEMS technology may be inexpensively fabricated and used in harsh environments where electronic equivalents cannot operate (such as high temperature, vibration, dust, and electromagnetic interference).
The small and precise size of the sensing elements offers considerable flexibility in choosing pressure response ranges, bandwidth, and sensitivity.
Compared to prior MEMS pressure sensor application, the present invention eliminates the need for adhesives in device packaging and allows the device to operate at approximately the same temperature as the optical fiber.
Due to the small terminal diameter, the device may be combined in arrays to provide pressure maps with high spatial resolution.

100064 - Dielectric Thin-Film Color Optical Memory Device and Fabrication Process

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The next generation of optical memory technology will be required to provide significant advances in capacity, data density, and data security. Current technology such as multi-layer CD-ROM structures have disadvantages: due to the higher numerical aperture, smaller laser spot size, and associated smaller depth-of-focus, overall capacity is limited. Similarly, structures comprised of metal thin films are limited by the strong optically reflective characteristics of the films and the difficulty of controlling metal thin-film deposition. Devices using color as memory, while known in the art, are limited by aging of the memory colorant, by the small practical number of colorants usable, and by difficulties in fabrication.
We have developed a dielectric thin-film (DTF) color optical memory device that overcomes these limitations. The invention introduces a new structure for optical memory devices utilizing reflection of a broad-band light source from the DTF structure and a process for creating such structure.
We have invented a technique for ?writing? the data with great precision using micromachining of fine structures with a focused ion beam (FIB) technique. FIB micromachining for the fabrication of optical/photonic devices is an area of expertise at the UC Nanoelectronics Laboratory (NanoLab). For related technology see UC Item # 102-004 and the NanoLab

Advantages

The invention promises the creation of structures with a storage density in excess of 5 gigabytes per square inch, more than double the density of present digital versatile disc (DVD) devices. With the addition of near-field detection technology, the invention provides a potential data density of 5 terabytes per square inch.
The DTF optical memory devices of this invention are generally capable of operation in extreme environmental conditions, including temperatures as high as 1000 degrees C.
In combination with non-contact optical read techniques, the DTF memory ensures that the data can be preserved over an extremely long time ? perhaps up to centuries.
The FIB fabrication technique is simple and clean, without the problem of photoresist residues experienced in memory structures utilizing multiple metal film stacks fabricated using deposition and lift-off processes.

115077 - Masseter Muscle-derived Cardiac Progenitor Cell Cultures, Methods of Deriving Cardiomyocytes and Methods of Treating Cardiovascular Conditions

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Yi-gang Wang’s laboratory has discovered that adult masseter muscle progenitors (MMP) are a novel autologous source of cardiac progenitor cells for cardiovascular disease therapy. Compared to other sources of exogenous progenitors cells such as embryonic stem cells (ES), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and adult progenitors (including cardiac and bone marrow stem cells), use of MMP avoids the challenges facing these alternatives including ethical issues, propensity for immunogenicity rejection or limited cardiac differentiation efficiency. Further advantages regarding MMP over the current state of the art include:

1) MMP can be isolated from easily accessible masseter muscle without risk of mandible motor dysfunction and cultured for transplantation;
2) MMP-derived cardiac progenitor cells develop directly into cardiac cells, without requiring re-programming of non-cardiac cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells, which raises questions of safety, efficiency and technical issues;
3) Developing cardiomyoctyes from MMP is more efficient and cost-effective than comparable approaches; and
4) Autologous MMP therapy is safer than current techniques from the point of view of teratoma formation and immunogenicity rejection.

The inventors hope this new technology will be developed into a standard protocol therapy used during cardiac event recovery or preventive repairs. It is thought that when further trials are completed that the invention could offer important clinical and research opportunities such as:

o New prospects for alternative bioengineered pacemakers to electronic pacing devices for patients with intra-cardiac conduction defects like sick sinus syndrome, and atrioventricular block, infra-Hisian block, and bundle-branch block.
o Discovery of a 'switch' that modifies genes known to be essential for heart development which could enable the repair of birth defects in children, along with applications for many other cardiovascular conditions such as DiGeorge, Velocardiofacial, CHARGE, Fetal Alcohol, Alagille, LEOPARD, and Noonan syndromes, as well as Retinoic Acid Embryopathy.
o Use of the neural crest origin of MMP (referred as masseter neural crest stem cells or MNCS) to provide novel opportunities for craniofacial related congenital cardiac abnormality research.

This invention is targeted to the stem cell therapy market, specifically for the cardiovascular disease indication. The global stem cell therapy market is projected to be worth $330 million by the year 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.5% with a calculation that the total market today may be worth approximately $62 million. As subdivided by mode of treatment the current market for autologous stem cell therapies is worth approximately $21.7 million.

112039 - Sensitive & Non-Invasive Assay to Monitor Residual and Recurrent Tumors in Glioblastoma multiforme patients

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. El Mustapha Bahassi has developed a sensitive and non-invasive assay to detect epidermal growth factor receptor III (EGFRvIII, the most common form of mutant EGFR) mutations in the circulating DNA of brain tumor patients. EGFRvIII is a truncated extracellular mutant of the EGF receptor found in about a third of glioblastoma multiformes. Currently, numerous anti-EGFRvIII therapies are in development. However, no biomarker diagnostics are available to monitor their efficacy.

Dr. Bahassi’s innovative assay solves this unmet need. Utilizing personalized biomarkers that detect all possible EGFRvIII deletions, the assay is able to accurately monitor residual and recurrent tumors and enhance the clinical management of GBM patients.

The technology has the following advantages over currently available tests:

Sensitive
Non-Invasive
Accurate

110060 - A Novel Genetic Marker for Food Allergy

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

University of Cincinnati researchers with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Researchers have identified a novel genetic marker for food allergy. The V75 IL-4Ra / Q130 IL-13 / T-159CÆT CD14 allele combination is strongly associated with food allergy and is an important genetic marker to identify at-risk infants. In addition, the genetic markers may be useful in predicting the natural history of food allergy and aiding the management of this common condition. The researchers have determined that with each locus analyzed at the level of genotypes, the TT (CD14 -159 CÆT) genotype was significantly associated with food allergy. However, no significant allele frequency difference between food allergy patients and normal controls was observed at any of the six polymorphic sites when analyzed individually. Sequential multi-locus analyses revealed significant excess of 2-locus VV (I75V IL-4Ra) – QR (R130Q IL-13), and QR (R130Q IL-13) – TT (159 CÆT CD14) in food allergy patients compared to controls (p = 0.029 and 0.011, respectively). This was caused by a dramatic increase of individuals carrying the allele combination of V75 IL-4Ra / Q130 IL-13 / T- 159CÆT CD14 in patients with food allergy, compared to controls (p = 0.008). Furthermore, this allele combination was associated with the phenotype of eczema among food allergy patients (p=0.02). Peanuts (n = 63), milk (n = 41), and egg (n = 39) were the major foods causing food allergy in this study. Peanuts, milk, and egg each had specific genetic fingerprints, and therefore this technology may be applicable in diagnosing food allergies in the future.

109080 - Mechanical Turntable for Stage Scenery

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The College Conservatory of Music has a beautifully crafted, large, mechanical turntable with inverted caster wheels for rent. This sturdy and easy to use 20 feet turntable includes all relevant connectors and plugs, along with heavy duty momentary push button switches. This rental can include manual or motorized equipment and can be bolted to your theatre floor.

This turn table is available for $600 with manual operation, and for $850 with the motor.

115126 - Batter Up!

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

This summer to commemorate Cincinnati’s hosting of the MLB All-Star Game and the 146-year history of Cincinnati’s professional baseball team — the first in the nation — students and faculty at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning created an interactive art installation titled 146 Years, Game On! 146 Years, Game On! is a sculpture made of 3,884 baseballs — 1,869 for the founding of the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869 plus 2,015 for this year. The balls form a 20-foot-wide by 14-foot-high arc, which will be on display until late September.

Integrated within the sculpture is a novel shade structure that we believe could be used in a variety of situations. These uses include your backyard, as a dugout covering at the ball park and public parks.

113056 - Patient-Specific Total Hip Arthroplasty Guides

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

A cross-disciplinary team at the University of Cincinnati have developed a medical device and process to improve the outcomes from total hip arthroplasty ("THA").

THA or hip replacement surgery is a surgery done to remove a diseased hip joint and replace it with an artificial joint, or prosthesis. Approximately 300,000 total hip replacement surgeries are performed annually in the US and many fail due to malpositioning. Failure of a hip replacement leads to revision surgery. Revision surgery can be a major procedure that requires complex techniques and potentially has higher complication rate than the original replacement surgery. In addition, some patients are not medically able to tolerate such a long and difficult surgical procedure.

The UC team has developed a novel method to create a device to assist surgeons with THA. The device uses patient-specific anatomy to ensure proper positioning of the implant. We have collected data from a promising cadaver pilot study. Our device and procedure will reduce the likelihood of the need for revision surgery and should be applicable to any joint replacement surgery.

113009 - Unambiguous Anthrax Detection Assay

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Jagjit Yadav’s lab has developed novel chromosomal primers for use in a multiplex detection assay for anthrax (Bacillus anthracis). Unlike current detection assays available which focus on plasmids pX01, pX02, and non-specific chromosomal markers, this assay relies on highly specific chromosomal primers. Thereby avoiding the misidentification of closely related non-anthracis species and unneeded misdiagnosis.

Our assay has been verified to yield the expected amplification products & melting curves for B. anthracis. Further, no comparable or spurious amplification products from any of the 45 strains of the most closely related non-anthracis species (20 B. thuringiensis, 17 B. cereus and 8 B. mycoides) were produced in the detection assay. Therefore our primers are excellent for the unambiguous detection and identification of B. anthracis.

107014 - Novel Wound Healing Device

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

A fistula is an abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels that normally do not connect. The Enterocutaneous (EC) fistula arises between the intestine and the skin surface and occurs most often as a complication after bowel surgery. Stool or other enteric substances pass through the fistula and pool up in a wound bed (such as may be present following surgery), thereby preventing wound healing. Such fistulas may also develop in the setting of malnutrition, cancer, and inflammatory disease. Closure of such fistulas requires intensive in-patient wound management and can take up to several months.
Physicians at the University of Cincinnati developed a novel wound separator coupled to an ostomy appliance that physically separates the fistula from the wound bed, such that any stool, or other enteric substances, that pass through the fistula are prevented from communicating with the wound bed. As a result, healing is promoted because enteric substances are diverted from the wound bed, reducing the breakdown of soft tissue, skin, etc., and lowering the incidence of infection. The wound separator was utilized on several patients as part of a patient care customization plan. While no data was collected as part of a research study, the opinion of the treating physicians was that the device dramatically reduced healing time and no adverse effects were noted.
Advantages: Faster wound healing, decreased hospitalization times, adaptable for use with commonly used wound healing devices.

098013 - Compounds to Treat Obesity

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Obesity is now considered as a global epidemic with over one billion people being overweight. About $33 billion is being spent each year in USA on weight reduction products. To date no satisfactory drug is available to control obesity. Therefore, millions of dollars are spent each year towards the development of new treatments to fight this epidemic.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is the most abundant peptide present in the mammalian brain. It has also been characterized as the most powerful orexigenic (stimulation of feeding) substance isolated to date. As described below, UC researcher, Ambikaipakan Balasubramaniam, has developed two groups of compounds based on NPY to control food intake, and are currently looking for partners for further development of these anti-obesity compounds.

Group 1 Compounds: It has recently been demonstrated that peripheral administration of PYY(3-36), a NPY Y2 receptor-preferring ligand, can reduce appetite and food intake in normal and fasted rodents, as well as in normal and obese humans (Nature 418:650-654; 2002, N Engl J Med 349:941-948; 2003). However, PYY(3-36) can also potently interact with other NPY receptors (Y4 & Y5), which excludes its use as an anti-obesity drug.

In this regard, we have developed highly selective and potent (Ki = 1 nM) Y2-receptor agonists based on PYY(22-36) sequence, and shown that they exhibit potent and prolong in vivo activities (J Med Chem 49:3420-3427; 2000; Dig Dis Sci. 44:643-648; 1999). In addition, we have also developed highly selective and potent (Ki = 1 nM) Y2 receptor agonists based on PYY(25-36), and determined they exhibit potent activities in in-vivo models. All these analogs based on PYY(22-36), PYY(25-36) and their deletion peptides have been patented (US Patents: 5,604,203 & 6,046,167). Moreover, selected PYY(22-36) & PYY(25-36) analogs have been determined to inhibit food intake in a mice model during peripheral administration 2, 4 or 24 h.

Group 2 Compounds: We have developed a series of lower molecular weight compounds (< 600) based on NPY, and have previously shown that these compounds could significantly attenuate the food intake in NPY-treated and fasted rats over 4-8 h during central administration. The composition and the use of these compounds have also been patented (US patents 6,013,633 & 6,235,718). Recently, we developed additional new compounds to facilitate entry into the brain, and have now determined that these compounds could significantly inhibit the food intake in rats over 8 h (bolus dose, ip). These compounds could therefore be developed into drugs to treat obesity.

The technology has the following advantages:

Lower molecular weight compounds- will be economical to develop into drugs.
Highly potent and selective- will be active at lower doses & little or no side effect expected.
Compounds are active peripherally- Could be easily administered.
Relatively stable- long acting.

113053 - Paper-Based Anti-Coagulation Diagnostic

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Drs. Andrew Steckl of the College of Applied Science and Engineering and Giovanni Pauletti of the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy have developed a paper-based diagnostic device for coagulation.

Over 33 million prescriptions are written in the U.S. each year for approximately 6 to 7 million patients for the leading oral anticoagulant, warfarin. To ensure adequate anticoagulation management, frequent monitoring of drug efficacy is crucial as overdosing can lead to internal bleeding, and underdosing may increase the risk of life-threatening blood clots. Portable Point-of-Care testing devices, in contrast to regular visits to an accredited laboratory or hospital, offer the advantage of convenient home monitoring. Led by the rising number of patients on anticoagulation regimens, improved reimbursement for POC supplies, and superior patient satisfaction for self-testing applications, POC products focusing on coagulation diagnostics are predicted to experience continued strong demand in the near future. To successfully perform meaningful diagnostic self-testing, patients must have reasonable visual acuity, manual dexterity, and cognitive ability. These requirements are met by about 50-60% of patients currently receiving oral anticoagulants. Therefore, we conservatively estimate a U.S. market size of 3 million patients for our new diagnostic test.

Our paper-based microfluidics device measures drug-induced changes in blood viscosity without the need for external accessories. We believe that this technology is a scalable platform with a broad range of product opportunities. Current commercial POC devices generally use electrochemical technology with electrical current detection for quantitative assessment of the clotting time. Central to this technology are test strips impregnated with various chemicals that interact with the applied blood sample. Furthermore, electrical current end-point determination requires an electrical reader unit. In contrast, our microfluidics diagnostic test utilizes lateral flow technology on a commercially available paper strip. No materials are impregnated on the strip. Optical detection is simply accomplished by the human eye. With this in mind our technology has the following advantages:

No need for external accessories, such as energy sources, chemicals, etc.
Low bill of materials
The ability to efficiently mass produce very large quantities of the test strips
Applicable to all classes of anti-coagulant, including warfarin and exenatide

110077 - Novel Therapy for Type I Diabetes

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. William Ridgway has found a potential new therapy for Type I diabetes.

T regulatory cells are very powerful down modulators of immune responses. We for the first time have shown that CD137pos cells are functionally and phenotypically different than normal Tregs and are more suppressive of immune function. In addition, we have now shown that CD137pos Tregs make large amounts of the spliced variant of CD137, soluble CD137.

Soluble CD137 has been described as increased in the serum of patients with autoimmune diseases, but its function is not well understood. We have evidence from studies that soluble CD137 is highly suppressive of T cell function and proliferation.

We have in fact cloned soluble CD137 into a lentiviral vector and have shown that we can both prevent Type I diabetes, and control new onset diabetes in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice with our recombinant soluble CD137. Thus we have demonstrated that soluble CD137 has bioactivity against autoimmune diseases in vivo.

112092 - Silver Nanoparticle-Enhanced Photosensitizers as Antibacterial Agent

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Peng Zhang and his colleagues have developed a type of novel antibacterial agents by attaching conventional photosensitizers to silver nanoparticles. This new type of agents combines the effects of photoinactivation by photosensitizers with silver’s antibacterial activity to create a type of effective and versatile antibacterial and antibiofilm agents.

When the agent is used to make a topical cream, the end result will be an improvement over current wound healing and infection prevention creams, such as Neosporin®. The broad-spectrum antimicrobial property overcomes some problems associated with the antibiotics through the use of silver nanoparticles, which bacteria are unknown to develop resistance to. In addition, this agent presents only minor adverse effects on humans and is biodegradable.

112070 - Methods and Compounds for Treating Cancers

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Edward Merino has created a novel strategy for the treatment of leukemia and renal cancers by using highly selective compounds. The compounds selectively trigger toxic reactions in cancer cells with increased reactive oxygen species. Reactive oxygen has been found to be at greater concentrations within these cancers. Due to strategic activation, these hydroquinone-modified DNA-modifying agents afford the benefit of an enhanced therapeutic index, both in-terms of enhanced anti-cancer activity and reduced anti-normal cell activity, compared to other agents with a similar mode of action. Thus, this agent’s design produces lower off-target reactivity towards primary cells. Additionally, the strategy is complementarily with other therapies. Since these agents are stable, they are amenable to high throughput screening and can be rapidly developed.

The invention has the following advantages in comparison to other current therapies:

Latent Until Activated
Better Anti-Cancer Activity
High Level Of Selectivity
LOWER Side Effects

116078 - NFC Powered Point-of-Care Diagnostic Assay

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Paper diagnostics was a $4.7 million market worldwide in 2014. Growth is expected to accelerate due to increasing spread of infectious disease, an aging population, and continuing demands for cost effective diagnostics.

Andrew Steckl and Vishak Ventkatraman of UC and Ralph Liedert of VTT have invented a lab-on-chip diagnostic sensor powered by harvesting RF near field communication (NFC). The paper based sensor is excited by NFC (which is present on all modern smart phones) and can be read with a digital camera (which has been present on phones for quite some time)—meaning that the diagnostic procedure can have high sensitivity while also being low-cost, disposable and easy to use.

In one embodiment of the invention, NFC waves power a lateral flow immunoassay system (LFIA) with quantum dots as fluorophores.

110057 - Sinus Dilation Device

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Allen Seiden in collaboration with UC's Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program have developed a device which allows a single hand to manually control expansion of a dilation balloon on a rigid curved shaft, while providing the option of simultaneous suction.

This device gives the operator the ability to deploy a dilating balloon mechanism by means of a specially designed pistol grip. The balloon is manually inflated in two stages as the first and second trigger are pulled. The locking mechanism allows the operator to overcome large forces of pressure. The device also includes a release button to deflate the balloon.

The balloon is attached to the distal end of the rigid shaft, just after an angulation in the shaft that improves access. The balloon is inflated by a small diameter tube in such a manner that expansion and suction can be achieved simultaneously. The suction function operates independently of the dilation and can be operated separately.

Advantages:

Single-handed dual-stage dilation balloon expansion
Dilation and suction function separately and simultaneously
Angled, rigid shaft improves sinus access

107093 - Novel Molecules for Shiga Toxin Detection

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC), including E. coli O157:H7, are emerging pathogens of major importance. E. coli O157:H7 alone causes an estimated 70,000 cases of disease per year in the United States. Disease caused by E. coli O157:H7 is characterized by diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and the potentially fatal complication, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Shiga toxin (Stx) is a major virulence factor of E. coli O157:H7 and has been included as a Select Agent of Biothreat agent list.

The pathogenic potential of an E. coli isolate is dependent on the type of Shiga toxin it produces. There is an urgent need for diagnostic agents that can discriminate between Stx1 and the deadlier form, Stx2, for effective intervention and the prevention of future outbreaks. Furthermore, closely related variants of Stx2 also differ in pathogenic potential. Commercially available diagnostic tests for Shiga toxin distinguish between Shiga toxin variants based on antigenic differences, not pathogenic potential. Thus, a test that distinguishes between Shiga toxin variants based on pathogenic potential represents significant advancement in diagnostic and therapeutic value for affected patients.

Invention

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have developed novel, glycoconjugate ligands which mimic the natural receptors and exhibit specific and differential binding toward Shiga toxin variants based on biological activity. These glycoconjugates can be used as robust, specific, high affinity ligands for the detection and possibly treatment of Shiga toxin mediated disease. Additionally, the methods used to make and screen these glycoconjugates represent a platform technology that can be applied to many other toxins, viruses and bacteria. A patent application has been filed that includes novel compositions, methods for making and methods for screening glycoconjugates.

Advantages

Glycoconjugates distinguish Shiga toxin variants based on biological activity, not antigenicity and unlike antibodies, glycoconjugates are insensitive to genetic drift.
Glycoconjugates can be used in several assay platforms including ELISA and sensor arrays.
Glycoconjugates have superior thermal and chemical stability compared to antibodies.
No cross reactivity or false positives are expected with this class of compounds.

100060 - A Novel Authentication Scheme for Ad hoc and Sensor Wireless Networks

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

An ad hoc (or "spontaneous") network is a local area network that exists only for the duration of the communication. Such a wireless network is usually employed in an emergency situation or in an unknown territory so that efficient and quick monitoring ofa nearby environment can be provided. Wireless ad hoc networks transmit packets of information and forward them from one node to another in peer to peer mode, without a base station that normally coordinates activities of mobile hosts. This allows for unrestricted mobility while still operating within a network. The current technology, however, is limited. As wireless ad hoc and sensor networks are more susceptible to attacks, security is critical, requiring authentication and encryption of data. Unfortunately, traditional means of data protection cannot be effectively used due to the power and computational constraints of wireless ad hoc systems. The present invention describes a novel method and apparatus for providing authentication of digital communication in an ad hoc network, protecting transmitted information from eavesdropping, replay and spoofing. This method minimizes power and computational overhead, allowing practical use in wireless ad hoc networks. This invention can be incorporated into existing software and is compatible with all systems.

Advantages

Authentication scheme provides security not currently available in wireless ad hoc and sensor networks
Utilizes hierarchical architecture to reduce computational overhead and delays inherent in current methods ofauthentication
Minimizes power consumption, allowing for more practical use

113035 - Letrozole Treatment of Primary Brain Tumors

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Pankaj Desai has discovered that aromatase inhibitors usually used in the treatment of estrogen receptor (ER+) positive breast cancer surprisingly exhibited potent activity against brain tumors in various preclinical models.

Treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors remains one of the most formidable challenges in oncology. According to the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States close to 70,000 new cases of primary brain tumors were diagnosed in 2013 consisting of about 25,000 malignant and 45,000 non-malignant brain tumors. As many as 175,000 cases of secondary brain tumors are diagnosed annually in the US. Currently the overall prognosis for brain tumors is dismally poor. The average survival rate for all malignant brain tumor patients is 33.8% and an estimated 14,000 people in the USA will have died from brain cancer in 2013. Neurosurgical techniques and radiation therapy of brain tumors is often complicated by the deep tissue location of many tumors or invasion of critical function sites. Chemotherapy treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors is impeded by the lack of well-identified targets as well as by the difficulty of finding drugs that pass through the blood-brain and blood-tumor barriers. Patients with primary malignant brain tumors often experience significant neurological disability, impaired quality of life and reduced survival.

Dr. Desai's laboratory used cutting edge pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics assessment tools to discover that letrozole selectively accumulates in brain tumor tissue 2-to-3 fold higher relative to normal brain tissue and causes marked reduction in the size of C6 glioma orthotopically implanted in rats. Via PET/CT scanning of tumors in experimentally implanted rats it was shown that letrozole treatment resulted in a significant reduction of 75-90% of active tumor volume after only 8-10 days of treatment with this aromatase inhibitor.

In summary, letrozole which is the most efficacious and safe aromatase inhibitor in the treatment of ER+ breast tumors in post-menopausal women, and is FDA approved, has similar promise for the treatment of human brain tumors. Human clinical trial studies are in the planning stage currently.

115082 - Composition and Method of Treating Hepatitis C Virus Infection with CCR5 Inhibitors

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Ken Sherman has discovered that hepatitis C virus replication can be inhibited by antagonists of the CCR5 receptor which suggests its potential use as an antiviral therapy for this disease and may comprise a new class of treatment agents for hepatitis C virus infection.

Some anticipated advantages regarding clinical application of antagonists of the CCR5 receptor over the current state of the art include:

1) Classic resistance mechanisms may not be active with this new class of agents.
2) Current drugs for treatment of most common forms of hepatitis C virus infection are very expensive and this new treatment is expected to be less expensive.

The inventors hope this new technology will be developed into a line therapy option used in treatment of HCV infections after undergoing further clinical development.

The market for the proposed invention is the hepatitis C therapeutics market. Globally, about 130 million to 150 million people have chronic hepatitis C infection. A large number of those who are chronically infected will develop liver cirrhosis or liver cancer. Approximately 350,000 to 500,000 individuals die annually from hepatitis C related liver diseases. The global hepatitis C therapeutics market was valued at $5.7 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow to $18.6 billion by 2019 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.5%.

115075 - Exosome Associated Long Non-coding RNA Markers as Circulatory Cancer Biomarkers

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Drs. Shao-Chun Wang has discovered the use of exosome-associated long non-coding RNA HOTAIR as a circulatory biomarker in breast cancer, specifically as a prognostic marker associated with TNBC and/or advanced breast cancer, such as tumors developing resistance to anti-estrogens, and as a marker to assess therapeutic responsiveness. The invention can be used to either evaluate the prognosis of TNBC or other advanced breast cancers or to determine the therapeutic responsiveness to dual treatment by imatinib and lapatinib. Additionally, HOTAIR levels can be detected quantitatively with high sensitivity from PCR of patient blood samples.

This marker can be detected using high-sensitivity and quantitative PCR in patient blood samples to monitor tumor development as well as for prognosis. Although exosomal HOTAIR as a marker has recently been reported in rheumatoid arthritis [Song et al. 2014], its application as a biomarker in breast cancer and in response to targeted cancer treatment has not been reported. This patent application posits the use of exosome-associated long non-coding RNA HOTAIR as a circulatory biomarker in breast cancer, specifically as a prognostic marker associated with TNBC and/or advanced breast cancer, such as tumors developing resistance to anti-estrogens. Furthermore, exosomal HOTAIR can be used as a marker of therapeutic responsiveness in dual treatment by imatinib and lapatinib, which based on our own work is a novel and promising approach for cancer therapy. Thus this biomarker is expected to have a wide application in the management of breast cancer.

The present invention provides a novel non-invasive circulatory biomarker that would be useful in assessing prognosis and/or therapeutic responsiveness of TNBC tumors. Two target markets have been identified as relevant, including the oncology biomarker market and the HER2-negative breast cancer therapy market. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide, accounting for 25% of all new cancer cases in women. In 2012, nearly 1.7 million new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed. TNBC occurs in about 10% to 20% of diagnosed breast cancers. The global market for oncology biomarkers was valued at $13.16 billion in 2011 and is expected to be worth $29.78 billion in 2018. In 2013, the global HER2-negative breast cancer therapy market was valued at $1.45 billion and is projected to increase to $6.12 billion by 2023. TNBC accounts for around 10% of all HER2-negative breast cancers.

115038 - Manipulation of the acid sphingomyelinase and ceramide pathways to improve the quality of stored packed red blood cells

uhlje@ucmail.uc.edu (Jill Uhl) — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Tim Pritts’ laboratory has discovered an additive to improve the quality of stored packed red blood cells and which will prevent a series of biochemical and physical changes known as the red blood cell storage lesion that take place as red blood cells age.

Problem: Blood transfusion is the only alternative for treatment of anemia and requires storage of packed red blood cell (pRBC) units. However, pRBC degrades with time during storage, developing a condition known as red blood cell storage lesion. The lesion is harmful to transfusion recipients and is associated with greater risk of infection, organ failure and death. Thus, there is an imperative to improve the quality of stored pRBC units to lessen the degree of harm to transfusion recipients.

Solution: The present invention provides an additive (amitriptyline, a common antidepressant) to be supplied at the time of storage that reduces red blood cell storage lesion by altering the sphingolipid content of the cell membrane. Specifically, it causes a decrease in activity of the enzyme acid sphingomyelinase and a decrease in accumulation of ceramide. These changes result in decreased hemolysis of erythrocytes, decreased formation of microparticles, decreased phosphatidylserine expression and increased preservation of cellular structure. Mice transfused with amitriptyline-treated pRBC’s show decreased lung injury compared to pRBC units treated with vehicle, as measured by preservation of normal lung architecture, decreased leukocyte infiltration, preservation of tight junction proteins and decreased cytokine production. It is expected that treatment of pRBC with amitriptyline would reduce harm experienced by human recipients of blood transfusions.

Advantages: Manipulation of the sphingolipid system via decreasing acid sphingomyelinase and ceramide has the potential to improve the quality of stored pRBC and could possibly extend its shelf life.

The target market for the invention is the blood devices and consumables market. Red blood cell transfusion is a critical and life-saving treatment for severe anemia caused by disease or chemotherapy, or by blood loss due to trauma or major surgery. After collected, red blood cells have a shelf life of 42 days, and hospitals must stock a variety of blood types and try not to run out of any category. In the U.S. alone, a total of 30 million blood components are transfused each year, with the average red blood cell transfusion consisting of approximately 3 pints. The global blood devices and consumables market was valued at $27.27 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow to $49.16 billion by 2019. Stored pRBC would make up a portion of the total market. It is possible that the stored pRBC portion of the global market is worth at least $1.0 billion

114057 - Predicting Disease with Weather

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Our patent pending method for creating customizable weather-disease attack risk models for a range of common diseases will usher in a new phase of disease risk prediction. Created by a collaboration between Dr. Vincent Martin, MD of the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Robert Nicholson, PhD of Mercy Research and Albert Peterlin, of ERREx, Inc, our models can help optimize population management risk modeling and/or intelligent digital/mobile health (or mHealth) personalized health solution apps that engage patients during high-risk periods for attacks of disease to reduce preventable medical costs while improving care outcomes and quality.

Clinical experience along with well over a hundred published research findings implicate weather as a risk factor for an array of diseases that drive medical care costs. This includes hospital readmission disease drivers such as heart (e.g., congestive heart failure, heart attack) and respiratory (e.g., asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema) diseases as well as those diseases with high ambulatory/ER presentation rates (e.g., migraine, asthma, and depression). Whether to avoid financial penalties for hospital readmissions, or as part of an ACO model where preventing medical care costs are rewarded, reducing preventable medical costs while maintaining care quality and improving patient outcomes is rapidly becoming a primary focus of health care systems and digital/mHealth personal health solutions.

To achieve these aims, health systems population managers and personalized health solution app developers employ algorithmically driven disease risk models ranging from broad based population management to personalized medicine to predict disease attack risk. However, these models do not account for the unseen, ever-present, fluctuating weather conditions that can influence disease attack risk. Our interdisciplinary team of doctors, healthcare researchers, statisticians, and meteorologists has created mathematical models that use dynamic, seasonally and normatively adjusted real-time weather conditions to create accurate daily and near-term weather-disease attack risk models. Our models can help optimize population management strategies that engage patients during disease attack high-risk periods and can also seamlessly integrate into digital/mHealth platforms that engage the patient when weather conditions (alone or in conjunction with other risk factors) place them at increased risk for a disease attack and then provide them actionable options to prevent or mitigate the attack.

We have tested, validated, and produced a market-ready version of our weather-disease attack risk model for migraine. Our models showed population attack risk prediction superior to anything else published or in use for migraine. Moreover, we created stratified individual-level risk models. The result is a migraine early warning system that is ideally suited for a digital/mHealth personal health solution in conjunction with a healthcare system or within a smart device application.

By using our models, healthcare systems will realize greater financial gain by reducing preventable medical care costs while improving care quality and outcomes. Personalized health solution providers will be able to add our models to their digital/mHealth platforms to create an even more intelligent personalized health solution. Finally, and most importantly, patients will be alerted to when they are at heightened risk for a disease attack and take action to prevent or mitigate the attack. This will result in lower health care costs for the patient, not missing work or other life responsibilities, and will ultimately allow them improved quality of life. In addition, they will develop brand loyalty to the system and/or digital/mHealth solution that provides them with life enhancing, or even lifesaving, solutions.

104030 - Monoclonal Anti-Auxin antibody produced in mouse

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT

An antibody which recognizes indoleacetic acid but not free unmethylated IAA.

104022 - Liquid Core Capsules via Interfacial Free Radical Polymerization

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT

This method creates liquid core capsules using interfacial free radical polymerization.

117016 - Flexible Micro-Supercapacitor

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Capacitors, as their properties improve, have the potential to replace lithium batteries in consumer electronics—currently a $10 billion market.

Working with Dr. Vesco Shanov in the University of Cincinnati’s Nanoworld Laboratories, researchers have produced a supercapacitor that is:

• small: less than 0.026 cm² in surface area; less than 0.01 cm in thickness.

• flexible: bendable to 180°

• high performing: an areal energy density of 0.38 µWh/cm² and power density of 0.86 mW/cm²

In addition to its superior properties, this supercapacitor is also easy to manufacture and to scale up. As an emerging discovery, this supercapacitor has not reached its optimal properties but is being continuously developed and improved with a recent award from NASA.

114026 - Flow Battery Improvements

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Solar, wind, and tidal energy are intermittent sources requiring efficient energy storage to level out the peaks and valleys. Flow batteries are ideal for such applications because their energy capacity is limited only by the size of the electrolyte tanks and they are durable over repeated charge and discharge cycles.

While the flow battery is nothing new, its incorporation into industrial uses is only just getting underway.

University of Cincinnati Professor Junhang Dong and his student Zhi Xu have developed a technology that improves the efficiency of flow batteries. Compared to existing technologies, the improved battery technology results in a battery that is more compact, operates more efficiently, and has increased durability.

115107 - Codon optimized cytidine-specific ribonuclease Cuvastin gene

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Drs. Patrick Limbach and Balasubrahmanyam Addepalli have discovered a recombinant plasmid encoding a codon-optimized synthetic Cusativin gene that holds promise to increase research productivity in the area of RNA structural analysis which has been inhibited by the lack of nucleoside-specific enzymes (RNases).

To improve RNA structural analysis, additional RNases with nucleoside specificity that complements what is available from RNase T1, RNase A and RNase U2 are desirable. Advantages of a new nucleoside-specific RNase include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lack of nucleoside-specific ribonucleases for RNA structural analysis: This construct generates a cytidine-specific RNase that complements the commercially available guanosine-specific RNase T1 and cytidine/uridine selective RNase A. In particular, Cusativin should have a greater utility than RNase A, which cleaves RNA at a greater frequency due to its lack of specificity.

• Cusativin should be useful for the structural analysis of G-rich RNAs: G-rich RNAs are difficult to characterize with RNase T1, as the higher frequency of guanosine residues yields smaller oligomers that do not always yield useful scientific data on the parent RNA structure. The cytidine-specific Cusativin should yield larger oligomers from G-rich RNAs, which will provide a greater amount of structural information within a given experiment.

• Cusativin yields information about C-rich regions of RNA structure: Cusativin at defined amounts cleave the phosphodiester bond at 3’-end of cytidine efficiently when it is followed by Adenosine or Guanosine or Uridine (C-A or C-G or C-U). However, the phosphodiester bond between two cytidines (C-C) is not cleaved efficiently, thereby, releasing the cytidine-rich region (for example, CCCCU) as oligonuclecotide (CCCC and U) instead of (just C and U). This enables the structure/sequence determination even in case of C-rich regions of RNA.

• Improved mass spectrometry analysis for RNA modification mapping: Uridine differs from cytidine by 1Da (0 versus NH) and the presence of C-13 isotopes, which are readily detected by mass spectrometry, can easily result in challenges in differentiating the number and sequence location of these pyrimidines. This challenge is particularly noteworthy for larger digestion products wherein the "all light" (C-12) isotope peak is no longer the most abundant. Digestion with Cusativin should yield oligomers containing a single cytidine in the sequence at the 3'-terminus of each digestion product. Moreover, the number of uridines should also be more easily determined based on accurate mass measurements and prior sequence reconstruction challenges will be eliminated.

This technology solves the above stated problems by overexpressing the protein in bacteria where bacterial cells could serve as molecular factories for mass production of target proteins. Employment of the recombinant nucleobase-specific enzyme could ensure higher predictability and reproducibility of the data besides simplifying the experimental procedures and analysis. It also provides solutions to various problems/issues listed above.

The target market for the invention is the RNA analysis/Transcriptomics market. RNA analysis is the study of the complete set of RNAs (transcriptome) encoded by the genome of a specific cell or organism at a specific time or under a specific set of conditions. RNA analysis has significant applications in the field of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and is used in the drug discovery, life science research and clinical diagnostic applications. The global RNA analysis/Transcriptomics market was valued at $1.7 billion in 2013 and it is expected to reach $3.8 billion by 2019. The market is driven by technological advancements and the increase in government and private funding for research coupled with research and development investments by the biotechnology companies. Similarly, the application of RNA analysis in the field of biomarker discovery opens new growth opportunities with the rising preference of personalized medicine across the globe

113015 - Electric Fields for Wound Healing Therapy

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Drs. Narmoneva and Kogan and their teams, recently discovered that a specific electric field modality promotes can significantly improve wound healing.

The wound repair and chronic wound closure market in the US is about a $4 billion per year problem. Therapies are being deployed for a number of diseases including, complications from diabetes, burn, trauma, and immuno-compromised patients. In particular, chronic diabetic ulcers, in 2007 in the US, were responsible for more than 27% of $116 billion in diabetic health care costs.

Common treatment procedures for such chronic wounds include tissue debridement, moist wound dressings, antibiotic therapy of infected wounds, mechanical load relief. However, despite these procedures, healing is often inadequate and can result in complications, extending healing times and wound reoccurrence. In addition to these approaches, more complex treatments to improve wound healing include hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and negative-pressure wound therapy (NWPT). In HBOT, a patient is placed in a high-oxygen chamber so their wound can be exposed to high levels of oxygen. NWPT uses intermittent or continuous subatmospheric pressure through a special pump connected to a special dressing covered with an adhesive drape, which also collects wound discharge and exudate. Together, NWPT and wound dressings are approximately 30% of the overall US market. However, both HBOT and NWPT have their drawbacks: neither is 100% effective in all wounds; they are expensive; HBO can cause middle ear and pulmonary barotraumas and myopia and contraindicated for patients with poor cardiac output and severe obstructive pulmonary disease; NWPT requires a special bandage, which is changed regularly, and a potentially cumbersome pump.

Our researchers recently discovered that a specific electric field modality promotes activation of capillary cells and vessel growth. A significant factor in chronic wounds is insufficient blood vessel formation. Their current results show an increase in the growth of blood vessel networks by as much as 50% using a specific electric modality. They have also designed an antenna to allow the stimulatory electric to be applied in an efficient non-contacting configuration. This amplitude is a low-field amplitude and is comparable to the electric field amplitude emitted by cell phones. The team has also demonstrated the efficacy of this treatment to improve diabetic wound healing in diabetic mice. The technology has the following advantages:

It is non-pharmacological (no systemic side-effects associated with drugs);
It is non-contact (no contact is required between electrodes/antennae and patient’s skin);
It can be used along with standard wound care (no need to remove the dressing);
Potentially improves patient comfort and compliance.

116022 - Mouse Model for Angiosarcoma and Lymphangiosarcoma

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Jun-Lin Guan and his lab have developed a research tool for modeling angiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma.

This research tool is a genetically-engineered mouse model, that replicates all the main features of human angiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma, including invasion and metastasis. A technique for isolating primary tumor cells from the mice has also been developed. The in vitro cell-based assays have been optimized to test tumor cell growth, apoptosis and kinase activities.

This model would be useful to those Researchers engaged in the care of patients with angiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma, and patients with other vascular tumors and vascular malformation.

The technology currently has the following advantages:

Only animal model that replicates all aspects of the human angiosarcoma.
High formation rate and rapid growth rate of the tumors
Ideal model for screening new compounds.

115103 - Laser-Activated, Drug-Delivering, Nanoparticle Bubbles

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Cancer treatment is the largest segment of nanomedicine, accounting for 35% of the market and valued at $19 billion in 2013. Targeted attack of cancer cells, while minimizing harm to healthy cells, remains an elusive challenge.

Professor Yoonjee Park, in work begun at MIT and ongoing at the University of Cincinnati, has developed a nanoparticle drug-delivery bubble with superior stability, preventing harm to healthy cells unless activated initially by laser, and then by ultrasound. Her particles are relatively inexpensive and can deliver lipophilic or hydrophilic compounds. In addition to cancers, glaucoma is a potential application.

112120 - Synergistic Production of Both Biogas and Algae

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Biogas production—the use of anaerobic bacteria to break down organic waste for the production of methane—is a $17 billion worldwide industry.

Microalgae products are a $5 billion worldwide industry. Algae is produced commercially as a precursor to health food products, fish and animal feed, and biodiesel and other biofuels.

A team led by Timothy Keener, Professor of Engineering for the University of Cincinnati, has combined these two processes in a single plant, so that pH and other operational factors, and costs, can be optimized. Come see for yourself by arranging a visit to the pilot plant being built on the university’s campus.

112078 - Method to Produce Biodiesel from Trap Grease

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Mingming Lu and her lab have developed a new method of creating biodiesel from trap grease.

Trap grease, or brown grease, is waste grease which restaurants trap before it goes down the sewer. Brown grease, as compared to fryer grease, is a mixture of vegetable oil, animal fat, and other grease found in grease traps. Because of the nature and location where it is captured, trap grease can also contain other containments from the floor of an establishment including cleaning chemicals. These contaminants make brown grease unsuitable for reuse in many applications. In contrast, yellow grease, which is used frying oils from deep fryers, may be readily reused in a variety of applications, such as an animal feed additive and in the production of biodiesel. One primary difference between yellow and brown grease is that trap grease contains more moisture and much more impurities than the yellow grease. This limits its usefulness without additional processing including the use of potentially harmful solvents. In addition, any chemical solvent not currently in use to the biodiesel industry would require extensive changes to existing facilities.

A current method of creating biodiesel from trap grease is (1) add a solvent to the trap grease to reduce the glycerin and fatty acid content, (2) remove the solvent from the product of step 1, (3) perform acid and alkali catalysis on the product of step 2 and (4) perform transesterification on the product of step 3. The use of solvents causes an extra waste product and increase the cost and safety requirements. When compared to converting yellow grease, this is even more true, because a solvent isn't necessary. However UC has discovered a nonpolar solvent which doesn't need to be removed from the trap grease therefore eliminating step 2 and in the right amounts has the potential to eliminating step 3 above. Thus creating a useful, potentially economically viable, new process to convert trap grease into biodiesel. In addition since it uses methods already existing in biodiesel facilities, our new method could be adapted easily by current biodiesel manufacturers.

111098 - An Acoustic Jet Device for Sleep Apnea

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Ephraim Gutmark and Dr. Siddarth Khosla have developed a device for the treatment of sleep apnea.

Approximately 15 million Americans have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Portions of the upper respiratory tract collapse in OSA patients resulting in the blockage of the airways and reduced blood oxygen levels. As blood oxygen levels drop, the patient awakens and gasps for air. This cycle is repeated many times during the night. Left untreated, OSA is associated with a significant increased risk of cardiovascular events including hypertension, stroke and heart attack. Obstructive sleep apnea has been associated with a high risk for motor vehicle accidents; OSA increases the risk of motor vehicle accidents and is thought to account for 15-20% of the 40-50,000 deaths and almost 4,000,000 emergency department visits annually. Continuous Positive Air Pressure, or CPAP is an effective and widely recognized therapy for sleep apnea but is often under prescribed by physicians and under-utilized by patients. The positive air pressure prevents the airways of the upper respiratory tract from collapsing, preventing the apneic event. CPAP is efficacious but is not well tolerated by patients. Studies show that somewhere between 46% and 83% of patients are not compliant with CPAP therapy and remove the CPAP early in the night or skip use altogether.

The Acoustic Jet Device (AJD), developed by a collaboration between Dr. Ephraim Gutmark of the School of Aerospace Systems and Dr. Siddarth Khosla of the Department of Otolaryngology, has the ability to solve many of the problematic issues associated with CPAP therapy without compromising the therapy's effectiveness. Our technology circumvents the need to provide the tight seals required of traditional CPAP because it does not rely on pressurizing the entire upper respiratory tract. Instead the AJD needs only to be directed towards the nostrils of the patient to give a desired effect. Additionally the AJD has relatively low energy requirements to achieve airflows sufficient for therapeutic efficacy. These low energy requirements enable the AJD product to be run on batteries. In combination with its size, the AJD would lead to un-heard of mobility for CPAP patients who are currently tied to bulky equipment plugged into the mains. The AJD also has the potential to be used to provide improved airflow for patients with diseased lungs or even as a portable ventilator.

The AJD has the following advantages over current CPAP therapies:

a tight fitting mask or nasal interface is not required;
patients can open their mouths during sleep;
minimal tubing and equipment allows for increased freedom in sleep positions and mobility
selective pressurization of the respiratory tract reduces abdominal bloating;
it is much smaller and cost significantly less than the current CPAP therapies.

101070 - Synthesis of Silica Nano and Microstructures Under Economical Conditions

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

The synthesis and characterization of nanometer and micrometer-scale silicon structures is currently of great interest. Such materials have tremendous potential application in the fields of optroelectronics, nano-composites, ceramics, rubber technology, and biomedical materials, in addition to displaying great promise in applications involving catalysis and chemical separations.
Traditional techniques for the synthesis of these structures involve extremes of pH and high temperature, along with associated long preparation and reaction times, thereby rendering the process impracticable for continuous, versus batch, manufacturing.
We have discovered a technique for controlled synthesis of silicon nano and microstructures at neutral pH and ambient conditions.
The new technique promises significant cost savings in the industrial setting through the employment of process equipment at neutral pH and ambient temperature. The silica can be produced as discrete particles ranging from ~ 100 nm – 10 ìm with fair control over size.
The new process exhibits dramatic reduction in the time required for synthesis (5 to 20 minutes), thus promising additional economy in the large-scale preparation of these materials. This method also gives morphologies previously not reported for silica based materials.
Compared to conventional techniques, the manufacturing method is environmentally benign and qualifies as a “green technology.”
The process is flexible and allows for control over product size and morphology.

108112 - Mouse Strain B6.FVB-Tg(GNAT2-Dta)98Wwk/J

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Mice hemizygous for this "Trc-Tox176" transgene (also called "h-GNAT2pro-DTA") are viable and fertile. Expression of diphtheria toxin (DTA) from the transgene is similar to that of endogenous GNAT2, leading to ablation of both rod and cone photoreceptor development in the ventral retina (the abnormality is a result of abnormal cellular development rather than a consequence of retinal degeneration). The dorsal retina has nearly normal development of rods, but the development of cones is limited to about 10%. These transgenic mice exhibit an absence of cone photoreceptors in the retina, as well as the concomitant absence of rod photoreceptors in the ventral retina. The mice may be useful in studies of photoreceptor development, photoreceptor-related retinal diseases, and to profile photoreceptor genes in adult and in developmental stages.

108075 - Mammary Gland estrogen receptor knock-out mouse

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Sohaib Khan, a Professor in the Department of Cancer and Cell Biology at the University of Cincinnati, has developed a conditional knockout mouse that keeps the estrogen receptor in all tissues except the mammary tissue, which allows scientists to study the role the receptor plays in breast development and abnormalities such as breast cancer or problems with milk production when nursing.
The potential applications of this mouse model are tremendous, in that it can be an invaluable tool toward developing a better understanding of the relationship between estrogen-signaling and oncogene-mediated breast cancer development. This can lead to a better understanding of the origins of breast cancer, to find new ways for earlier detection and potential for new therapies to treat breast cancer. The “floxed ER” mice can also be used to delete ER in other estrogen-target tissues.

106087 - RU360

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

A cell-permeable oxygen-bridged dinuclear ruthenium amine complex that has been shown to bind to mitochondria with high affinity (Kd = 340 pM). Specifically blocks Ca2+ uptake into mitochondria in vitro (IC50 = 184 pM) and in situ in intact myocytes (complete block after incubation with ~10 µM of Ru360 for 30 min). Does not affect other cellular Ca2+ transport processes involved in cardiac muscle contraction, even at micromolar levels.

106025 - LS14: A Human Adipocyte Cell Line

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

We have cloned a novel cell line, named LS14, from a human liposarcoma tumor which expresses preadipocyte properties and proliferates robustly. This cell line is derived from spontaneously transformed cells and is not a result of transfection. The cells can be maintained and propagated indefinitely in a defined culture medium with a cell generation time of 72-96 hr. The cells are considered partially-differentiated preadipocytes and can be induce to terminally differentiate and accumulate lipid droplets following incubation in serum-free medium which contains a combination of adipogenic-inducing compounds. Within 8-10 days after induction of adipogenesis, 50-60% of the cells have undergone differentiation. These cells express many genes that are typical of primary human adipocytes, including leptin, adiponectin, lipoprotein lipase, hormone-sensitive lipase, fatty acid synthase, angiotensinogen, Glut4, AP2, TNF?, IL-6 and PPAR?. They respond to isoproterenol by increased lipolysis.

103032 - Rabbit Anti-human Merlin Polyclonal Antibody

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

The neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) tumor suppressor gene was cloned in 1993. It encodes a protein product, merlin. Mutation of merlin is associated with development of tumors known as schwannomas, which arise from the 8th cranial nerve. Patients of NF2 are also predisposed to other nervous system tumors such as ependymomas, meningiomas and mesotheliomas. Merlin is related to the ezrin-radixin-moesin (ERM) family of proteins, which are known to link the plasma membrane of cells to their cytoskeleton. Current evidence points to merlin as part of several signal transduction pathways that regulate cell growth. As the functional inactivation or loss of merlin leads to tumor formation, merlin is a classic tumor suppressor molecule.
The study of the tumor suppressing mechanism of merlin is currently hampered by a paucity of specific antibody reagents. Although many commercial antibodies exist for the ERM proteins, none to our knowledge are available that are highly specific for merlin.
We generated purified recombinant merlin protein using a combination of standard laboratory techniques. The resultant protein appeared as a single band on SDS-PAGE gels and was used as immunogen to elicit antibody production in New Zealand white rabbits.
Advantages
By western blotting, our merlin antibody, designated Montibody, revealed a single band at approximately 69 kDa, the predicted molecular mass of human merlin. This degree of specificity surpasses that of all known commercially available products.
The antibody recognizes human, mouse and rat merlin, and is effective in in western blot analysis at 1000x dilution and in immunoprecipitation studies. Since the antibody recognizes endogenous merlin, it obviates the need for epitope- or green fluorescent protein-tagged merlin in such studies.

094030 - Item Number 229 - Transgenic Mouse Model for Congestive Heart Failure

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Our researchers have developed five transgenic mouse strains that overexpress human annexin VI protein in heart tissue. This protein is a potent regulator of calcium release and other membrane processes essential to healthy cardiac function. Mice overexpressing annexin VI die from congestive heart failure. Pathological examination indicates that the mice have enlarged hearts, acute diffuse myocarditis, lymphocytic infiltration and moderate to severe fibrosis throughout the heart and around the pulmonary veins. Our findings suggest that the mice would be useful as animal models for investigating physiological processes associated with congestive heart failure and for screening prospective therapeutic agents.
Background
The annexins are a family of calcium-dependent phospholipid binding proteins containing repeated domains of approximately 70 amino acids in length. All of the annexins contain four repeat domains except for annexin VI, which contains eight. Annexin VI is expressed in many tissues including heart, and has been shown to be a potent regulator of the skeletal muscle ryanodine-sensitive calcium release channel, the sodium-calcium exchanger and other membrane processes.
Our transgenic mice were developed by targeting expression of full-length human annexin VI cDNA to heart using the alpha myosin heavy chain gene (àMHC) promoter. At least 10-fold overexpression is exhibited in both atria and ventricles, as determined by Western blot analysis. By immunolocaliza- tion, we have confirmed àMHC promoter-specific overexpression of annexin VI in cardiomyocytes and pulmonary veins. Contractile mechanics of cardiomyocytes isolated from hearts of transgenic mice showed reduced shortening, decreased rates of contraction and increased rates of relaxation compared to controls. Free calcium dynamics monitored during the contraction and relaxation cycle using fura-2 indicated that cardiomyocytes from transgenic animals have lower basal levels of intracellular free calcium, and the same rise in free calcium following depolarization. After stimulation, calcium returns to relative basal levels faster in cell from the transgenic mice than in cells from control mice. These results from completed studies suggest that overexpressing annexin VI in heart disrupts normal calcium homeostasis and suggests that this dysfunction may be due to annexin VI regulation of pumps, channels and/or exchanger in the membranes of cardiomyocytes.

109055 - Col2 Transgenic Rabbit

melissa.baines@uc.edu (Melissa Baines) — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. David Butler of the University of Cincinnati and Dr. Jeffrey Robbins of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center have collaborated to create a new research tool – a transgenic rabbit in which cells fluoresce when the collagen 2 (Col2) gene is being expressed. Animal models are utilized for a variety of applications in the fields of engineering, orthopedic and medical research. They have allowed scientists to better understand the natural history of disease, to develop new and improved surgical techniques, to predict the effect of a given treatment or surgical procedure and to critically develop and evaluate implants, a basic element of modern orthopedics. In every aspect of biomedical research, the use of animal models constitutes an essential step that leads to the eventual application of newly acquired information to the human patient.

Patients in the US sustain more than 32 million injuries to tendons and ligaments at a cost of $30 billion each year. Many of these injuries occur where type I collagen fibers insert into fibrocartilage (including type II collagen synthesized by Col2) and bone (type I collagen; Col1). Type II collagen, which adds structure and strength to connective tissues, is found primarily in cartilage. Cartilage includes the articulating tissue lining the ends of bones within joints, the shock absorbing pads within the knee known as the menisci, and the center portion of the discs between the vertebrae in the spine. By exploring when the Col2 gene is expressed, we can better understand how the body reacts to certain injuries and how it heals. There currently exists a mouse model which expresses fluorescent proteins based on changes in Col1 and Col2 gene expression. Although an excellent genetic tool, the mouse is too small to perform reproducible surgeries to study the repair of many orthopedic tissues.

To better understand the growth and development and healing mechanisms of orthopedic tissues, Dr. Butler and Dr. Robbins have developed a transgenic rabbit which expresses fluorescent proteins based on changes in Col2 gene expression. Rabbits are larger animals than mice, making it possible to more easily perform reproducible surgeries. The fluorescent expression lasts 24 hours, so there is ample time to see the results. The Col2 transgenic rabbit will provide a straightforward tool to study the spatial and temporal patterns of Col2 expression during normal development and repair of collagenous tissues.

106109 - G-Protein Coupled Receptor Kinase-5 Polymorphism

hansenmh@ucmail.uc.edu (Michael Hansen) — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

The present invention is directed to compositions and methods relating to a G-protein coupled receptor kinase-5 polymorphism. The methods include, for example: detecting enhanced desensitization of the beta adrenergic receptor signaling pathway in an individual, assessing partial protection against heart failure progression in an individual, and assessing an individual's response to beta-blocker therapy. The compositions include polynucleotides or fragments thereof of a nucleotide sequence encoding for a G-protein receptor kinase-5 molecule with a thymine at amino acid position 122 and oligonucleotide primers that hybridize thereto.

109089 - Biodegradable, Single-Crystal Magnesium Medical Implant

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMT

About 7 million broken bone incidents are treated in the United States each year. The average person in a developed country experiences two such incidents in a lifetime. Pins, screws, rods, and plates are regularly required to treat these injuries.

Magnesium is a robust metal, a dietary nutrient used by the body, and a substance that naturally biodegrades within the body. That said, for strength, magnesium-based implants are typically doped or alloyed with elements that can be toxic.

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati, in collaboration with a colleague from Hannover Medical School in Hannover, Germany, have made individual crystals and agglomerates of single crystals of pure magnesium that show physical and chemical properties suitable for medical use without doping or alloy.

103021 - Biomass Concentrator Reactor

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The EPA’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory (Dr. Albert Venosa) in collaboration with the University of Cincinnati (Dr. Makram Suidan) have developed a gravity-flow Biomass Concentrator Reactor (BCR) for biological water treatment. The BCR design encompasses an aeration chamber housing a high surface area porous polyethylene membrane system that retains all of the biomass within the aeration chamber. Its simple operation and low maintenance requirements may render it economically more feasible than other water treatment technologies. The water flux through the membrane relies completely on gravity with only 1 inch of hydraulic head.

The BCR has been demonstrated to be effective in the biological treatment of methyl tertiary-butyl ether-contaminated groundwater or any environment where high biomass retention is desired or required for highly efficient bio-degradation to occur. This technology could be used as a package plant replacement or for small municipal activated sludge systems (no clarifier needed) as well as for treating surface water for drinking purposes. It produces a highly clear and organic-free effluent, and it reduces natural organic matter sufficiently that trihalomethane precursors would be minimized. It also can be used for industrial wastewater treatment and possibly for the anaerobic treatment of waters contaminated with perchlorates.

108028 - Sulfur Tolerant High Durability CO2 Sorbents

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Smirniotis and his students at UC have designed and developed a novel CaO-based sorbents that have demonstrated the highest ever recorded CO₂ uptake capacity. In order to control the greenhouse effect the most viable solution is to find cost effective ways to capture and sequestrate CO₂ before it is released into the atmosphere. The most common commercial technology to capture CO₂ is an amine-based absorption process. This process is limited to small scale (10² ton/day) and low temperatures between 323 K and 413 K. Alternatively these drawbacks can be overcome by utilizing calcium oxide-based inorganic sorbents to capture CO₂ selectively from hot gas streams. These CaO-based sorbents have been shown to be promising candidates for CO₂ capture and cost effective. However, the conventional sorbents’ performance decays with each passing carbonation/decarbonation cycle. Currently, a significant amount of research is being carried out to improve the performance of CaO-based sorbents. The focus is on increasing its porosity and stability.

Fossil fuels inevitably contain sulfur (primarily in the form of SO₂ and SO₃ at much lower concentrations) and sulfation reactions can occur depending on the temperature. However, most studies have not considered the effect of SO₂ and other poisons found during the production of energy from fossil fuels.

Dr. Smirniotis and his students at UC have designed and developed a novel CaO-based sorbent. These sorbents retain their structural stability and durability over extended carbonation/decarbonation cycles in a very wide temperature window ranging from 373 to up to 1000 K. Moreover, these sorbents demonstrated excellent stability for operating under severe conditions and other environmental factors which normally reduce effectiveness. These characteristics are achieved through the functionalization of the sorbent’s surface which will repel SO₂ and other poisons. The sorbents have also demonstrated very good regenerability, they are inexpensive to make in large quantities, and the synthesis procedure is very reproducible. The CaO-based sorbents developed can be used both for post- and pre-combustion processes.

UC has developed an effective, economic and versatile industrial sorbent process to mitigate CO₂, which operates under some of the severest conditions, and has a longer lifetime than current sorbents.

107043 - Penetrating Microelectrode Sensor Array for In Situ Multi-analyte Measurements in Biological Applications

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMT

A novel sensor contains an array of analyte-specific microelectrode sensors that can penetrate samples to simultaneously perform multiple measurements. The microelectrodes are robust, yet small enough to be fabricated in close proximity to signal processing ICs. A dissolved oxygen (DO) version of the sensor array has been shown to exhibit better linearity, sensitivity and response time than similarly sized DO sensors formed from pulled glass pipettes.

103026 - Vapochromic Material for Sensing Volatile Organic Compounds

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMT

One class of sensors relies on vapochromic materials that exhibit color change when exposed to the vapors of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The present invention is a new vapochromic salt that includes a platinum complex. At room temperature the compound undergoes a color change from orange to red when exposed to vapors of methanol, ethanol, chloroform and acetonitrile.
While other vapochromic materials exist, the compound of the present invention has potentially greater sensitivity and lower cost.

103007 - Compositions and Methods for Targeted Drug Delivery

doug.nienaber@uc.edu (Doug Nienaber) — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The present invention relates to synthetic host-rotaxanes, and in particular to novel synthetic host-rotaxanes that engage in molecular recognition events with a guest molecule to yield a host-guest complex. The present invention includes methods and compositions for transporting agents and macromolecues across biological membranes.
Although recent advances in drug delivery methods have produced active peptide and protein-based drugs, the technology suffers from a lack of suitable delivery systems. Among the problems of existing delivery systems is poor absorption of peptides through cellular membranes. The host-rotaxane of the present inventions shows almost DMSO-like ability to penetrate a cell membrane and deliver desired constituents to a cell.

106010 - Advanced Textiles and Smart Cleaning Devices

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Jason Heikenfeld and his Novel Devices Laboratory have created a new way of cleaning up your messes. UC has modified standard textiles and utilized them to create a new cleaning device. The textile takes advantage of a surface phenomenon commonly referred to as electrowetting. Electrowetting is the modification of the wetting properties of a hydrophobic surface with an applied electric field.

Current cleaning devices on the market (e.g., the P&G(r) Swiffer(r) WetJet(r) and the Clorox(r) ReadyMop(r)) use an absorbent material and a wicking material to remove liquid; with the wicking material drawing the liquid to be stored in the absorbent material. The wicking material is always capable of removing liquid and therefore is always wet to the touch. In addition the amount of liquid that the absorbent material is capable of holding is limited.

Our invention on the other hand is not wet to the touch and can have a large reservoir. Because the surface of the textile is hydrophobic in its inactive state, water is repelled from the surface. It’s only when an electric field is applied does the surface attract water (i.e. becomes hydrophilic). Provided there is no electric field being applied the surface will remain dry. And the applied electric field necessary can be supplied by a watch battery. Since our system is active and unlike the competing devices the only limitation to the amount of liquid removed is the reservoir where the liquid is stored. in theory we can pump approximately 10 liters of liquid from the power of a single AA battery.

Other possible implementations of this invention include being used as a liquid dispersal agent and for removing liquid from the skin. By using a series of reservoirs and electrowetting textiles coupled in parallel liquid can be sprayed utilizing our textiles. Since the textiles will draw liquid from any surface, this could easily include human skin.

112102 - Medication Compliance App

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

A team of PharmD students has developed a system for enhancing medication compliance. The concept consists of a smartphone application or “app” which has close ties to a pharmacy's mainframe. This pharmacy app will be very convenient and user-friendly for patients and has the potential to enhance health outcomes through adherence.

Recent studies have found that not taking medications as prescribed leads to a number of problems. These range from unwanted side effects to frequent hospitalizations and even death. This lack of compliance increases the cost of medical care upwards of $290 billion annually. Because up to 75% of patients are non-adherent to their medication regimens in some manner, improving this facet of healthcare can have a profound impact on health outcomes, expenses, and profits in the industry.

With the retail pharmacy in mind, the students developed the system to increase patient medication compliance. By designing a computer system to connect a patient's smartphone with the pharmacy computer, they have created a real-time link to automatically collect and transfer data between the end user and the pharmacy. Such a connection would offer the pharmacist significantly more information about the patient, and provides the patient with features that no other pharmacy app on the market delivers. These features will not only improve adherence and provide greater information about medication and medical conditions, but can also facilitate medication therapy management (MTM). The role of the retail pharmacist is shifting from the dispensing and verification side to MTM and direct patient contact; numerous studies demonstrate that the pharmacist’s involvement directly improves patient outcomes. This app is in line with those goals and would propel any pharmacy into the forefront of these changing times.

112044 - Mesh Fasteners and Applicator

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Mary South has developed a medical device that eliminates time spent suturing in procedures such as pelvic organ prolapse repair.

The device is a safe, efficient and functional way to attach mesh during a variety of medical procedures. The fasteners can be used more generally in the suturing of incisions as well as attachment procedures.

Currently, the method of choice for the attachment of mesh is a delayed absorbable or permanent suture. The use of suture knot tying tends to be a laborious and time intensive process, particularly when operating in hard to reach places or when tying knots laprascopically or robotically.

These fasteners eliminate the need to tie knots and thus reduce the amount of time required in attachment procedures. Further, the applicator facilitates the attachment of mesh in hard to reach places. While the fasteners were originally developed to aid in the attachment of mesh to the vaginal wall, they can be used more generally for any suturing procedure.

Our device has the following advantages:

It facilitates attaching mesh in difficult to reach places
It eliminates time required for suturing
It is widely applicable to any suturing procedure

108017 - Personalized Medicine - A Test for Individualized Cardiovascular Disease Treatment Protocols Based on Beta-1 Adrenergic Receptor Haplotype

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

ß-adrenergic receptors (ß-AR's) a class of G protein-coupled receptors that are targets of the catecholamines, especially noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and adrenaline (epinephrine). ß receptors have the subtypes ß1, ß2 and ß3. All three are linked to Gs proteins, which in turn are linked to adenylate cyclase. Agonist binding to these receptors therefore causes a rise in the intracellular concentration of the second messenger cAMP.

ß subtype1-adrenergic receptors (ß1-AR's) are expressed on a number of cell types, including cardiomyocytes, vascular smooth muscle, epithelium, renal juxtaglomerular, and adipocytes. These receptors are targets for agonists in the acute treatment of decompensated heart failure, while ß1-AR antagonists are utilized in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as chronic heart failure, ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias, and hypertension. However, the response to ß1-AR agonists or antagonists appears to be highly variable between individuals, which is not readily explained by clinical status or demographic characteristics. Furthermore, the inventor has previously shown that the expression of ß1-AR, and the responsiveness to stimulation, can differ substantially between healthy individuals. Such variability between individuals suggests that the receptor may be polymorphic in the population, giving rise to altered expression as well as altered physiologic or pharmacologic responsiveness.

Invention
Dr. Stephen Liggett at the University of Cincinnati has invented a method for determining whether a treatment protocol for a human patient who is suffering from heart failure, ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias, or hypertension would include the administration of a beta blocker. The method also involves identifying locations of any polymorphisms in the ß1-AR sequence from the patient's biological sample, assigning a haplotype to the ß1-AR sequence based on the locations identified, and determining whether the treatment protocol includes administration of a beta blocker to the patient based on the haplotype assigned.

The invention offers the following advantages:

the invention forms the basis of a test to determine the best treatment protocol for cardiovascular disease
treatment protocols can be potentially tailored around the patient's individual genotype. This could lead to savings in terms of both costs and time.
potentially lead to the avoidance of unnecessary side effects

102010 - Novel Route to Manufacturing Filled Metals, Ceramics, or Polymers

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Manufacturing techniques for composite “filled” materials (metal, pure or alloy; ceramic or polymer, single or co-polymer, formulated or pure) are useful. Techniques have been sought by which these materials may be produced in such a fashion as to include significant volumes of two fine, uniformly dispersed phase in a composite material, as, for example, ceramics toughened (i.e. made less brittle) by the incorporation of carbon; metals strengthened by the incorporation of ceramic fillers; and polymers filled in situ with pigments.
We have discovered a technique for controlled synthesis of filled materials from nanoparticle starting materials with enormous versatility.
The new technique permits the manufacturing of filled materials based on a wide variety of combinations of ceramic (aluminum oxide, silica, zinc oxide, clay, magnesium oxide), metal (aluminum, steel, zinc, tin, nickel) or polymer (rubber, PMMA, polystyrene, or polyethylene) materials, utilizing nanoparticles as a starting material. The proprietary technique results in final composite materials with a wide variety of morphology and chemical and physical characteristics.
The new process is capable of producing a wide variety of filled composite materials which cannot be obtained (or cannot easily be obtained) by other known fabrication methods.
The manufacturing method is environmentally benign.
The process is flexible and allows for finely-detailed control over product size, elemental and chemical composition, and morphology.

097023 - Electromagnetically Driven Microvalve and Micropump on a Silicon/Glass Chip

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

There has been a large demand for a micropump with a high flow rate and low driving voltage. Most micropumps which have been realized to date suffer from high driving voltages to attain high flow rates depending on their application targets. Specifically, if a micro-fluid regulation system is sharing a power supply other application which require less than 3-5 volts, low driving voltage of micropumps is critically essential in practical applications. Furthermore, micro fluid regulation systems for biomedical or biological applications such as portable or implantable drug delivery systems require low driving voltages, since electrical breakdown hazard from the high voltages is seriously concerned due to its safety issues.
A new electromagnetically driven microvalve and micropump on a silicon/glass wafer has been designed, fabricated, and tested. This microvalve and micropump are composed of two components: a semi-encapsulated planar inductor for electromagnets on a Pyrex glass wafer and an actuator for valves and pumps on a silicon wafer.
In this invention, a new proto-type magnetic microactuator has been proposed and realized using both bulk micromachining and wafer bonding techniques, where magnetic forces can be produced between the electromagnets and the permalloy films plated on the silicon diaphragm. When a voltage is applied to the inductor mounted on a glass wafer, the pmerally/silicon diaphragm is attracted to the upper electromagnet, lifting the valve bosses and thus opening the valve. A series of these activators can be used to provide peristaltic pumping action.

Advantages:

Low driving voltage can be used in applications for implantable drug delivery systems.
Flow directions can be changed by control of the exciting sequence of the valves and the pump chamber.
Stronger and ore precise sensory outputs for microactuated sensors and lower driving voltage make exceptional performance possible.
Unique fabrication technique allows flexibility in realizing various MEMS devices. Components may be separately fabricated using conventional technology.

106082 - Structure of human platelet glycoprotein VI: A novel target for anti-thrombotic agents

briggsln@ucmail.uc.edu (Lynn Briggs) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Andrew Herr and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati have developed a protocol for the expression, purification, and refolding of the collagen-binding domain of human GPVI. The crystal structure of this refolded GPVI domain was solved to 2.4 Å resolution. GPVI formed a back-to-back dimer in the crystal, consistent with several studies suggesting GPVI was dimeric on the platelet surface. These data also revealed an unusual groove on the surface of GPVI that computational docking programs and published mutagenesis studies strongly suggest is the collagen binding site. The orientation and dimensions of the collagen binding grooves on the two GPVI proteins within a dimer precisely match the geometry of the intact collagen fiber.
This technology – a refolding protocol capable of generating milligram quantities of pure GPVI and the coordinates of the atomic structure of GPVI – provides critical information for the design and development of GPVI inhibitors as new therapies for human disease

109074 - Radiation Shielding Device

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Banks) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Costea has created a lightweight, radiation shielding device. Made of transparent leaded material, the device reduces the radiation exposure of the medical professionals to almost zero, without decreasing their range of motion, visual contact with patients or the capability of performing fine movements with their hands and fingers. The dual shields are placed on wheels which are positioned in a tripod shape, one set on the external side and two separate sets on the other.

The shields’ positioning, which is opposite to the radiation tube and the patient's chest, provides medical professionals the flexibility of either standing or sitting while conducting medical procedures. While offering maximum radiation protection to the medical professionals’ entire body, these shields are easy to construct at an economical cost.

The invention has the following advantages:

Eliminates radition exposure to medical professionals
Allows medical professionals to utlize full range of motion
Mobile and adjustable

104041 - Management of the Newborn Experience

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Cincinnati, lead by Ms. Barbara Gilman RN, MSN, Ms. Shirley J. Adams, RN, MSN, Ms. Elizabeth E. Weiner RN, PhD, and Jeffery Q. Adams, MSCE, has developed a two hour interactive comprehensive program for educating nurses about the newborn experience.

The program is divided into four different modules, with a number of different sections:

Immediate Care of the Newborn
1. APGAR
2. Check for Anomalies
General Assessment: Appearance, Vital Signs & Measurements
1. Determine Heart Rate
2. Cord Care
Complete Assessment: Skin, Head, Chest & Abdomen
1. Identification of Fontanels
2. Abdominal Palpation
Complete Assessment: Genitalia, Extemities, Reflexes and Gestational Age
1. A circumcision
2. Ballard chart

104016 - Electronics Based On Liquid Components (a/k/a “LiquiFET”)

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Current microfluidic devices are hampered by the relative crudeness of methods used to turn information conveyed by the movement of a fluid into an electronic signal so that it can be processed by a computer. Signals have traditionally been converted through optical sensing – using a video camera or by exciting fluorescent dyes already present in the fluid. These methods are often cumbersome, expensive and can only confer limited data.
The first ever liquid transistor has been created. The new device is very similar to an ordinary semiconductor FET (field-effect transistor), but operates completely in the liquid state (a “LiquiFET”). It can therefore directly convert charge-related information from the liquid state into conventional electronic signals. The LiquiFET transistors ‘have great potential for bioapplications – they can directly detect, manipulate and analyze liquids, and they can be immersed in liquids.

104010 - Compounds to Treat Cardiovascular Ischemia and promote Wound Healing

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Cardiovascular ischemia is a leading cause of illness and death in the United States. A number strategies including prevention through diet, exercise and lipid-lowering drugs, and medical intervention via angioplasty, stent placement and surgery are being used to alleviate the ischemic conditions. In addition, pro-angiogenesis compounds have also been used to enhance blood flow through collateral vessel formation. However, these treatments remain inadequate because of the complications associated with these strategies. Moreover, pro-angiogenesis factors, vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (BFGF), used to enhance blood flow in ischemic tissues have also been associated with pathological angiogenesis and/or the proliferation of tumor cells. The latter observation warrants the development of novel compounds that would specifically promote angiogenesis in ischemic tissues.
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36-residue peptide amide originally isolated from porcine brain. It is abundantly present in the sympathetic nervous system surrounding the heart and blood vessels, and also present in endothelial cells and platelets. Recent investigations using rat hind limb ischemic model, mouse corneal micro-pocket assay and chicken embryonic chorioallantoic membrane assay have unequivocally shown that NPY exhibits a powerful angiogenisis effect. Moreover, NPY has also been shown to promote wound healing, a process dependent on angiogenesis. These actions of NPY are mediated by Y2 receptor subtypes because: 1) NPY did not exhibit angiogenic activities in Y2 receptor deficient mice; 2) [Leu31, Pro34]NPY, which does not bind to Y2 receptor, had no angiogenesis effect.
It is therefore clear that NPY Y2 receptor selective agonists will ultimately be used to treat cardiovascular ischemia and promote wound healing. In this regard, we have developed highly selective and potent (Ki = 1 nM) lower molecular weight Y2-receptor agonists based on PYY(22-36) and PYY(25-36) (US Patents: 5604203 & 6046167), and shown that they exhibit to potent and prolong in vivo activities (J Med Chem 49:3420-3427; 2000; Dig Dis Sci. 44:643-648; 1999). We are now looking for partners to develop these compounds as drugs to treat cardiovascular ischemia, Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and to promote wound healing.
Advantages

Lower molecular weight compounds- will be economical to develop into drugs.
Highly potent and selective- will be active at lower doses & little or no side effect expected.
Relatively stable- long acting.

101033 - Method to Increase Milk Production

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Banks) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Mammalian milk production is regulated by a feedback system in the mammary glands that results in reduced lactation when the frequency of milking is reduced. The baseline level of bovine milk production can be increased with a more frequent milking regimen, or with the administration of rBST (a recombinant bovine growth hormone) that counteracts this feedback response resulting in a boost in milk production by approximately 10 percent.

Dr. Nelson Horseman and colleagues have discovered a new method of regulating milk production exploiting a different mechanism which does not involve the use of hormones. The researchers have identified a key component of the feedback loop that regulates milk production in the mammary gland. They have found that this intrinsic feedback mechanism can be manipulated by the use of well-characterized pharmaceuticals either alone or in combination with certain biologically active substances.

Specifically, the researchers have found that the administration of various serotonin antagonists is effective in increasing milk production. This offers several advantages such as those listed below.

Advantages:

Potential lower manufacturing costs

Absence of any compounds in milk

Reduced consumer resistance due to lack of use of hormones

Can be developed for oral administration, suggesting ease of use

Compounds by themselves have very safe and well understood pharmacological profiles

100021 - Peptides with Antioxidant and Antimocrobial Properties

briggsln@ucmail.uc.edu (Lynn Briggs) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Research at UC has led to the development of methods of treating conditions associated with lipid oxidation or microbial proliferation which include the step of administering a composition comprising a pharmacologically effective amount of an antioxidant or antimicrobial lung surfactant protein compound. These peptides derived from lung surfactant protein compounds possess lipid oxidation inhibiting and/or antimicrobial properties.

098026 - Visible light emitting device formed from wide band gap semiconductor doped with a rare earth element

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A visible light emitting device includes a wide band gap semiconductor layer doped with one or more elements which emit light at various wavelengths based upon atomic transitions. The semiconductor preferably is GaN, InN, AIN, BN or alloys thereof doped with a lanthanide element such as Er, Pr or Tm. The light emission can be enhanced by annealing the WBGS. Wide band gap semiconductors (WBGS) doped with light emitting elements such as rare earth elements (RE) and other elements with partially filled inner shells are particularly attractive for LEDs because the emission efficiency appears to increase with band gap value, thus allowing room temperature operation without the need to introduce impurities. The present invention is premised on the realization that wide band gap semiconductor substrates doped with elements with partially filled inner shells such as rare earth elements and transition metals can be formed and will emit in the visible and ultraviolet spectrum at a wide range of temperatures. The wide band gap semiconductor material are group III-V and IV materials including diamond, GaN, AIN, InN, BN and alloys thereof. These are doped with elements such as cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, turbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, or lutetium or other elements with partially filled inner shells. By proper formation of the wide band gap semiconductor material and proper introduction of the rare earth element, a light emitting diode can be formed which emits in the visible spectrum. By selection of the appropriate dopant material, one can select the appropriate color. For example, in GaN, erbium will produce green whereas thulium will produce blue and praseodymium will produce red.

096044 - Item Number 244 - Modified Electrostatic Precipitator for Flue Gas

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Cincinnati Department of Chemical Engineering in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Engineering has developed a novel improvement for flue gas electrostatic precipitators. The resulting modification removes particulate material while recovering heat and maintaining conditions to prevent corrosion in the system. Up to 98% removal of acidic gas components is anticipated. The new technology offers the following advantages over existing flue gas cleaning systems:

low gas phase pressure drop

low liquid pumping cost

notable heat recovery

immense decrease in water usage
We believe that all of these unique improvements will greatly reduce operational costs while increasing removal efficiency of particulate matter and sulfur and nitric oxides. We have submitted a patent application and strongly believe this invention has significant commercial potential. We are seeking a company to help develop and commercialize this technology.

091045 - Item Number 277 - Superabsorbent Microporous Foams

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Microporous, open-celled foams may be used as filtration media, controlled release systems, artificial skin and blood vessels, medical implants, and packing for chromatography columns. They may also be employed in such consumer items as diapers, feminine napkins, tampons and other personal care products that benefit from high absorbency, rapid absorption, strength and resistance to pressure.
Our foams are made up of crosslinked polymers having interconnected fluid cells distributed throughout their mass. They can quickly absorb at least twice their dry weight, and they retain a significant amount of liquid even under pressure.
The porosity, pore size and other properties of our foams can be regulated by the choice of polymers, crosslinkers and synthesis conditions. A wide range of polymers and crosslinkers can be used, and it is possible to design foams that are highly biodegradable. Drying of the microporous materials to produce the desired foams may be accomplished by air-drying, freeze-drying or a solvent-exchange method using volatile solvents.
Conventional foams have generally been made from hydrophobic polymers, but our foams can be synthesized from a variety of hydrophilic polymers as well. The properties of our foams are superior, in part because they absorb and retain liquid not only by capillary action (as ordinary microporous foams do) but also by swelling of the pore walls. Our foams retain their superior structural properties even after air drying, under conditions that degrade conventional foams.
We are seeking a licensee to develop and commercialize our foams. We are willing to consider an exclusive licensing arrangement.

099039 - Polymorphisms Related to Beta2 Adrenergic Receptor

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Research at the University of Cincinnati has identified genetic alterations in the beta-2 adrenergic receptor that support a method for predicting an individual's response to the .beta.-agonists salmeterol, albuterol, metaproterenol, terbutaline and formoterol. Individuals expressing the Ile164 .beta..sub.2 AR variant are likely to exhibit a reduced response as compared to individuals expressing the Thr164 .beta..sub.2 AR variant. The method is useful for making treatment decisions for patients suffering from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

105008 - Method of Killing Cancer Cells by Neurotransmitter Inhibition

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Banks) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Breast cancer is a major contributor to cancer-related mortality. Standard of Care treatments for breast cancer are fraught with inadequacies related to chemotoxicity and many patients are left with few treatment options beyond radical tissue resection and traditional or experimental therapies.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have discovered a novel mechanism of triggering cell death in several human breast cancer cell lines. An apoptotic mechanism has been identified for one particular line, and additional experimental avenues are being pursued to further characterize the mechanisms involved in producing cytotoxicity.

104079 - Endovascular Aneurysm Neck Closure Device

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Endovascular therapy of cerebral aneurysms by coil embolization is well accepted by the surgical community as a safe and efficiacious alternative to open surgical repair of aneurysms by traditional clip ligation methods. Coil embolization benefits the patient with reduced mortality and better short term morbidity in instances of vascular rupture and shorter hospital stays and recovery times for instances of unruptured aneurysms. Standard of Care methods involve occlusion of the anyeurysmal lumen with platinum microcoil devices. New liquid embolics are also being developed by researchers, but both suffer from high aneurysm recurrence rates due to compaction and recanalization of the defect. Open surgical repair has a much lower frequency of failure, but carries the burden of tradition surgical method risk. A new method of aneurismal occlusion that offered the durability of traditional methods, coupled with the more favorable risk profile of less invasive techniques would benefit the patient. A research physician at the University of Cincinnati has designed an intravascular device to address the need for a occlusive mechanism that achieves similar fusion and closure end points from tissue apposition and compression at the neck of the aneuryism compared with traditional open surgical approaches.

102042 - Potential Tumor Suppressor Gene

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and in spite of the progress that has been made in understanding the molecular biology of the disease mortality rates have not decreased significantly. To a large extent this is due to the fact that lung tumors form metastases early when the primary tumor is small and less likely to be detected. What is needed are effective systemic therapies, and diagnostic tools to detect tumors at early, pre-metastatic stages. Chromosomal deletions in tumors are usually taken to indicate the location of one or several tumor suppressor genes in the same region. We have identified a gene with several splice variants close to a chromosomal region that has been shown to be homozygously deleted in lung tumors. The first exon of the gene contains an evolutionary conserved predicted phosphorylation site for PKB/Akt, a key mediator of signal transduction processes involved in cell proliferation and survival. Using a synthetic 13-aa peptide as a substrate for recombinant PKB/Akt we have confirmed that the predicted threonine is a putative phosphorylation site for PKB/Akt. PKB/Akt can both promote proliferation and inhibit apoptosis through phosphorylation of key proteins like p21, the forkhead transcription factor, BAD, and others. Often this leads to inhibition or sequestration of the phosphorylated protein. Several other proteins known to be involved in proliferation or apoptosis, such as DAP kinase, Huntington protein, and several caspases, although not yet shown to be PKB substrates contain putative PKB phosphorylation sites. The first six exons of the gene are ubiquitously expressed in all tissues and cell lines that we have screened. Alternative splicing of the first exon creates a transcript with shorter reading frame and a different protein product. In many cell lines and tissues the last internal exon is alternatively spliced onto exons downstream of the sixth exon to generate low expression levels of numerous alternative transcripts of which many are very long and some span the minimal region of homozygous deletion mentioned above. Preliminary results indicate that these variants are differentially expressed in tumors versus normal tissue.

The significance of the various splice variants of this gene is not clear yet, but preliminary experiments indicate that they are differentially expressed in normal tissue versus tumors. If changes in expression occur early in cancer development, this could facilitate early detection of cancer, and a diagnostic procedure or kit could be developed. The fact that there is a putative PKB/Akt phosphorylation site in the first exon of our gene raises the possibility that its various splice variants function in the PKB/Akt cell survival pathway, which is up-regulated in many types of cancer. It appears to be the major pathway for survival of cancer cells. Thus our gene could become targets for new therapeutic strategies for chemotherapy and chemoprevention. We have unpublished data showing that the PKB/Akt pathway is activated in many early lesions (hyperplasia and dysplasia).

102037 - Method for Determining Dietary Fat Absorption

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The current invention is a composition used as a test meal comprising a predetermined amount of dietary fat and a predetermined amount of a non-absorbable fat marker, such as a sucrose polyester in the form of sucrose behenate. The method for measuring total dietary fat absorption by the digestive tract of a subject comprises the steps of administering ingestion of the test meal by the subject, collecting a sample of fecal matter at an interval following ingestion of the test meal, measuring the amount of the of non-absorbable fat marker recovered in the fecal sample and calculating the amount of dietary fat recovered from the test meal to determine the amount of dietary fat that was absorbed by the digestive tract of the subject. The methods of the invention can be used to diagnose malabsorption of dietary fat by the digestive tract of a subject or impairment of dietary fat digestion. The advantage of this current invention over existing tests is that patients may take only one test and only a single “marked” stool sample is required for analysis to determine the ratio of fat to marker in the stool and by comparison to the same ratio in the test meal, calculate the fraction of fat absorbed from the test meal. Sucrose behenate is an excellent marker for this purpose because it is currently consumed in food, is completely excreted, is handled by the G.I. tract as are normal dietary fats and is readily measurable by gas chromatography. Thus, this method provides a rapid and easy assessment of dietary fat absorption and avoids the cumbersome and laborious process currently in use. Investigators are currently nearing the completion of a study to compare the method with the quantitative fecal fat measurement in cystic fibrosis and have completed studies evaluating the sucrose behenate method against the quantitative fecal fat method in overweight adults taking Orlistat.

102007 - Histocytometer: Counting Histo-or Immunohistochemical Marked Cells in Tissue

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A current problem in examination of histologic
preparation is the lack of easily quantifiable tissue-cell recognition systems like the flow cytometry analysis of disaggregated cell suspension of fresh live tissue. Subjectivity is a problem in quantifying immunohistochemically stained or histochemically stained cells in biologic tissue. This problem is recognized by pathologists in clinical practice as well as those engaged in research and is brought about not by lack of skills but by the lack of a tool to perform objective microscopy. Patient samples given a subjective analysis can potentially lead to misdiagnosis and mistreatment. In addition, an objective standard is required for the pharmaceutical industry and research. The subject matter of the proposed patent is a methodology of detecting cells or intracellular molecules in fixed or archival tissue or in the microscopic cytology slide samples.
A method of quantifying immunohistochemically stained cells in tisssue has been developed, and a working prototype is currently available. This prototype is highly automated and uses a novel achromatic- decoherent technology developed by the inventor. The analysis is performed using any slide-embedded tissue previously immunostained or histochemically stained with any relevant marker. The marker signature is accurately identified and the target cells run through a cell recognition algorithm.
The method uses readily available microscope-based imaging equipment and independent of the computer operating system. The digitized images can be obtained directly or via the internet medium. The methodology is transferred into computer software that can be utilized in diagnostic equipment to efficiently identify cells or molecules detected immunohistochemically or histochemically. This technology is not available in the market. Similar commercial systems only identifies cells in a “needle in a haystack” paradigm while this system identifies relevant cells or molecules, counts the positive (marked) ones, and also counts relevant but unmarked cells, quantifies the relative density of epitopes or reagents present and displays the result in a statistical table or images on the monitor.
The key benefit of the discovery is to provide a quantifiable result for diagnosis of histochemically or immunohistochemically stained tissue; identify presence and density of relevant molecules (prognostic or diagnostic, or genetic marker) for the said purposes; and minimizing the inherent subjectivity in microcopic examination. Ancillary benefits may be larger in scope since the technique could be applicable to any recognition problems involving the macroscopic or microscopic images.

098021 - hBub1, Cell Cycle Checkpoint Gene

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The present invention provides therapies of human cancers which have a mutation in the hBub1 gene, including gene therapy, protein replacement therapy and protein mimetics. The invention further provides methods for the screening of drugs for cancer therapy . Finally, the invention provides methods of screening of the hBub1 gene for mutations, which are useful for diagnosing the predisposition to cancer. This invention also provides an isolated polynucleotide comprising all, or a portion of the hBub1 locus or of a mutated hBub1 locus.
Genetic analyses have identified six distinct genes (BUB1, 2, and 3 and MAD1, 2, and 3) that are important in regulating the spindle checkpoint. BUB1 encodes a protein serine/threonine kinase and is itself phosphorylated when the cell enters mitosis. A recent study shows that Bub1p activates the spindle checkpoint in the budding yeast. BUB2 is structurally related to the fission yeast cdc16 gene product, which plays an essential part in cytokinesis. BUB3, unrelated to any other known proteins, appears to be a substrate of BUB1.
This technology is patented, and we are seeking a licensee to pursue development of products based on this technology.

099056 - Psychoeducational Group Demonstration

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Robert Conyne and Robert Wilson demonstrate a psychoeducation group whose subject addresses career development for international students. It shows coleaders engaged in the “Three P’s” of group leadership: Planning, Performing, and Processing

099023 - Task Group Demonstration

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This video demonstrates Robert Conyne leading a task group, following W. F. Hill's Learning Through Discussion method.

109001 - A Safer Way to Treat Obesity

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Bariatric surgery (also known as weight loss surgery) is performed on obese patients who are unable to reduce weight by dietary modifications or exercise regimens. Current bariatric surgical procedures predominantly involve removing a significant part of the stomach (such as Sleeve Gastrectomy), or partitioning the stomach with incisions and stapling. This may be achieved with or without the re-routing of the food pathway. Some of these techniques are irreversible, a fact which is troublesome in view of the increasingly younger population of potential patients. When reversible, these procedures involve a significant amount of dissection with risks of bleeding and delayed complications. There is also a possibility of gastric erosion, as in the case of gastric banding procedures.

Invention
A surgeon at the University of Cincinnati has designed a device that can overcome many of the shortcomings of current bariatric surgical procedures. The device is flexible and can be used to replace either of the currently used procedures.
The invention has the following advantages over current procedures:

Reversibility

Preservation of gastric integrity

Minimal surgical dissection and reduced operating time

Compatibility with a laparoscopic approach

Further information regarding this invention can be obtained under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement.

106026 - Molecular Profiling of Thyroid Cancer

Kellen.Sensor@uc.edu (Kellen Sensor) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This invention provides methods for characterizing thyroid tissue by detecting the gene expression levels for certain genes, such as kallikrein 10 and claudin 1, among others. This provides a novel approach for detecting thyroid carcinomas by detecting altered gene expressions in thyroid tissue samples (relative to expression levels in normal thyroid tissues). Furthermore, the level of specific gene expression can be used to discriminate between the different types of thyroid cancer e.g., papillary versus follicular.

103009 - Energy Aware Multi-path Routing for Uniform Power Consumption in Sensor networks

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In a sensor network where every node has a limited energy supply, one of the primary concerns is to maximize the network lifetime through energy-efficient routing. The method of the present invention includes a deterministic traffic scheduling algorithm that balances the load over multiple paths between source and destination, in proportion to their residual energy. This protocol focuses on uniformly utilizing the resources of the network, rather than on optimality of routes.
Most existing sensor network routing protocols optimize for single or shortest path routing. This accelerates the failure of nodes lying along the often used optimal paths, thus adversely affecting the connectivity and hence life of the network.

102080 - The Magnetic Hip Joint For Reduction of Friction

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

When pain due to severe osteoarthritis as well as conditions such as inflammatory arthropathies, post traumatic arthritis, vascular necrosis, and childhood diseases of the hip becomes intractable and, recalcitrant to conservative non-surgical management including medication and activity modifications, total hip replacement (THR) is an extremely effective option. It relieves debilitating pain and restores function to hips. Over 120,000 total hip replacements are performed each year in the United States alone. .
However, the longevity of THR is limited by periprosthetic osteolysis. Periprosthetic osteolysis is defined as bone resorption about a prosthetic joint, which occurs as the biological response to particular wear debris from the prosthetic joint. It is the most common and most important long-term complication of THR. The failure of THR necessitates difficult revision THR.
We, at the University of Cincinnati, have developed the technology, which will make Periprosthetic osleolysis a thing of the past. The new approach developed here will prevent/reduce contact at the femoral head /acetabulum and thus significantly reduce generation of particular wear debris and its resultant periprosthetic osteolysis.

Advantages:
1. Commercialization of this technology offers great opportunity to address the needs of a vast population of patients suffering from various joint problems, which are beyond non surgical management; waiting for a solution like this one, which offers effective, long-term cure to the pain.
2. The use of magnetic levitation significantly decreases the generation of particular wear debris. Thus by elimination of particular wear debris from the femoral head/acetabulum in THR and the potential to significantly extend the clinical lifespan of THR.
3. Use of magnetic levitation eliminates/reduces the need for a revision THR. The revised THR is not just more complex, difficult and problematic than the primary THR due in great part to the loss of bone stock caused by osteolysis; its results are generally less satisfactory than primary THR.

102076 - Controlled Mixing and Penetration in a Swirling Jet Injector

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Swirl is used in combustion systems to enhance mixing and provide flame stabilization in both subsonic and supersonic flows. In high-speed flow, compressibility effects reduce amplification rates of the span wise vortices and increase 3 dimensional instabilities, thereby producing preferential stream wise vortices. These vortices are less effective in entraining ambient flow into the mixing layers; therefore energy extraction from the mean flow is reduced and less energy is being transferred to small-scale vortical structures through vortex stretching. As a result, the turbulent energy is reduced universally.
The technology developed at University of Cincinnati is a novel fuel ejection technique, which will increase the initial penetration of the swirling fuel jet and increase mixing.

Advantages

Efficient combustion and other mixing applications require a combination of high penetration that requires concentrated momentum and intense mixing that necessitates distributed momentum. These are contradictory requirements. The swirl-controlled jet enables this performance with high penetration and precisely controlled mixing.
It will result in increased efficiency of combustion system and other chemical reactions.
The actuator is simple, cost effective, and requires low power.
VBD is versatile and can be used for a variety of flow control applications.

102064 - Novel Adsorbents and Membranes for Separation and Purification of Proteins and Related Biomolecules

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Mesoporous and macroporous molecular sieves are a class of chemicals which are used as adsorbents in chemical separations and purification operations involving a broad class of biologically important molecules, including but not limited to proteins, peptides, oligonucleotides, nucleic acids, enzymes and vitamins. Functionalized versions of these materials are particularly useful in carrying out separations of high efficiency and specificity.
Use of these molecular sieve materials in association with solid supports offers great promise for high-throughput industrial and commercial applications. Although several reports have demonstrated the feasibility of utilization of microporous molecular sieves (e.g., zeolite) in association with inorganic membranes, these zeolites materials are not useful for separations involving biomolecules beyond the size range of 10 Å. Previous research has not produced a method for simply and reliably producing such membranes in association with mesoporous and macroporous materials, owing to the need to assure correct orientation of the material?s pores with the underlying support.
We have developed a technique for the synthesis and characterization of novel, functionalized mesoporous and macroporous molecular sieves and their incorporation into membranes exhibiting preferential orientation of the pores with the substrate. These new materials can be functionalized in numerous ways to enhance selectivity.

Advantages

The technique permits the preparation of highly selective mesoporous and macroporous molecular sieves suitable for use in but not limited to either conventional chromatographic (e.g. column) applications or in association with inorganic membranes, with high mechanical durability, poison resistance, and hydrothermal stability. These systems can operate effectively in a wide range of processing conditions and demonstrate long lifetime and regenerability.
Materials produced by the proprietary technique display high capacity, high absorption rates and excellent regeneration characteristics.
The technique is applicable to a wide variety of porous materials covering a pore size range from 20 to 10,000 Å.

102035 - Novel MAC Layer Protocol for Space Division Multiple Accesss in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Mobile wireless ad hoc networks (MANETs) offer communication capabilities across the nodes of the network without extensive construction of an underlying infrastructure. Networks of this type can be set up easily and offer the ability to transfer voice, data, and video messages without the constraints on mobility imposed by traditional networks dependent upon wired connections. Larger networks are multi-hop in nature since a message must be transmitted across several nodes in order to reach its final destination. Currently, these networks suffer from very low overall throughput due to transmission bottlenecks that occur when one central node receives multiple signals from outward lying nodes. Unable to process these multiple signals simultaneously, transmission rates become bogged down diminishing the network?s efficiency and utility.
Simultaneous transmission (or reception) by a node requires smart antennas equipped with spatial multiplexing and demultiplexing capability. Although the use of smart directional antennas in an ad hoc network would remedy the problem of low throughput, there is no existing method for integrating them into this type of network.
UC has invented a method that allows a large number of nodes that transmit asynchronously, to organize their receptions and transmissions, so that the overall network throughput increases. Using the medium access control (MAC) layer of the networking protocol stack, nodes of the ad-hoc network coordinate to harness the improved processing power of smart directional antennas. Thus, this approach takes a necessary step for smart-antenna technology to actually achieve improved results in a network of nodes.

Advantages

This invention serves the function of integrating smart directional antenna technology into an ad hoc network. In this manner, the potential of these hardware improvements can finally be realized.
Maximum data transfer is possible by carefully coordinating transmission of spatially separated messages. Therefore, the overall speed of applications using wireless LANs can be greatly enhanced.

101068 - Integrated Compressor Motor, Fan-Motor, Propeller-Motor, Pump Motor and Turbine Generator

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The conventional arrangement in the case of a compressor or pump is to have a shaft connecting it to a motor. Steam and power turbines are generally connected to a generator via a shaft.
We have developed a new technology which allows the turbine and generator to be integrated; motors and fans integrated. This allows for smaller, more compact, and less expensive machines.
Without a shaft and motor, machines may be smaller and lighter, making hydroelectric projects more affordable and less intrusive on the environment. In the field of aircraft propulsion, this invention saves weight and airflow.
The need for a common shaft is eliminated: the dynamics of the long shaft can be eliminated and components no longer must be aligned with it, thus creating the possibility of true “multi-cycle” machines.

101052 - New Catalysts for the Selective Oxidation of Propane to Acrylic Acid

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

One of the major objectives of the refining and petrochemical industry is the ability to upgrade cheaper raw materials from lower to higher molecular weight in order to produce highly desirable oxygenated compounds. Specialized multicomponent vanadium molybdate mixed oxide catalysts are commonly used for this purpose. Thus far, however, catalytic oxidation of propane using such materials has produced only acetic acid, acetaldehyde, and carbon oxides.
A new group of catalysts for the selective oxidation of propane to acrylic acid has been developed in our laboratories.
The new catalysts display high selectivity for the production of acrylic acid from propane in a single step and with high yield.
The catalysts can be prepared using conventional methods.

101046 - Method for obtaining an Organic-Solvent-Free Stable Silane Solution

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Organofunctional and non-organofunctional silanes have been demonstrated by UC researchers to be powerful agents to prevent corrosion of metals. Many different metals can be effectively protected against a range of different types of corrosion, such as stress corrosion cracking, pitting, corrosion fatigue cracking, uniform corrosion, etc.
Although silanes are easy to handle and apply, they often have the limitation that they come in the form of alkoxy esters which have to be hydrolyzed first before they can be applied to the metal. The ester is often insoluble in water so that a large amount of an organic solvent has to be added to solubilize them. Even after dilution of the hydrolyzed silane with water to the working strength, which can now often be done with water, the organic solvent content is still high, typically of the order of 50 vol.-%. Any application where large volumes of silane solutions are to be used, such as in coil coating operations, for instance, the alcohol-containing mixtures cannot be used for environmental and safety reasons. Another limitation of the silanes is that the hydrolysis process is rather slow. It may take many hours for hydrolysis to be complete.
All of these problems are solved if the silanes of interest in corrosion engineering are first converted to a different type of ester which hydrolyzes in pure water instantaneously. Such a process is the topic of this invention. It has been demonstrated to work and can be carried out on a large scale.
The silane is ready for use immediately, is 100% hydrolyzed and non-condensed, and the solution contains no alcohol. Special additives to the aqueous solution are used which increase the stability of the silane solution considerably. The converted silane is stable if it is kept in closed containers. Many silanes that are commercially available from vendors can be converted by the process.
It can be carried out on a continuous basis, so that it can be done in the background in a plant where the converted silane is used in a metal-finishing operation. The byproducts of the process are ethanol or methanol, which can be sold separately.
The availability of this process will increase the environmental compliance of silane treatments which will stimulate their acceptance in metal-finishing industries.

101044 - Pulsed Electrodeposition of Silane Films on Metals

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This process improves the quality of silane films deposited on metals for the purpose of providing corrosion protection and paint adhesion. Quality refers to uniformity, homogeneity and organization of the molecules.
In silane technology thus far practiced, a metal is dipped into, or sprayed with, a silane solution. The treated metal can be rinsed with water, or can be dried without rinsing. Alternatively, a silane film can be applied by wet rolling, wiping or brushing. Films formed in any of these procedures may be porous and there is not much control over the thickness and the orientation of the silane molecules. Also, the degree of metal cleaning is critical. Patches that are not perfectly clean may not be coated by the silane and thus the performance is degraded.
All of these potential problems can be overcome if the silane is applied by the process of electrodeposition, particularly if the electrodeposition is done in a pulsed mode. Electrodeposition takes place if the metal is positive, in view of the negative silanol groups in a silane solution. The positive pulse will also assist the cleaning process as the metal will dissolve anodically. A negative pulse will lead to a high pH at the surface and the silane will condense (crosslink). This process can be applied to any silane dissolved in water or water/alcohol mixtures.
The advantages of this process are: a more uniform film, the metal alkaline cleaning step becomes less critical and the silane becomes more highly crosslinked.

101026 - Nanoporous Vandium Phosphorus-Oxide Catalysts

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Vanadium-phosphorus oxide catalysts are useful in the selective oxidation of lower alkanes (C2-C5). However, conventional synthesis methods for mixed metal oxides such as vanadium-phosphorus oxides, both wet chemistry and solid-state, offer very limited control over desirable structural and compositional properties, such as the phase, bulk and surface compositions, preferential exposure of active and selective surface planes, surface areas and pore architecture, all of which affect the catalytic properties of these materials.
A new method of preparation of nanoporous vanadium phosphorous oxide catalysts has been developed which results in the production of nanoporous catalysts with desirable structural, morphological, and composition properties for lower alkane oxidation.
The method as used in our laboratories produces materials with unique and promising properties for the selective oxidation of lower alkanes, e.g.: ordered 3 – 30 nm ordered and tunable straight, one-dimensional cylindrical pores or three-dimensional pores of cubic symmetry; high surfaces areas (20 – 800 square meters per gram); and optimal surface composition for specific applications (e.g. P/V molar ration of 1.05 – 1.10 for n-butane oxidation to maleic anhydride and other oxidation and acid-base catalyzed reactions).
The catalysts have improved thermal stability compared to catalysts prepared according to conventional techniques.

101025 - Macroporous Vandium Phosphorus-Oxide Catalysts

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Vanadium-phosphorus oxide catalysts are useful in the selective oxidation of lower alkanes (C2-C5). However, conventional synthesis methods for mixed metal oxides such as vanadium-phosphorus oxides, both wet chemistry and solid-state, offered very limited control over desirable structural and compositional properties, such as the phase, bulk and surface compositions, preferential exposure of active and selective surface planes, surface areas and pore architecture, all of which affect the catalytic activity of these materials.
A new method of preparation of macroporous vanadium phosphorous oxide catalysts has been developed which results in the production of macroporous catalysts with desirable structural, morphological, and composition properties for lower alkane oxidation.
The method as used in our laboratories produces material with unique and promising properties for the selective oxidation of lower alkanes, e.g.: ordered .2 - .4 micrometer pore architectures; unprecedentedly high surfaces areas (44 – 75 square meters per gram); and optimal surface composition for specific applications (e.g. P/V molar ration of 1.05 – 1.10 for n-butane oxidation to maleic anhydride)
The method affords the possibility to control and fine-tune structural, compositional, and morphological properties of vanadium phosphorus oxide catalysts for a variety of applications.
Cost savings should arise from use of catalysts prepared by this method by two mechanisms; first, enhanced activity should result in lower reaction temperatures, and hence reduced utility costs. Secondly, lower temperatures are expected to benefit the selective alkane oxidation over its combustion, resulting in higher product recovery and lower cost over conventional techniques.
The synthesis procedure for the novel catalysts is compatible with current commercial preparation methods.

101004 - Bi-Directional Micro Ball Valves Using Polymeric Tubing

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The field of microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) involves the development of miniaturization technology to control processes at orders of magnitude smaller than what is currently available. An integral component of MEMS is microfluidics: technologies that control the flow of fluids (liquids and gases) on a microscale. With precise fluid flow regulation, processes such as drug delivery and implantable medical devices can execute functions on a platform the size of a semiconductor chip.
A new bi-directional, normally closed micro ball valve has been developed which permits the control of flow of fluids on a micro scale. This invention features innovative design features which represent improvements over conventional designs.
Advantages
The invention utilizes a unique valve design, which permits insertion of the device into microfluidics tubing as an in-line valve; the devices can be easily connected with two fluidic ports of typical fluidic systems.
The invention utilizes novel design and control features, which should reduce leakage relative to current designs.
The devices are easy to fabricate.

100057 - Water Decontamination through the use of Photocatalysts

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Peter Smirniotis and collaborators with his lab have a way to photocatalytically degrade organic compounds by zeolite and/or mesoporous material hosted photocatalysts, which is particularly useful in treating water contaminated with a number of organics.

Contaminated water is a growing problem in many areas of the world. Others have used ultraviolet light radiation to eliminate organic compounds in water, but none have been commercially viable. For high rates of reactions, a broad surface area is necessary, so slurries have been used, this method does not allow for the cost efficient recovery of the photocatalyst. To combat this problem other solutions have included immobilizing the photocatalyst on a support structure. This however has a number of problems, including not being efficient because of lack of uniformity. Finally with either of the current methods, the rate of chemical destruction is reduced because of mass transfer problems.

The UC research has lead to a process for the treatment of water by using a semiconductor photocatalyst and visible light, which overcomes these problems. The invention also has the following advantages:

It can be used for very broad spectrum of organic compounds (dozens of different families).
It can be applied for both aqueous and gaseous phases.
The photocatalysts work with the visible part of the spectrum so they can operate with solar radiation creating a high energy savings.
The photocatalysts are non-selective so they will completely mineralize the reactants to inocous products.

103023 - Osteoblast Targeted Reporter Mice

briggsln@ucmail.uc.edu (Lynn Briggs) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Thomas Clemens, while a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, developed a new mouse model - the Osteocalcin Cre transgenic mouse. The noninvasive monitoring of gene expression in vivo represents a novel methodology to examine individual genes in different tissue environments. The recent development of the cooled charged coupled device (CCCD) camera has enabled visualization of low quantities of photons emitted by internal mammalian tissue both in vitro and in vivo. To take advantage of this technique, Dr. Clemens created mice expressing the luciferase gene under the control of a segment of the human osteocalcin promoter. These mice express the luciferase gene only in mature osteoblasts and osteocytes. This mouse model has enabled the examination of bone regeneration to track bone specific gene expression following fracture and regeneration.

Dr. Clemens’ mouse was the first transgenic mouse model developed that expresses the human osteocalcin promoter driving luciferase.

104014 - MDA: Novel MAC Protocol for Directional Antennas over Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A new MAC protocol was developed for use with directional antennas in wireless ad hoc networks. This protocol improves network throughput, power consumption, end to end packet delay and special reuse.

102065 - Economical Process for the Preparation of Germania Crystals

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Germania crystals are useful adjuncts in a variety of industrial processes, including the strengthening of rubber, preparation of personal care products such as toothpastes, and opto-electronic applications such as the preparation of waveguides.

Traditional techniques for preparation of these materials has involved the employment of extremes of pH and various non-aqueous solvents, as well as careful alteration of process parameters such as pressure and temperature.

We have developed a technique for the synthesis of germania particles which employs modest process requirements of atmospheric pressure, avoidance of solvents other than water, and neutral pH. Our technologies key advantages are:

Advantages
The technique permits economical preparation of germania particles through easily accomplished process parameters of atmospheric pressure and neutral pH.
The technique is versatile and permits the synthesis of novel hybrids of germania with silica, titania, alumina, and zirconia.
The technique permits the preparation of spherical germania particles with a wide size range of 400 nm to 5 µm.

092046 - Non-Ozone Depleting Vapocoolants

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Dan O’Neill) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This patented technology provides novel chemical compositions for use as topical anesthetics or skin refrigerants. These compositions do not cause the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. They are non-toxic, non-carcinogenic and less flammable than ethyl chloride. These chemical compositions match the skin temperature versus time profile needed in the management of myofascial pain syndromes, for effectively freezing skin prior to minor skin surgery and for effectively freezing skin prior to giving painless injections.

103034 - An Active Fiber Continuous Sensor

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The artificial neural system (ANS) uses a large array of continuous sensors with a minimum number of data acquisition channels. The artificial neural system detects the damage and locates it within the grid of the array. Each continuous sensor will form a neuron and the array will act as a biological neural system. The neurons will measure the dynamic strains and these signals will be interpreted to indicate if the structure is operating within the limits of its design specifications, and if there is any damage occurring to the structure.
Advantages
The Artificial Neural System (ANS) provides highly distributed sensing and massively parallel signal processing and significantly improves the sensing of acoustic waves or other anomalous events while tremendously simplifying the signal processing instrumentation as compared to conventional sensors. The primary use of the ANS is to detect and quantify cracks and damage in a structure. The ANS can detect the high frequency acoustic emissions and resulting waves associated with damage propagation. The major advantages are as follows: The sensitivity of acoustic emission sensing is improved The instrumentation required for acoustic emission sensing is simplified The ANS provides parallel monitoring and processing of signals from tens to hundreds of neurons The ANS provides highly distributed sensor coverage on a structure Individual continuous sensors can be formed into an artificial neural system of different configurations by using the continuous sensor approach

103027 - Efficient Network Intrusion Detection Scheme Using Dimensionality Reduction Technique for Wired and Wireless Systems

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Intrusion detection is an important aspect of network security. Many current detection systems have trouble providing real-time network intrusion detection, particularly where very high dimensional data is involved. The intrusion detection system of the present invention provides real-time network intrusion detection by projecting the high dimensional dataset to a lower dimensional space using the random projection technique, then performing intrusion detection in the lower dimensional space using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier.
Detecting intrusions in the projected lower dimension reduces the complexity of the underlying algorithms, which makes it more suitable for real time detection. Moreover, lower dimensional data can be stored and transmitted more efficiently than its higher dimensional data, thereby saving system resources.

098032 - Liquid Chromatograph on a Chip

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The field of microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) involves the development of miniaturization technology to control and characterize processes with instrumentation which is orders of magnitude smaller than what is currently available. The traditional approach to on-line chemical detection has been to develop highly selective sensors. This approach has been plagued with a variety of difficulties, primarily developing suitably selective sensors for the enormous variety of problems faced. Chromatographic separation prior to detection reduces these difficulties.
A miniaturized liquid chromatograph with multiple open channels on a silicon wafer has been successfully micro-fabricated. The high aspect of the channel configuration has been shown to be feasible for a micro separator, providing high surface area to enhance performance without an excessive pressure drop.
Advantages

The miniaturized chromatograph employs bonded-phase chemistry, which provides a convenient method of activating the channels for ion-exchange selectivity. Chromatographic experiments with bromide, chloride, nitrate and sulfate have been shown to give reproducible chromatograms; the device?s configuration and components can be adapted for a variety of liquid chromatographic separation techniques on a micro-scale.
The chromatograph employs a novel open slit configuration, which enhances separation efficiency without an excessive pressure drop.
The device offers the advantages of small size and portability, improved speed and accuracy of analysis, small sample size requirements, minimization of effluents, potential for remote sensing, and low cost.

094045 - UC SDRL Research Software

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

UC-SDRL Research Software currently includes the X-Modal II modal parameter estimation package, the MRIT-VXI and MIMO-VXI data acquisition package and the X-Utilities Library.

X-Modal II
X-Modal II is an experimental modal analysis software package developed at the University of Cincinnati, Structural Dynamics Research Lab (UC-SDRL) in conjunction with The Boeing Company. The primary function of this software package is to provide a flexible environment for analyzing data acquired for the purpose of experimentally determining the modal parameters of a structure. The flexible environment involves a unique data management structure as well as a user programming capability based upon MATLAB®. X-Modal II does not acquire frequency response function (FRF) data (see a related software project, X-ACQuisition, under the UC-SDRL Consortium) but utilizes FRF data acquired from any data acquisition system as long as the data can be provided in Universal File format (UFF). X-Modal II provides a graphical user interface (GUI) in parallel with a command driven interface to provide users with any type of programmatic interaction desired. X-Modal utilizes MATLAB® to provide user programmability as well as to implement all the major modal parameter estimation algorithms documented in the literature.

096050 - Laboratory Test to Aid in the Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Monson) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Patients having several neurological diseases have been shown to have elevated levels of axonally-derived proteins (i.e. tau and neurofilament proteins) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and in brain tissue. Three monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) recognizing CSF tau proteins were developed. The Mabs were found to label a ladder of 30 kD to 50 kD tau proteins in CSF from patients with disease states producing axonal damage such as head trauma or CNS tumor but not in CSF from controls. High levels of tau protein in CSF were shown to be diagnostic of axonal degeneration in head trauma. An ELISA assay was developed with these MAbs to aid in the diagnosis of patients with axonal damage.

096014 - Co-cultured Splenocyte Preparation

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Monson) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

UC researchers have developed methods of producing distinct populations of cells capable of immune suppressor and stimulatory action. Specifically, the methods relate to a combination of splenocyte and bone marrow cells, co-cultured with LPS and GM-CSF, which induce two cell subpopulations. One cell subpopulation has an immune system suppressory function capable of prolonging allograft survival when infused as a donor specific blood transfusions ("DST") with a low dose, eight day course of cyclosporine ("CSA"). Another cell subpopulation has an immune system stimulatory function capable of stimulating the immune system when infused as a DST.

108104 - Drug/Food Self-Administration v.2.23

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This software and accompanying bioassay measure the pharmacodynamic (“PD”) and pharmacokinetics (“PK”) properties of a psychotropic compounds. Three properties of the compound can be measured: bioavailability, potency, and half-life. The compound’s potential for abuse/addiction can also be quantified.

Conventional analytical methods for measuring PD and PK properties are time-consuming and cumbersome. In order to measure these properties by conventional means, blood must be sampled numerous times and then later analyzed by chemists using expensive machines and complex techniques. Using conventional methods screening large numbers of compounds is expensive—approximately $100k-$500k per compound.

Conversely the bioassay and accompanying software drug compounds can be quickly, more precisely and cost-effectively analyzed. Using this system, researchers can identify compounds with the longest half-life, the greatest bioavailabilty, those that cross the blood-brain barrier, and those that are the least likely to be habit-forming. The cost of testing a single compound using this bioassay is estimated at $10k-$50k per compound.

This system relies on the pharmacological theory that competitive antagonists increase the concentration of agonist required to produce a response. The response used in this method is the satiety threshold. Increases in the satiety threshold reflect the PD potency of the antagonist in vivo. The time course of the effect reflects the antagonist PK. And the area under the time-concentration curve (AUC) following different routes of administration (e.g., i.v., subcutaneous, or intraperitoneal) measures the bioavailability of antagonists.

For the bioassay, rats are trained to self-administer indirect or direct agonists such as cocaine apomorphine. Once a baseline satiety threshold is established the rats are given doses of the compound to be evaluated. Changes in the frequency of the rats’ self-administration and satiety threshold are measured and from the changes the PK and PD of the compound are be calculated.

The sensitivity of this system is approximately 50-100 fold greater than conventional methods. Conventional methods have a typical limit of detection (LOD) of GC/MS is 1,540 nmol/kg i.v. dose, assuming a volume of distribution of 10 L/kg. This system works optimally at 20 nmol/kg i.v. dose.

Software Requirements:
MS Windows XP
MS Access
MED-PC (Software for testing and collecting data from medical devices)
MPC2XL (For transferring the contents of MED-PC® data files to Excel spreadsheets, Access databases, etc.
Sigma plot (Graphing software)

101002 - State Based Propositional Satisfiability Solver

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In many computer related fields, such as the design of Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits, computer programs are used to solve crucial problems such as determining whether a given circuit design meets precise specifications. Since the magnitude of such problems is increasing at an enormous rate, current software is rapidly becoming incapable of meeting industrial needs. More alarming, future software will be inadequate without breakthroughs in the design of algorithms for certain computationally intensive problems.
One of those problems, called CSP, is to determine whether some set of input values to a collection of Boolean functions will cause those functions to evaluate to a particular given set of output values. Current methods for solving such problems are either based on Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs) or search-based Solvers (SAT). Both methods have advantages and drawbacks. BDDs can be combined easily and eliminate duplicate and redundant substructures but must be completely constructed before results can be obtained and their ultimate size may be impractical to achieve. SAT search structures may be much smaller than BDD structures and only need to be partially built in many cases but the building process is much slower, typically, than for BDDs.
The subject matter of the proposed patent is a methodology for solving CSP problems using a combination of BDD and SAT techniques. The methodology constructs a state-based structure, obtained by considering every BDD for every Boolean function, assigns values to the states of the structure during an extensive precomputation phase, and uses this information to guide a SAT search.
The key benefit of the discovery is to retain the advantages of SAT search techniques but drastically speed up and make more effective the building process.
Advantages
1. Some problems, currently requiring days or weeks to solve using conventional methods, will be solved in a reasonable amount of time using the discovery. This will allow faster turn-around in the design and verification of integrated circuits. The result is a reduction in design costs.
2. An emerging class of problems which admits amortization of pre-processing costs over many runs with different input will be effectively solved by the new methodology.

107025 - Interactive Slide Show-Text Wiki

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Software includes a text wiki. The wiki allows students to simultaneously edit documents in group activities. It includes:

on and offline editing using shared objects

password system that can be set by the instructor using an excel spreadsheet

text-chat communication

people list

optional audio communication package
Runs using the Flash communications server
Runs on Windows, Mac or Linux
Text wiki can also work in a lobby-multiroom programming environment

109010 - Professional Assessment and Learning Database

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Cincinnati Division of Professional Practice has developed a computer program and associated database to track and evaluate students’ experience during their cooperative education. The University of Cincinnati introduced the first program of cooperative education in 1906. Initiated by Dean Herman Schneider in UC’s College of Engineering, cooperative education was a new teaching methodology, which has withstood the test of time.

UC’s evaluation system relies on: a) the faculty evaluating the students; b) the employers evaluating the students; and c) the students evaluating employers and the employment opportunity The computer program is web-enabled so that the students, employers and faculty can access it from anywhere. The computer program has three separate interfaces which allow for easy access to the students, faculty and employers, while also limiting what information each user can review – the student interface, the employer interface, and the faculty interface.

The Student Interface
Here the students enter registration, placement and job evaluation data. This interface allows students to view both their personal evaluations of employers and positions as well as their complete evaluation history of employer assessment data on performance.

The Employer Interface
The Employer Interface has two sections, one for the student's supervisor and one for the human resources officer responsible for the cooperative education program at the company. The faculty advisor and the co-op student both have access to the evaluation submitted by the company supervisor. The human resources officer has access to the placement history of all students working in their company and can review individual reports submitted by their supervisors and add additional comments.

The Faculty Interface
The Faculty Interface allows faculty advisors to both review individual student evaluations. At present development is underway to improve the interface to achieve aggregated reports of student performance. This feature will enable co-op faculty and/or other faculty to review aggregated student learning reports. Many of these reports are currently being customized by hand to provide faculty members answers to questions posed regarding student learning outcomes.

107094 - MedOneStop

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine has developed a computer system to centralize the needs of a modern college of medicine. The package has different modules including Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Support and Administrative Support.

104006 - Cross-Layer Directional Antenna MAC and Routing Protocols for Wireless Ad Hoc Network

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Dan O’Neill) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A new MAC and routing protocols were developed for use with cross-layer directional antennas. This technology drastically increases network throughput is and spatial reuse is considerably optimized

087018 - Item Number 96 - Body Balance Tester

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Body Balance Software (BBS) is written in ASYST language to allow collection of electrical signals from the force platform and storage in a Zenith AT hard-disk, mass storage computer during a postural sway test. The BBS is a menu-driven, user-friendly and interactive software which also facilitates quick and accurate force platform computer calibration once a manual and lengthy calibration has been performed by the operator. After the data are collected and stored in the computer, the BBS allows the operator to choose any segment of the data for future processing. The remaining segments of the software utilizes special mathematical equations derived in Dr. Bhattacharya's latest paper for the quantification and graphical representation of center of pressure movement pattern of the test subject during a postural sway test (Bhattacharya, et al., 1987).

097007 - Item Number 247 - Low Temperature Oxygen for the Enhancement of Levitation Force

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Dan O’Neill) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

High temperature superconductors such as YBa₂Cu₃Ox have great potential in industrial applications including magnetic levitation, power transmission lines, efficient generators, and microwave components in telecommunications.
In general, the properties of YBa₂Cu₃Ox are enhanced if the materials are fully oxygenated (x~7). For instance, the transition temperature Tc will decrease sharply if x is reduced to 6.7.
The oxygenation content is temperature dependent and increases as temperature decreases. For example, in air, x~6.4 at 700°C and -6.95 at 200°C. However, the oxygenation process is often carried out in the range of 400 - 450°C, because it has been thought that lower temperatures do not produce adequate oxygen diffusion.
We have carried out oxygenation at temperatures much below the commonly used temperatures and found that the oxygenation is much more complete, and in turn the properties optimized.
As an example of the improved engineering properties of the more highly oxygenated materials produced by our process, levitation force in flywheel energy storage will be increased by a factor of three. The milestone will be the production of a levitator with a levitation force of 30 Newton.

104004 - Turbine Rotor Cooled by Upstream Oscillating Wake Generator

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Dan O’Neill) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A novel approach for cooling turbine rotor blades has been devised that utilizes an oscillating wake generator. This cooling approach allows for hotter turbine temperatures or higher speed with less stress on the turbine blades. A further advantage is lower engine part count and increased engine cycle efficiency.

103046 - Artificial Neural System

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This is an Active Fiber Continuous Sensor (AFCS) that has high sensitivity for measuring Acoustic Emissions (AE) and strains in structures. Previous designs use electrodes that are above the piezoceramic substrate and a strong electric field is needed to couple the charge on the fibers to the external wiring circuit. The AFCS design uses rectangular fibers cast in an epoxy matrix in a configuration in which the top and bottom surfaces of the fibers are directly in contact with conductive epoxy which also bonds directly to a structural substrate, or to a kapton covering if the sensor must be electrically insulated from the structure. The conductive epoxy performs two functions, bonding the sensor to the structure, and forming the electrode of the sensor. The full electrode coverage and transverse poling is the simplest method of fabrication and this sensor design has been tested and shown to be very sensitive for measuring AE in composite materials and aircraft structures.
This approach reduces stresses in the fibers due to nonuniformity in the electric field where it enters the fibers, and interdigitated electroding allows the higher axial poling coefficient to be used, but this design also reduces the electrical and mechanical coupling efficiencies. The efficiency is not critical for structural actuation and control applications because large power amplifiers are used to drive the AFC. However, for sensing of AE this reduces the sensitivity of the sensor. This approach increases strain transfer between the structure and the sensing fibers and improves the detection of faint acoustic emissions in structures.

106013 - Software for the Resolution of Sequence Information from Affymetrix Gene Chip

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

What the invention does is to confer the ability to read sequence data from Affymetrix custom or standard re-sequencing chips. It increases the efficiency from about 95% efficiency up to above 99% efficiency, so this software and this algorithm represents a method to have much higher confidence and more useful data than could be generated from these single chip assays to be used for individual patient analysis. The algorithm represents a very valuable advancement to the use of the sequencing chips, and therefore, constitutes an important invention for improved use of this technology. The ability to use these chips in a clinical situation is thus greatly improved by the use of this new algorithm that we have developed in the Division of Biomedical Informatics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The new algorithm and program can work itself or it can be incorporated into the existing Affymetrix software.

103038 - Spatial Reuse Enabling Power Control MAC Protocol for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Dan O’Neill) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As background, power control is a determinant technique for energy conservation and thus is of fundamental importance to wireless ad hoc stations which primarily rely on limited battery power. Besides energy savings, power control can also increase the capacity of the network by enhancing spatial reuse of the wireless channel. This is a novel Spatial Reuse MAC (SRM) protocol based on the IEEE standard 802.11. This protocol accomplishes spatial reuse without a separate control channel, by employing a combination of power control and a fully distributed scheme of transmission sneaking.
Other IEEE 802.11 based power control MAC protocols using omni-directional antennas concentrate their efforts in implementing efficient transmit power management schemes for the sake of energy efficiency. In general, this is achieved by selecting different power levels for the RTS-CTS and DATA-ACK exchange, where RTS-CTS are usually transmitted at the maximum possible power level whereas DATA-ACK are transmitted either at the minimum required power to reach the destination or at periodically changing power levels. However, these protocols do not include any spatial reuse mechanism to efficiently reuse the extra capacity resulting from the low power level employed by the DATA-ACK exchange.

102072 - Elongated Angle Nozzle For Oil Drilling

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Dan O’Neill) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The paramount objective of drilling is to reach the target safely in the shortest possible time and at the lowest possible cost current nozzle designs suffer from inefficiency and rapid wear, resulting in increased cost of replacement and retrieval.
An improved, elongated and angled nozzle for oil drilling has been developed at the University of Cincinnati. This nozzle shifts the stagnation lines, which occur underneath the cones. It works all along the cone and sweeps the bottom more efficiently. This effect is achieved by creating a swirl in the annulus to reduce the unsteadiness. It also has better discharge coefficient because of the very smooth profile and improved slot shape.

Advantages

The new design reduces unsteadiness through a revolutionary style and improved shape producing an improved discharge coefficient.
Compared to conventional nozzle designs, this nozzle promises reduced drilling time, reduced wear and tear and improved overall economy.

101016 - Hybrid Priority Handoff Scheme for Integrated Wireless Networks

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Dan O’Neill) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The field of wireless communication continues to expand. The introduction of additional demands imposed by increased volume of wireless communication of voice, data, and video data will impose increasing requirements for reliability and quality in wireless communication. One critical area in which reliability will be required is that of “handoffs:” i.e. the technological means by which data transmissions are reliability maintained as wireless communications devices move from “cell” to “cell” within a typical wireless service area. Existing “handoff” technology includes “guard channel” technology and “queuing” technology. However, these proposals take into account only voice transmissions, and do not take the probability of multiple types of traffic (including both real-time and non-real-time) into consideration. A new model for “handoff” management has been developed which combines various methods for the prediction and management of transmission resources in order to optimize quality of service in voice, data, and video integrated wireless mobile networks.
Advantages
The method is adaptable to future wireless service techniques, which may have frequent handoffs; e.g. those systems using small-cell structures (micro-cell and pico-cell) methods.
Simulations using the proposed method demonstrate a drastic improvement over competing technologies, measured as blocking probability, transmission delay, and forced termination probability.
Implementation of the proposed method is no more expensive than competing technologies.

102031 - OS and User Environments

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

An operating system for user-created environments enables computer users to easily manage all available content and information resources. In addition, the system provides users with the ability to create intuitive interfaces which integrate with the same resources. The new system provides users the means to effectively address the common problems of information overload due to universal information content resources such as the Web and other large and loosely-structured databases. A major advantage of the system is the incorporation and application of relevancy- ranking algorithms in visualizations and data views. Another advantage is the incorporation and application of user profiles, including semantics and user access patterns. Sophisticated logic is applied to such user profiles to enhance user environment-workspaces for information retrieval, including, for example, guided or focused search processes, user enabled, hierarchical content storage and caching, and facilitated uncovering of new and useful information resources. Automatic machine learning and personally selected strategies are used to improve and scale the system over time. Another advantage is the facilitation of integrated collaborative tools, sharing among environments, and the development of distributed operating systems for larger-scale information systems.

097020 - Kinelysis for Windows

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Kinelysis for Windows is a cross platform program for analyzing Kinetic force platform data to calculate the center of pressure and related parameters. The software can accept the forces and moments data from a number of commercial and noncommercial systems' files to process the data. These include (i) Peak Performance System's Analysis Sampling Module (copyright Peak Performance, Inc., Englewood, CO.), Sway Win Program (copyright AMTI, Watertown, MA), and Posture (copyright University of Cincinnati).
The program offers a broad variety of options including the choice of force plates, type of experiments (gait or static balance), and many other related options. The variables to be calculated and the output format can be interactively determined. The program also offers plotting and printing of the parameters. Sway area and sway length, critical to determination of postural stability, are calculated based on the publications by Dr. A. Bhattacharya, Director, Biomechanics-Ergonomics Research Laboratory, Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati.

090044 - CUFS - Computerized Term Contract Buying

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The best buying tool available for any large comprehensive institution is the Annual Term Contract. In return for the pooled buying power for a commodity or service, the bidding vendors promise a fixed price and discount to the institution, most often for the entire year. Purchase discounts average thirty percent. As important as fixed prices are in an inflationary economy, and volume discounts are in any economy, convenience is the value added with these computerized programs of term contract buying .

They limit contact with Central Purchasing Buyers to those non-repetitive needs that cannot be predicted.
They require vendors to carry stock for all users - thereby reducing internal inventories.
They assist in standardization of products.
They abolish about half the purchase orders that would otherwise be necessary.
They assist user department with budgeting supply funds for the year.
They abolish individual bidding requisitions and purchase lead-time delays.
They permit an authorized user (operating department) to issue their own release order in a matter of seconds.

104026 - Coating Nanoparticles using Plasma Polymerization for Medical Applications

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Dan O’Neill) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

For bio-probe applications, a bio-film has to be attached to the nanoparticle surfaces to react with the virus or DNA material. However, the surfaces of many nanoparticles are not ideal for these particular bio-films. To provide an adhesive interface between the bio-film and the nanoparticle substrate, an ultrathin polymer film, such as polystryrene and acrylic acid, is deposited on the nanoparticles or nanotubes using a plasma polymerization treatment.

107089 - SingleCompoundCmax.xls+4C3L

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Our program is computer software designed to compute estimated values for transport of chemicals through the skin. The program consists of an Excel workbook (i.e.. multiple spreadsheets) combiried with a Visual Basic add-in that runs under Microsoft Excel on Windows XP. Some of the calculations are done in the add-in and other calculations are done in the workbook, so that different workbooks can work with the same add-in. The user is required to enter parameters related to the physical properties of the permeant as well as the physical conditions he/she wants to simulate. The program returns multiple outputs including absorption and evaporation rates. cumulative absorption and evaporation and concentrations in the various skin layers. throughout the simulation. A key output related to contact allergy risk assessment is C(max) the maximum concentration of permeant achieved at the level of the mid epidermis during the absorption process. A new concept embodied in Version 1.4 is that of calculating and separately identifying C(max) and C(free) where C(max) is the maximum concentration of the concentration of freely diffusing permeant in the mid epidermis. The calculations are based on a mathematical model which is subject to change as the model becomes more sophisticated. The accuracy of the calculations will be improved and the scope of allowable simulation conditions broadened as the development work proceeds.

107054 - Novel End-Point Assay for Autophagy

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Monson) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Dr. Patrick Dennis at the University of Cincinnati developed a novel end-point assay for autophagy based on the observation that the BHMT (betaine homocysteine methyl transferase) enzyme is degraded via autophagy with the generation of a discrete proteolytic fragment in the lysosomal compartment (1). Dr. Dennis engineered a novel Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST)-BHMT reporter with targeted mutations that result in degradation of the fusion protein via the autophagocytic pathway. Autophagocytic degradation of the reporter leads to the generation of discrete proteolytic fragments in the lysosomal compartment, similar to native BHMT. The advantages of this autophagy assay over existing assays are 1) end-point assay rather than mid-point assay, 2) increased sensitivity and 3) less subjective and more quantifiable.

106078 - Polo-like kinase 3 (Plk3) as a Rational Target for Anti-Cancer Therapy

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Monson) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A strategy for developing anti-cancer therapies is to inactivate proteins that are required for the integrity of DNA repair signaling pathways. Inactivation of such proteins may lead to greater therapeutic effectiveness of the many current cancer treatments that act by causing DNA damage, such as radiation therapy and many chemotherapeutic agents. When cells incur damage in the form of DNA double strand breaks, normal cells will arrest at various checkpoints throughout the cycle to allow for DNA repair. Several pathways are involved in a DNA damage checkpoint at the G1/S phase cell cycle boundary. One pathway is mediated by the p53 tumor suppressor. P53 induces the kinase inhibitor p21, resulting in the arrest of cells at G1/S. This pathway is compromised due to mutation or loss of p53 in about 80% of human tumors.
The regulation of a second pathway has recently been discovered in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Stambrook at the University of Cincinnati. For cells to activate the G1/S checkpoint, CDC25A phosphatase must be degraded. Using cultured mammalian cells and mouse knockout models, Dr. Stambrook’s work has demonstrated that Polo-like kinase 3 (Plk3), a member of a conserved family of serine/threonine protein kinases, is likely the principle kinase required to facilitate the degradation of CDC25A at the G1/S checkpoint.
Therefore, Plk3 is proposed as a novel target for the discovery of inhibitory molecules that would be useful as cancer therapeutics. The rationale is that most human tumors are p53 deficient and therefore one of the pathways leading to G1 checkpoint arrest is compromised. If the alternate pathway is also compromised by inhibition of Plk3 by a small molecule inhibitor, the tumors would be selectively killed or sensitized to low levels of standard chemotherapies.

105034 - AMPGEN

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A parcel of windows-based routines, which is able to import DNA profiles directly from laboratory data to provide the statistical interpretation of a match (with user-prescribed stringency) in missing persons database, and will conduct kinship analysis, with the aid of DNA profiles of relatives. The report generated from this routine charts pedigrees, and provides confidence bounds for frequency estimates, and likelihood ratios. The routines are linked to disclosable summaries of validated DNA forensic population databases, with option of linking additional user-specified databases. The software is designed for a personal computer, so that it can be used in courts and in field offices. Help files, attached with the software, provide technical details of computations, which will also aid in training analysts for using the software.
The current version is able to evaluate the statistical strength of: (i) coincidental match probability in typical DNA forensic investigations, (ii) interpret DNA mixture evidence, (iii) assign missing persons in respective families in mass disaster scenarios, and (iv) conduct parentage and kinship analyses with DNA typing. Linked with worldwide and curated DNA typing databases, this software, with its graphic interphases, is user-friendly, in which the input data can be transported from laboratory analyzers without data re-entry, and hence avoids human transcriptional errors. The high throughput feature of the software will allow users to apply this tool in high volume laboratories conducting: (i) forensic, (ii) parentage, and (iii) pedigree-based studies. In a modular setting, AMPGEN will perform three groups of tasks. Once the program is initiated, the screen displays these three tasks:

Transfer evidence (i.e., computation of coincidental match probability for a single donor DNA profile);
Mixture Analysis (i.e., exclusion probability and likelihood ratios for various mixture hypotheses); and
Kinship Analysis (i.e., attribution of question profile as a family member of a specified set of relatives; standard or deficient parentage analysis being special case of such a kinship analysis).

Once a user specifies one or more of these tasks, relevant profiles can be imported (avoiding transcriptional error, or data re-entry), and a series of parameters can be selected, based on the standard operating procedures that generated the profile data. The user can click on the specific task to be performed during the session, so that the routine will proceed to gather input parameters and data for the relevant sets of computations.

104062 - Glucocorticoid Induced Receptor: A novel Neuropeptide Y “Y2-like” GPCR as a target for obesity

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Monson) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The glucocorticoid-induced receptor (GIR) is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor. GIR was originally identified as a stress-responsive element from the murine T-cell line WEHI-7TG and normal thymocytes treated with glucocorticoids and forskolin. The mouse and rat GIR genes show high levels of expression in the brain. GIR mRNA distribution in the rat indicates a potential role of this receptor in the control of feeding and ingestive behavior, regulation of stress and emotional behavior, learning and memory. The human GIR gene (87% identical to rodent) also shows high levels of expression in the brain.
Rat GIR exhibits highest sequence similarity to the Neuropeptide Y (NPY)-Y2 receptor (38% identity). In experiments to characterize the pharmacology of rGIR, Dr. Randy Sallee and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati, showed that NPY-Y2 selective antagonists and agonists bind to and activate rGIR in a manner similar to NPY-Y2. However, the binding profiles of NPY and Y2 selective ligands to rGIR are distinct from NPY-Y2 receptor suggesting that GIR may represent a novel neuropeptide receptor that interacts with NPY analogs. Indeed, a novel amino acid peptide, the structure of which was modeled on the Neuropeptide Y (NPY) C-terminus, binds with nM affinity to the rGIR receptor but does not bind to any known NPY receptors.Administration of this novel peptide i.c.v. to rats results in feeding inhibition.
Based on a) its distribution in feeding regulatory areas in the forebrain and brain stem, b) its interaction with compounds such as PYY3-36 and other anorectic peptides that regulate feeding, and c) its regulation by leptin, it is likely that GIR represents a novel target for the identification of potential obesity therapeutics.Dr. Sallee’s group has identified small molecule antagonists and agonists of GIR that are currently being tested in animals. These molecules can serve as the basis for the further development of novel GIR antagonists as potential appetite suppressants for the treatment of obesity.

104001 - eGrants

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Overabundance of largely unorganized and unfiltered information is the greatest information problem facing the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Cincinnati (UC). The goal of UC's IAIMS operations grant is to provide individuals with information that is organized, filtered, context -appropriate, and presented in personalized formats. This presentation will focus on one module, eGrants, of UC's IAIMS research administration system,which will fully digitize the pre-award, post-award, and compliance phases of the grant lifecycle . eGrants will streamline and reduce errors in the grant preparation, routing, and submittal process thus raising the overall quality of and consistency of grant submittals and greatly reducing the time and the cost of grant preparation.

101020 - Novel Sorbents for Separation of CO2 at a Wide Temperature Range

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

1. Gases that occur in nature or that are produced in industrial processes often contain carbon dioxide (CO2). Because of process requirements, or because of the end result desired, it is sometimes desirable to remove carbon dioxide from a mixture of CO2 and other gases.
2. Traditional techniques for separation of CO2 in gas mixtures through absorption rely on high-aluminum zeolites, which have the disadvantage of significant mass transfer resistances, with consequent slower pressurization/depressurization steps; and competitive absorption of water and CO2, with corresponding reduced efficiency. More recent approaches involve the use of lithium salts and lithium-containing preparations which are unacceptable for use at high temperatures due to the sublimation of Lithium.
Advantages
1. This invention presents a new class of sorbent preparations for the absorption of CO2 in gaseous mixtures. The materials developed are able to remove CO2 from mixtures of gases which are both more polar and less polar than CO2 over a wide range of temperatures. The strength of the sorbent action of these materials may also be chemically adjusted, allowing a user a tailor-design a particular sorbent for a particular application.
2. The sorbent action of these materials is highly reproducible and the materials can be produced at a low cost. The new sorbents are poison-tolerant and mechanically strong. They have been tested and found to be effective in applications from 50 degrees to 650 degrees Celsius; and they have excellent reversibility.
3. These sorbents exhibit high selectivity/capability in rejecting water.
Areas of Application
The new materials may have application in many processes in which CO2 is to be removed from mixtures of other gases, such as coal combustion and gasification; removal of CO2 (and enrichment of hydrogen) in water gas shift reactions; and fuel-cell-related applications.

089045 - Donor Resources and Development Network

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A computerized system to schedule donor appointments at multiple locations using a Novell Network. The application network program was developed using the Clipper compiler. Downloads and uploads data from the main frame each week. Enables each tele-recruiter to access donors from a PC and add to schedules as necessary. Also allows managers to monitor progress.

102009 - Calcium Activated Cl- Channel in HEK 293 Cells

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Monson) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ion Channels play a crucial role in many diseases, most notably in cystic fibrosis. A calcium-activated pathway for Cl- may play an important role in disease severity. However, little is known of the physiological and pharmacological properties of this ion channel.
To study this protein, Dr. Cuppoletti has transfected HEK 293 cell line with a human plasmid containing a calcium activated Cl- channel. The end result is a human airway calcium activated chloride channel stably expressed in a HEK293 cell line. The advantages of this research tool are low background currents from endogenous chloride channels; lack of cation channel under prescribed conditions; large signal with calcium activation, fully inhibited by appropriate inhibitor.
HEK293 cells were transfected with human cDNA (hCLCA2 clone 4) in expression vector pcDNA3.1 using Lipofectamine to produce a stably transfected cell line.

098004 - Item Number 254 - Microcentrifuge Tube Spinner

pinskig@ucmail.uc.edu (Geoffrey Pinski) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Researchers in many fields routinely work with very small volumes of liquids, which they store in 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tubes (commonly called "Eppendorf tubes"). Upon standing, much of the liquid in these tubes can evaporate and collect around the top and sides of the tubes. This distribution of the contents also occurs when the tubes are mixed. To avoid losing sample, the researcher will briefly spin the tubes in a microcentrifuge prior to opening, collecting the contents at the bottom.
This device is designed as an inexpensive alternative to microcentrifuges. It can hold a number of Eppendorf-style tubes of various sizes (1.0 - 2.0 ml), and will spin these fast enough to settle their contents to the bottom. This device has several advantages over the current practice of using a microcentrifuge, primarily its ease of use, convenience, speed and low cost. The design makes it faster to load and unload, and by operating at lower rpms then a microcentrifuge it will have shorter breaking times. Because of its low cost, each researcher or student can have one readily available, saving the time of waiting for a microcentrifuge to become free.

097027 - Item Number 264 - Activation Of Chloride Channels For Correction Of Defective Chloride Transport

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Monson) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Cystic fibrosis is characterized by defects in salt and water transport in a variety of epithelial tissues. The basis of the defect is the gene product termed the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator protein (CFTR). The CFTR has been shown to be a chloride channel. The present invention relates to a method of increasing the permeability of epithelial cells to chloride ions in a subject, for example, in treating cystic fibrosis. Specifically, the invention relates to methodology for the correction of defective chloride transport by increasing the salt and water flux in diseased tissues to levels closer to those found in normal tissues. This treatment will reduce life-threatening complications frequently found in diseases such as cystic fibrosis. The present invention satisfies this need by providing methods and compounds that can therapeutically relieve both the cause of the manifestations of cystic fibrosis, as well as the manifestations themselves. When appropriately applied, these compounds can correct defective chloride transport, increasing the salt and water flux in diseased tissues to levels closer to those of normal tissues thus reducing life-threatening complications. There are pathological conditions and disease states other than cystic fibrosis that might also benefit from treatment with compounds that increase salt and water permeability. These include brain swelling, renal disease, and heart disease.

096012 - Item Number 239 - Treatment for Cystic Fibrosis & Other Conditions

geoffrey.pinski@uc.edu (Ellen Monson) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Defective chloride transport causes cystic fibrosis (CF), which manifests as mucoviscidosis and pancreatic insufficiency in afflicted patients. Abnormally deficient chloride transport results leads to blockage of the bronchioles in the lung, leading to emphysema and localized atelectasis. Transport duct blockage by mucous in the pancreas results in digestive enzyme insufficiency in the small intestine, leaving patients with poor nutritional status. A number of research approaches have been undertaken toward the development of a treatment for CF. Palliation or amelioration of the disease condition could be accomplished through reconstitution of normal chloride channel function or activation of chloride transport through alternate channel activation.
The present invention describes a pharmacological activator of non-CFTR chloride channels such as members of the ClC channel family. These channels are widely distributed in the body, and serve functions in secretion and absorption of fluid and maintenance of normal nerve, muscle, and kidney function. The pharmaceutical agent activates ClC chloride channels when applied directly to the surface of the tissue, such as lung, resulting in activation of the channels and increased chloride transport. This approach represents a novel therapeutic modality for the treatment of CF.
The subject matter of the patent is a method of treating a pathology having symptoms caused by inadequate chloride transport by defective ClC-2G chloride channels, comprising administering to an individual in need of such treatment 1) a condensation agent and 2) an amine in amounts effective to activate chloride transport by inactivating charged groups on amino acid residues of said channels, thereby counteracting said symptoms.
This patented method has several key potential benefits. The compound can be delivered using standard treatment techniques for the delivery of therapeutics to the lung. Unlike many traditional systemic therapies, the pharmacological agent is delivered and acts exogenously, and is expected to be relatively non-toxic.
Advantages
This approach to the treatment of CF employs a traditional pharmaceutical application that has much higher likelihood of success than more complicated gene therapy based approaches. Most current research focuses on treatments for infection and inflammation, as well as gene replacement. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation reports that many physicians and researchers believe that a successful chloride-releasing therapy would be of tremendous benefit to CF patients. This technology's straight-forward approach, coupled with the expected favorable safety and toxicity profile, present a licensing opportunity with substantial potential to improve the lives of CF patients.