Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Molecular interactions form the foundation of biology and chemistry. They are central to life itself and determine catalytic activity, cellular function, and therapeutic efficacy. The vast majority of diagnostic procedures depend on some type of specific molecular interaction. Therefore, the ability to perform pure liquid-phase molecular binding analysis at hi ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Retinal prosthetic devices currently under development are designed to bypass the non functioning portion of the visual pathway photoreceptor layer in individuals suffering from diseases including retinitis pigmentosa RP and age related macular degeneration AMD Current devices enable patients to only see object positions and read large letters and furth ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this study is to develop a tissue-engineered total joint replacement from an engineered biomaterial scaffold combined with adult bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for regeneration ofthe entire femoral surface of the hip joint. We have developed a novel three-dimensionally (3D) woven scaffold that mimics the biomechanical prop ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Transplantation of insulin-producing cells in many diabetes patients potentially would restore normal glucose homeostasis and prevent the severe long-term complications of the disease. However, the scarcity of donated pancreata currently limits transplantation of the whole organ or of isolated pancreatic islets to a tiny fraction of those patients who might ben ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Endogenous somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) offer novel targets for treating pain via both peripheral and central mechanisms. Our studies show that peripheral SSTR activation prevents nociceptor sensitization and provides phasic and tonic inhibitory control of nociceptors. This modulation is an important therapeutic goal since sensitization of peripheral nocicept ...

A new material and processing technology has been developed and demonstrated that will dramatically reduce the cost of manufacturing and refurbishing large aluminum based mirrors for optical test applications. Such precision mirrors are also required for surveillance, directed energy, cryo-vacuum scene generation, optical testing, and DoD-sponsored space programs. Traditional aluminum mirror techn ...

Currently one of the outstanding challenges is the affordable, volume production of epi-ready, 100 mm SiC wafers that are scratch-free and have atomic-scale surface finish. As SiC is relatively chemically inert and mechanically hard, aggressive polishing methods involving very hard particles have been used to achieve high removal rates, but such methods create a high degree of sub-surface damage ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Crystallization, followed by subsequent structure determination, is a major step in understanding the structure- function relationship of macromolecules. Understanding macromolecule structure has become a key part in the development of new pharmaceuticals, and is a major area of NIH research. Crystallization however is also the rate limiting step, despite techn ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The OLINDA/EXM code, which replaces the popular MIRDOSE code for calculating dose estimates in nuclear medicine applications, was given an exemption by the FDA on June 15, 2004 to be distributed as a medical device. The code will have a 3 year lifetime, and may be considered for re-release in June of 2007. The current code contains the traditional phantom types ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Complete achromatopsia is an autosomal recessive inherited congenital disorder of retinal cone photoreceptors Patients with complete achromatopsia experience extreme light sensitivity and daytime blindness and best visual acuity under non bright light conditions is usually or worse and generally stable over time In addition to poor acuity hypersensit ...