Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to produce "humanized" livers in large animal models such as sheep and pigs that can serve as a reliable source of significant numbers of functional human hepatocytes. The isolated human hepatocytes and/or "humanized" livers can be used for drug toxicity studies as well as for possible clinical use in patients with liver failure. Tra ...

This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I proposal will overcome the most critical problems associated with the construction of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC): complex, bulky and heavy cell structures, low fuel efficiency, and high cost. These issues have severely impeded the successful commercialization of DMFCs for powering portable electronic devices. A commercially vi ...

The goal of this proposed Phase I STTR effort is to demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating photonic crystal (PC) technology within OCC's existing optoelectronic module technology. This will be accomplished through the design and modeling of PC light emitters and waveguides, as well as characterization of their coupling behavior with external systems. The utilization of nanoscale PC technol ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Presently, there exists no simple minimally invasive test, such as a blood test, that can differentiate patients affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) from healthy individuals. Our long-term goal is to develop new strategies for determining prognosis or predicting response to therapy. This will provide tools to improve clinical decision-making in the care of AD ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEI) are currently the most broadly used drugs to treat AIzheirmer's disease (AD). Unfortunately none of the beneficial effect lasts for more than a short two years time period, probably due to the progressive degeneration of the cholinergic neurons. This indicates that aiming at the same time at another target distinct to ...

The broader impact/commercialization potential of this project include tunable blocks that would allow a range of spectrally- and spatially-agile devices. These may include high-gain directional antennas that can improve performance while reducing power consumption. The fundamental MEMS varactor technology also offers solutions for critical efficiency and linearity problems as wireless devices emp ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project involves a significant enhancement in the properties of wood polymer composites (WPCs) by the commercialization of a highly effective bio-based coupling agent made from renewable sources such as plant oils instead of petroleum. By significantly enhancing the properties of WPCs, substantial benefit to society will result by providing new appli ...

ABSTRACT: Sierra Engineering Inc. (Sierra) believes that existing chemical kinetic models can be efficiently incorporated into commercial CFD codes to predict the mixing, pyrolysis, soot formation and carbon deposition within film cooled rocket engines. During this Phase I STTR effort we will demonstrate that this analysis capability is practical and that we can generate appropriate model validati ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy DMD is a fatal muscle disease affecting in every male births DMD results from mutations in the gene encoding the dystrophin a kDa scaffolding protein responsible for providing a mechanical link between the muscle fiber actin cytoskeleton and a transmembrane protein complex called the dystrophin associated glycoprotein ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Duchenne muscular dystrophy is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene resulting in the loss of the dystrophin glycoprotein complex in skeletal muscle Loss of dystrophin results in reduced sarcolemmal integrity progressive muscle damage and compromised muscle function There is currently no cure and limited treatment options for DMD and all affected child ...