Award Data

RESEARCH WILL BE CONDUCTED INTO OPTICAL FIBER-COUPLED FLUORESCENT SENSORS FOR THE CONTINUOUS IN VIVO MONITORING OF BLOOD GASES. THE PURPOSE OF PHASE I IS TO IDENTIFY FLUORESCENT CHEMICAL SYSTEMS SPECIFICALLY SENSITIVE TO PH, PO2, PCO2, AND TEMPERATURE. FROM THESE IDENTIFIED SYSTEMS, A SELECTION WILL BE MADE OF THOSE COMPATIBLE FOR USE IN A MIXED SENSOR PROBE. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO MINIMIZE ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We have recently demonstrated that alpha-hemolysin produced by S. aureus plays a key role in the pathogenesis of staphylococcal pneumonia, and identified beta-cyclodextrin derivatives that potently inhibit the cytotoxic effects of this secreted bacterial toxin. The overall goal of this feasibility study is to examine the ability of these inhibitors to provide i ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Miniaturized DNA Sequencer for Identification of Microbial Pathogens Abstract. The goal of this project is develop a compact and inexpensive DNA sequencer based on the implementation of sequencing-by-synthesis chemistry on a droplet-based digital microfluidic cartridge. The proposed device would be capable of sequencing 10's to 100's of base pairs using an ine ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite aggressive public health campaigning and strict guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, the estimated incidence of severe hyperbilirubinemia (defined as serum bilirubin levels greater than 99th percentile) is 1:70. Severe hyperbilirubinemia can cause a spectrum of neurologic dysfunction of which kernicterus is the most concerning. Kernicterus manifests ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In addition to the role oral infections play in promoting tooth loss, periodontitis has also been associated with increasing the risk of other medical conditions such as coronary artery disease, stroke and myocardial infarction. Approximately 50% of the US population over 20 years of age has gingivitis around 3 or more teeth, and 5% have advanced periodontitis ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Mediastinitis is a common and sometimes devastating complication following open heart surgery. Despite the use of prophylactic systemic antibiotics and improved surgical techniques, bacterial infection remains a serious complication following almost all surgical procedures including median sternotomy. When surgical site infections occur, they can be devastating ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Chronic wounds are a significant public-health problem, imposing a high cost on society and presenting patients with significant quality of life limitations. A large proportion of patients with chronic wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers, and venous leg ulcers, are unresponsive to conventional treatment, such as moist dressings. The complications and cost asso ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Summary Targeted drug delivery has been a long-term goal for biomedical science. Of specific interest, are those drugs which exert powerful therapeutic effects but cannot be prominently used due to harmful side- effects during systemic delivery? Bone has become a tissue of specific interest for targeted delivery, due to 1) its unique mineralized structure, dist ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Cells and Surveys report (National Research Council 2000) reports that collecting biological information dramatically improves the value of household surveys by adding a rich dataset of information to longitudinal databases that is not collected today. In fact, since the Cells and Surveys report the collection of biological data and performance measures (in ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Awareness of the enormous advantages of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) in an item response theory framework (IRT) is growing rapidly in the behavioral research community. CAT has the capacity to significantly reduce respondent burden without losing measurement reliability. Although a small number of computerized adaptive tests (CATs) exist for behavioral m ...