Award Data

The complexity of Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion (ATD) modeling requires physically consistent weather data evolving in both space and time. Spatially and/or temporally averaged data found in climatological products is not suitable for ATD modeling. The proposed solution for providing "typical day" meteorological data couples innovative search techniques applied to long-range historical arch ...

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED EFFORT IS DIRECTED TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PERIODONTAL TEMPERATURE PROBE WITH RESPONSE TIME AND SENSITIVITY CHARACTERISTICS WHICH CAN POTENTIALLY PROVIDE AN OBJECTIVE AND SIMPLE DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUE IN ASSESSING PERIODONTAL DISEASE ACTIVITY. STUDIES HAVE SUGGESTED THAT INFLAMED SULCI ARE ACCOMPANIED BY ELEVATED TEMPERATURE INDICATIONS. CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES, S ...

The use of dedicated pulsatile ventricular support devices (VAD) for circulatory support is becoming an accepted treatment modality for adult patients requiring support due to post-cardiotomy pump failure or post-AMI cariogenic shock; the VAD could also be used as a bridge to transplant. Although temporary circulatory support in pediatric patients is being performed with ECMO or centrifugal pumps, ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is to produce a fully characterized polyurethane heart valve prosthesis that will be ready for clinical evaluation. Existing replacement valves suffer from several shortcomings. Specifically, biological tissue fixation and methods used to mount the tissue to the supporting stent of bioprostheses cause time dependent structural changes ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Pressure ulcers are a significant problem in long-term health care. Estimates of prevalence in the long-term and extended care environments cluster around 8% and appear stable over the past decade. An estimated 30% of new entrants to homebound care are at risk for developing pressure ulcers. Yet it has been forcefully argued that pressure ulcers are largely pre ...

DISEASES OF THE LIVER ARE A MAJOR HEALTH PROBLEM. DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES TO PREDICT LIVER FAILURE ARE INTERPRETABLE IN TERMS OF OVERALL LIVER FUNCTION, NOT IN TERMS OF ANATOMIC STRUCTURE. ANATOMICAL INFORMATION ON LIVER HAS BEEN OBTAINED BY USING RADIOACTIVE COLLOIDS. THESE MATERIALS ARE TAKEN UP BY KUPFFER CELLS (3% OF LIVER MASS) AND NOT BY HEPATOCYTES (90% OF LIVER MASS), THE MAIN METABOLIZING C ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Malignant gliomas have a very poor prognosis with median survival measured in months rather than years. It is a disease with great need of novel therapeutic approaches. Within cancer gene therapy the use of adenoviral vectors to deliver HSV-tk (AdV-tk) has been one of the most widely studied and promising approaches. A few dose escalation Phase I studies ha ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The analysis of components in human breath is a powerful non-invasive technique for the diagnosis and monitoring of asthma, cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The presence of elevated levels of nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), carbonyl sulfide (OCS), and ethane (C2H6) in the breath have been identified as biomarkers o ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We believe a key barrier to transforming clinical research is the lack of open, integrated, transparent technology solutions that address bottlenecks in information integration and business process management. Our viewpoint is supported by a recent Forrester Research study that identifies proprietary software as "one of the biggest barriers" to interoperability ...

GEL ELECTROPHORESIS IS ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY USED ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENETICS. TYPICALLY THE SEPARATION REQUIRES SEVERAL HOURS AND THE GEL IS THEN REMOVED AND ANALYZED FOR THE LOCATION OF THE DIFFERENT MOLECULAR GROUPS ON THE SURFACE AREA OF THE GEL. WHEN USED WITH RADIOISOTOPES AS LABELS, THE STANDARD PRACTICE IS TO REMOVE THE GEL AND USE IT TO EXPOSE FILM OVER 24-48 ...