http://azte.technologypublisher.comBe the first to know about the latest inventions and technologies available from Arizona Science and Technology Enterprises, LLCen-USSun, 20 May 2012 17:04:39 GMTThu, 17 May 2012 10:51:29 GMThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rsskdouglass@azte.comCopyright 2012, Arizona Science and Technology Enterprises, LLChttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9253Tissue/tumor imaging for diagnostic purposes has been an important focus of researchers across the country, who are continually searching for better imaging methods as well as new imaging agents. Not only may such agents allow for better surgical precision but may also provide future opportunities for non-surgical therapeutics as well. Porphyrin-based compounds are commonly used for imaging, detection and diagnosis of tissues, however, the major drawback with them includes collateral photodamage to healthy tissue. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a platform of no...Thu, 17 May 2012 10:51:29 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9253http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9240Instruction-level parallelism (ILP) is a measure of how many of the operations in a computer program can be performed simultaneously. Superscalar techniques based on extracting instruction-level parallelism have been a major contribution to high performance microprocessor design throughout the last decade. The number of instructions executed per cycle (IPC) is increased substantially through superscalar techniques like speculative execution and dynamic scheduling. While speculative execution deals with control dependencies, dynamic scheduling processes data dependencies and leverages th...Fri, 11 May 2012 16:17:49 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9240http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9202Actuators find utility in a wide variety of applications, including self-deploying devices, relays, switches, etc. In particular, robust, low-power microactuators, with no moving parts, find ready application in fields such as robotics, artificial muscles, micro UAVs, etc., and the market continues to grow. While current microactuators already have many promising features and abilities, a simpler, more automatable assembly could make these multipurpose devices even more versatile. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed novel thermally activated carbon nanotube (CNT) act...Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:18:26 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9202http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9194Protein variants have been associated with many different and devastating human diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, diabetes and cancer. Unfortunately, assessment of these protein variants is technologically difficult, primarily owing to two factors: a lack of binding partners that can distinguish between protein isoforms (which may only differ slightly from the parent form) and the difficulty in separating and purifying the variants (which typically occur only at trace levels in vivo). Novel separation techniques coupled with novel molecular recognition protocols a...Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:13:51 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9194http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9193The natural red pigment asataxanthin is a potent bioactive antioxidant that can lend to several applications in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. It is also being widely used in aquaculture and poultry industries as a feed additive to improve the coloration of cultured salmons, crustaceans and egg yolks. The unicellular green alga, Haematococcus pluvialis, is the richest known natural source of astaxanthin. In recent years, mass production of H. pluvialis has enabled the commercial availability of the pigment. Natural astaxanthin production and commercialization is estimated ...Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:09:50 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9193http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9190Biochemical or enzymatic conversion of lipids from one form to another, and hydrolysis and degradation of lipids into fatty acids may require a suite of enzymes, a so-called enzyme cocktail, to work in concert to catalyze multiple reactions to completion. Because the cost of enzymatic conversion is usually proportional to the number of enzymes used, a single enzyme with broad substrate specificity and extraordinarily high conversion efficiency would find many applications. Researchers at Arizona State University have identified a novel enzyme isolated from green microalgae that possess...Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:41:21 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9190http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9128Precise control of fluid delivery is important in a variety of industries including microarrays, sensors, printing and many more. Current systems for dispensing fluids implement contact and non-contact tips. Non-contact tips utilize piezoelectric or diaphragm means and contact tips often utilize capillary forces. Both contact and non-contact tips have the disadvantage of being limited in their droplet size and in the selection of viscosity fluids from which they can use.. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a unique vacuum assisted liquid d...Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:34:20 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9128http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9127Liquid reagent manipulation is a critical component of many platforms; including microarrays, ink printing, various microfluidic platforms, cell and other biological manipulation. Many of these systems use vacuum to control the fluid movement, often in conjunction with small pressures. Current systems are limited in how small of a vacuum they can achieve in order to manipulate their fluids/biologicals. There is a need for a simple system for liquid reagent control such that smaller, more precise volumes can be utilized. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State Universit...Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:34:20 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/9127http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8926With the advent demand for fuel cell technologies, there exists a need for improved methods of mass production of the key ingredients in biofuel cells, such as biomass or photosynthetic bacteria. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a highly configurable, modular system for scale-up studies of photosynthetic microorganisms. This fully flexible reactor is designed to provide complete user configurability in terms of sensor and actuator capabilities for extensive physiological characterization of cultivated organisms. The flexible platform can facilitate large scale stu...Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:50:57 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8926http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8925Styrene is a versatile monomer that is widely used to produce polystyrene and other polymers. Styrene is typically produced by the chemo-catalytic dehydrogenation of petroleum-derived ethylbenzene. This process is both highly energy-intensive and reliant on unsustainable, petroleum feedstocks. A means to produce styrene that is both more energy efficient and sustainable would have immediate commercial applications. Researchers at Arizona State University have engineered a novel strain of E. coli that converts renewable sugars (glucose) into styrene. As proof of concept, shake flask cul...Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:46:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8925http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8908Organic waste generation, including domestic wastewater, food industry waste and animal waste is a large problem in the United States. It is estimated that domestic wastewater generation alone is roughly 150 gallons per person per day. There have been many proposed solutions for organic wastewater treatment, with Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) providing a tremendous opportunity for sustainable treatment of organic wastewater and conversion to electrical power. However, cathodic potential losses in current MFCs may be greater than 0.5 V, making the overall efficiency too low for efficient ...Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:51:22 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8908http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8899A common method of neurostimulation is the application of pulsed electrical currents to tissue through electrodes implanted within tissue or in some cases applied to the body surface. A major concern in the development of neurostimulators for implantation near nerve or muscle for therapeutic applications in the human body is the size of the implant. Smaller implants reduce the attendant risk of complications and so encourage their more widespread use, especially in elective surgery. Bruce Towe at the Arizona State University has developed a micro-implantable device for neurostimulation...Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:09:35 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8899http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8898A common method of neurostimulation is the application of pulsed electrical currents to tissue through electrodes implanted within tissue or in some cases applied to the body surface. A major concern in the development of neurostimulators for implantation near nerve or muscle for therapeutic applications in the human body is the size of the implant. Smaller implants reduce the attendant risk of complications and so encourage their more widespread use, especially in elective surgery. Bruce Towe at the Arizona State University has developed a micro-implantable device for neurostimulation...Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:09:28 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8898http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8897A common method of neurostimulation is the application of pulsed electrical currents to tissue through electrodes implanted within tissue or in some cases applied to the body surface. A major concern in the development of neurostimulators for implantation near nerve or muscle for therapeutic applications in the human body is the size of the implant. Smaller implants reduce the attendant risk of complications and so encourage their more widespread use, especially in elective surgery. Bruce Towe at the Arizona State University has developed a micro-implantable device for neurostimulation...Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:08:54 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8897http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8886Microbial Fuel Cells can be considered as one of the most efficient biofuels for energy production and waste disposal. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) or biological fuel cell is a bio-electrochemical system that derives a current by imitating bacterial interactions found in nature. MFCs can be considered as miniaturized power sources (using MEMS technology) as well as used to study the behaviors of individual microorganisms. Micro-sized MFCs have the potential of an alternate portable power source but, the power density of the micro-sized MFCs is significantly lower than that of its macro-s...Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:54:03 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8886http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8885The semiconductor industry is revolutionizing the world of electronics and has applied advanced technology that greatly improves the functionality of a variety of devices. In the fabrication facilities, many semiconductors undergo an ion implantation process followed by an annealing process to repair damage to the substrate. Microwave annealing produces a high quality substrate layer with limited dopant diffusion. A similar microwave annealing process can also be applied to solar cells. Solar technology is rapidly developing and creating more energy efficient processes. Crystalline sil...Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:44:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8885http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8884Logic operations with two states, logic elements or gates, dominate modern computation. Despite recent experimental efforts, mechanical logic at very small length scales with a noise floor present has been difficult to realize. However, the control and manipulation of mechanical response at the nanometer level can be realized through exploitation of stochastic resonance. If this process is applied in a nonlinear mechanical system, the addition of noise can amplify the response to an external stimulus. There has been recent confirmation that when two square waves are applied as input st...Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:31:40 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8884http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8883Currently, Si wafers and related wafer processing accounts for approximately 75% of the cost of producing conventional solar panels. With a potential concentration ratio of 500 – 1000 and double the efficiency over conventional single junction cells, the use of concentrator multi-junction cell technologies will dramatically reduce the fraction of the wafer cost for solar panels, which will solve the semiconductor materials bottleneck and lower the overall cost for electricity generation using PV cells. Essentially, multi-junction photovoltaic devices employ a stack of different materia...Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:17:43 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8883http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8882Mitochondrial diseases are a group of disorders associated with dysfunctional mitochondria, often caused by genetic mutations to mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial defects are damaging, particularly to tissues with high energy demands such as neural and muscle tissues. Energetic defects have been implicated in forms of movement disorders, cardiomyopathy, myopathy, blindness and deafness. Membrane-penetrating antioxidants are often prescribed but treatment options are limited. There have been extensive efforts to find alternative, synthetic antioxidants with superior activities and simplif...Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:36:29 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8882http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8867Bexarotene (Targretin®) is a synthetic retinoid analog used to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (as well as off label to treat other types of cancer). Moreover, recent research may show great potential in its use for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Bexarotene is especially effective because it has specific high affinity for retinoid X receptors (RXR), enabling regulation of RXR genes to slow or stop cell proliferation of cancer cells. Despite these advantages, there are major drawbacks to the use of Bexarotene due to side effects which include hypothyroidism, hyperlipidemia, and cutane...Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:40:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8867http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8857Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is the third most common cause of death in the US with at least 600,000 cases occurring annually. APE results from migration of emboli to the lungs and obstruction of pulmonary blood vessels. If detected in early stages of development, the high rate of mortality caused by APE may be reduced significantly. A better understanding of the biomechanics of the cardiac right ventricle (RV) and the contribution of APE to RV dysfunction may provide insight into biomarker identification and subsequent early diagnosis of APE. Researchers at Arizona State University ...Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:22:33 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8857http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8856Boosting algorithms are commonly used in machine learning and pattern recognition for object detection. There are a variety of available and popular boosting algorithms including AdaBoost, TotalBoost, MadaBoost etc., with subtle differences in their weighting of training data and hypotheses. Most training data has an imbalanced number of positive and negative samples, thereby requiring an asymmetric learning algorithm. Existing asymmetric algorithms require preset parameters that are not capable of adjusting the asymmetric loss criterion during training and the preset parameters are cho...Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:48:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8856http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8855Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest healthcare challenges. Overuse and misuse of conventional antibiotics along with their broad spectra have triggered development of multi-drug resistant superbugs. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a novel process for producing alternative antimicrobial agents specific for any particular bacterial pathogen. The bacteria of interest are applied to an array of 10,000 random sequence peptides; combination of intracellular staining and membrane labeling of bacterial cells allows distinguishing between binding and lytic pep...Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:53:30 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8855http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8746Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis is a ubiquitous and important analytical technique in protein research and analysis. Some of the most common technical issues involve low-concentration solutions (sub-µM) with their attendant adsorptive loss and oxidation of proteins to be analyzed. Carrier proteins are sometimes used to prevent adsorptive protein loss; however, they may not prevent oxidation issues and are not always MS-friendly. There is a pressing need to maintain analytical sensitivity and oxidative stability of low concentration protein solutions for longer time frames prior to MS an...Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:00:18 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8746http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8709Electronic medical implants require a power source, such as an internal battery or external coaxially coupled magnetic induction coils, thus requiring a larger form factor and more invasive surgical implantation. Furthermore, internal power sources tend to have shorter service life the smaller they are and magnetic coils are hindered by low coupling coefficients and limited functional energy transfer at higher depths. It would be ideal to have electronic medical implants that could be powered externally, have a small form factor and be implanted non-surgically. Professor Bruce Towe of ...Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:15:09 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8709http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8707Electronic medical implants require a power source, such as an internal battery or external coaxially coupled magnetic induction coils, thus requiring a larger form factor and more invasive surgical implantation. Furthermore, internal power sources tend to have shorter service life the smaller they are and magnetic coils are hindered by low coupling coefficients and limited functional energy transfer at higher depths. It would be ideal to have electronic medical implants that could be powered externally, have a small form factor and be implanted non-surgically. Professor Bruce Towe of ...Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:06:42 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8707http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8702Three phase PWM converters are widely used in numerous applications including adjustable speed motor drives, uninterruptible power supplies and grid integration of renewable and distributed resources such as solar photovoltaics. Some of the important metrics of performance for these converters are related to the amount of total harmonic distortion (THD) in the line current, switching losses in the power devices and dynamic performance. Modular converters are also becoming increasingly popular for high power applications due to the advantages of reduced voltage or current ratings for the...Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:13:53 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8702http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8681Kinases are important in most cellular signaling pathways, and additionally a significant percent of proteins are modified by kinase activity. Because of the importance of kinases in signaling pathways as well as their involvement in other cellular processes such as metabolism, transcription, movement, etc., kinase inhibitor drugs are one of the largest classes of drugs on the market. There has been a major push in kinase research to understand which target proteins associate with which kinases, the rate at which kinases mark their protein target, and the method by which drugs affect ki...Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:38:14 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8681http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8675Ferrite is a common term that can include many different oxides that are built in the spinel cubic crystal structure. There are many different types of spinel ferrites and all can be deposited onto plastic or glass substrates to form thin film ferrite laminates. Various methods have been developed to deposit the ferrite, including spin-spray plating, chemical solution deposition (CSD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and other similar deposition methods. Thin film ferrites are useful because they exhibit a wide array of properties including high complex permeabilities, relatively high ...Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:50:16 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8675http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8674Solar power is one of the fastest growing renewable sources of energy and is fast becoming one of the largest markets in the global energy business. The continued growth and success of this technology will depend on its ability to improve efficiency of current generation and decrease in manufacturing costs. Solar cells, or photovoltaic cells, are a subset of a larger group of optoelectronic devices called photodetectors. Photodetectors are sensors that detect light or other electromagnetic energy. They are used in a wide variety of products including cell phone cameras, CD players, smok...Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:50:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8674http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8673Electrical structures which interact with light, such as solar cells and optical sensors, generally employ electrodes to collect a generated current (or to apply an external field) however, the electrode designs commonly used suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the wide spacing of electrodes in conventional solar cells, necessary to reduce electrode shadowing and limit manufacturing cost, results in high series resistance. This resistance leads to inefficient energy collection, especially from the areas of the current generating structure that are farthest from the elect...Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:50:11 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8673http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8672Static random access memory (SRAM) is used extensively in modern integrated circuits, comprising over 90% of the transistor count in server microprocessors. Over the past couple decades, technology has aggressively scaled down integrated circuit components, quickly entering the nanoscale. At this scale of manufacturing, there is inevitably an increase in fabrication variation leading to increased failure rates. In order to ensure a level of quality performance, testing must be performed on the chips. This is time intensive and expensive, ultimately costing as much as 1/3 of the total p...Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:50:11 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8672http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8671A dual active bridge (DAB) DC-DC converter is ideally suited for high-power, galvanically isolated DC-DC conversion. The DAB DC-DC converter has advantages of high power density, Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS), bidirectional power transfer capability, a modular and symmetric structure, and simple control requirements. The DAB DC-DC converter can also be used for multi-port operation, which is a feature that is useful in interfacing several DC sources and loads using a single converter. Notwithstanding all of the advantages of the conventional DAB converter, for applications requiring wide...Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:50:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8671http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8525Aminoglycosides are a class of small-molecule antibiotics that consist of two or more aminosugars joined by glycosidic linkage to a hexose nucleus. They are clinically useful in treating various infections because of their ability to interfere with protein synthesis in microorganism. However, small molecules possess poor efficacies for delivering nucleic acids to cells, while polymers show increased efficacies. Therefore, there is a need for a library of aminoglycoside polymers. Researchers at the Arizona State University have developed method of using aminoglycoside polymers for bindi...Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:23:55 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8525http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8521Automated detection of anatomic structures is an essential functionality in navigating large 3D image datasets and supporting computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). Several approaches have been proposed for localizing anatomic structures, but all of these methods are offline, require advance training, and offer no capability for continually improving their performance. Conventional offline learning requires collecting all representative samples before the commencing training. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a novel online learning method for automatically detecting anat...Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:01:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8521http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8520Aminoglycosides are a class of small-molecule antibiotics that consist of two or more aminosugars joined by glycosidic linkage to a hexose nucleus. They are clinically useful in treating various infections because of their ability to interfere with protein synthesis in microorganism. However, small molecules possess poor efficacies for delivering nucleic acids to cells, while polymers show increased efficacies. Therefore, there is a need for a library of aminoglycoside polymers. Researchers at the Arizona State University have developed method of using aminoglycoside polymers for bindi...Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:57:59 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8520http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8489The US Government’s pursuit of the “Thousand Dollar Genome” and the “X Prize” goal of even lower cost DNA sequencing are striking examples of the importance being assigned to advances in methods for the DNA sequencing of the human genome. The first technology that finally allows for truly routine genome sequencing will open a new chapter in human medicine. It will revolutionize therapeutic clinical trials and start the realization of the promises of personalized medicine. Three features will characterize the successful technology. First, it will need to perform “long reads.” Second, th...Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:37:02 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8489http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8219Proteomics research has the potential to revolutionize many areas of medicine such as vaccine development, drug discovery, and diagnosis. One of the shortcomings of current methods is that they are ill-equipped to handle and manipulate proteins that are hydrophobic and insoluble in aqueous solutions. Membrane proteins in particular are often insoluble and thus under-studied, despite their importance in crystallography, study of infectious diseases, and signal transduction. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a simple method for transitionin...Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:42:31 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8219http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8218Quantum dots (QDs) of non-blinking optical properties are of great use in real time imaging of biomolecular processes; they also provide much-improved nanomaterials to design and construct photonic devices for applications ranging from energy to biophotonics. The two grand challenges in the field of quantum dots are (1) to achieve robust non-blinking QDs and (2) to assemble different QDs of unique optical properties into hierarchically organized nanoarchitectures, challenges that are difficult to meet using a top-down lithographic approach. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Ari...Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:39:21 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8218http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8216Commercial enzymes are required to function in a variety of challenging conditions. High throughput screening is widely used in drug discovery and diagnostics. Many enzyme-based applications and processes could be improved if there were means to increase the activity of an enzyme or stabilize and maintain its catalytic activity over time. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a method to modulate the activity of a catalyst on modified bead surfaces or microwell surfaces. This method involves binding a peptide-based enzyme modulator to a micro...Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:13:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8216http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8215Commercial enzymes are required to function in a variety of challenging conditions. High throughput screening is widely used in drug discovery and diagnostics. Many enzyme-based applications and processes could be improved if there were means to increase the activity of an enzyme or stabilize and maintain its catalytic activity over time. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a method to modulate the activity of a catalyst on modified bead surfaces or microwell surfaces. This method involves binding a peptide-based enzyme modulator to a micro...Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:07:32 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8215http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8179Safe and effective prophylactic vaccines offer the best health intervention in disease control. One of the most important yet elusive vaccines is that for HIV; a recent vaccine clinical trial reduced the risk of HIV infection by 31 percent among a high-risk group in Thailand, although the reasons for such low efficacy and modest protection remain elusive. Antibodies to gp120/41 proteins have an important immunological correlation to preventing the establishment of HIV infection, but there are major challenges in translating this fundamental knowledge into an effective HIV vaccine. Rese...Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:30:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8179http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8178The efficiency of biofuel production depends on the photosynthetic activity of microbes; to maximize their growth it is necessary to continually monitor the environmental conditions. Traditional monitoring methods (such as using electrodes to measure CO2 consumption and/or O2 generation) are typically time- and labor-intensive, have low throughput, and often require special devices. It would be desirable to simultaneously measure several parameters with a simple, robust multiplexed high throughput sensor. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed...Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:12:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8178http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8177Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most prominent and feared neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging. A hallmark of this disease is the formation of extra-cellular amyloid plaques in the brain. The principle component of these extracellular plaques is amyloid-ß protein (Aß). Though the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease pathology remain controversial, it is believed that a local and chronic inflammatory response within the plaque area is a factor, and that complement activation contributes to this inflammatory process. Researchers at Arizona State University and the...Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:58:09 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8177http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8176Bexarotene (Targretin®) is a synthetic retinoid analog used to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (as well as off label to treat other types of cancer). Moreover, recent research may show great potential in its use for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Bexarotene is especially effective because it has specific high affinity for retinoid X receptors (RXR), enabling regulation of RXR genes to slow or stop cell proliferation of cancer cells. Despite these advantages, there are major drawbacks to the use of Bexarotene due to side effects which include hypothyroidism, hyperlipidemia, and cutane...Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:50:49 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8176http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8175Fowl typhoid is a devastating disease of poultry caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum. This disease has been controlled in the developed world by culling of diseased flocks, good husbandry practices, and vaccination. However, in the developing world, this disease is still rampant and accounts for economic losses ranging from 10% of all poultry deaths to reduced egg output by survivors. The current available vaccine is an injectable live Salmonella Gallinarum vaccine that requires up to 4 doses, making it impractical and expensive in the developing world. Researchers at Ariz...Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:47:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8175http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8174Single molecule technologies have great potential for detecting DNA; they show superior sensitivity without the need to amplify the target prior to analysis, thereby simplifying the detection protocol significantly. However, detecting protein targets remains a much greater challenge due to the inability to amplify the number of copies of target molecules (whereas DNA can use PCR or LCR to amplify the target prior to detection). Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a method to simultaneously detect single molecules of protein and DNA. This multiplexed assay is able to...Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:22:19 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8174http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8160Several human proteins have the capacity to act as bioscavengers to bind and remove different toxic compounds and drugs. For example, bioscavenging of organophosphate (OP) by human proteins is emerging as a promising medical intervention for prophylaxis and post-exposure treatment against chemical warfare nerve agents and pesticides. The best-studied bioscavengers are human cholinesterases (ChEs), which are highly efficient in binding and sequestering OPs. However, they are also inactivated by these toxins, thus requiring administration of large amounts for full protection. Researcher...Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:14:41 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8160http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8159Coccidioidomycosis (commonly known as “Valley Fever”) is a respiratory illness that is acquired by the inhalation of airborne spores and may result in severe and even life-threatening pulmonary illness. Its incidence has risen six-fold since 1993, and it accounts for 150,000 human infections annually. Current tests detect antibodies produced in response to the fungus. However, it may take weeks to months to develop such an antibody response, and many immunocompromised patients may not mount an antibody response at all. Therefore, there is a need for a blood test to directly detect coc...Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:39:38 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8159http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8143Microarrays enable thousands of biological experiments to be performed simultaneously on a surface like a microscope slide. Originally, microarrays consisted of thousands of spots of short DNA fragments attached to a surface in an orderly pattern of rows and columns. These so called `DNA microarrays’ are still used to detect DNA or RNA extracted from the cells of an organism. More recent microarrays consist of other biomolecules such as peptides, proteins or siRNA. These are used to study interactions with other biomolecules, small-molecules (such as drugs) or living-cells. These microa...Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:52:17 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8143http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8142Single-cell and cell cluster optical tomography, or Cell-CT, has found increasing application in life sciences basic research. Two limitations to its use in this area are that it can image only fixed cells, and the lack of thixotropic gels that can support live cells and also satisfy refractive index constraints. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed unique biocompatible gels with variable chemical, physical and optical properties. Among other uses, these biocompatible gels may function as a matrix for cell culture and for supporting cells fo...Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:37:57 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8142http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8137The natural red pigment and high-value antioxidant astaxanthin has great potential for aquaculture and human consumption. The green microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis is the most popular production strain because it grows rapidly and produces comparatively large amounts of astaxanthin, but current harvesting methods are inefficient due to the cells' thick, rigid walls. A cost-effective, energy-efficient, and environmentally benign method for astaxanthin extraction would find immediate application. Researchers at the Laboratory for Algae Research and Biotechnology (LARB) of Arizona Stat...Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:27:27 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8137http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8136The natural red pigment and high-value antioxidant astaxanthin has great potential for aquaculture and human consumption. The green microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis is the most popular production strain because it grows rapidly and produces comparatively large amounts of astaxanthin, but current harvesting methods are inefficient due to the cells’ thick, rigid walls. A cost-effective, energy-efficient, and environmentally benign method for astaxanthin extraction would find immediate application. Researchers at the Laboratory for Algae Research and Biotechnology (LARB) of Arizona Stat...Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:25:59 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8136http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8135Growth Factor Receptor-Bound Protein 2 (Grb2) is a pivotal activator of cell-cycle control and motility pathways and is involved in oncogenic signaling in a wide variety of human tumors. Grb2 overexpression has been reported in human breast, bladder and prostate cancer cell lines. Antibodies to Grb2 are available from animal sources and hold promise as a cancer assay, but have the traditional issues of limited stability, high cost, suboptimal specificity, and animal care issues. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a synthetic antibody to Gr...Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:05:33 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8135http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8134Growth Factor Receptor-Bound Protein 2 (Grb2) is a pivotal activator of cell-cycle control and motility pathways and is involved in oncogenic signaling in a wide variety of human tumors. Grb2 overexpression has been reported in human breast, bladder and prostate cancer cell lines. Antibodies to Grb2 are available from animal sources and hold promise as a cancer assay, but have the traditional issues of limited stability, high cost, suboptimal specificity, and animal care issues. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a synthetic antibody to Gr...Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:04:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8134http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8096Detection of molecules is used in many applications ranging from detection of biomarkers to DNA sequencing. The most widely used method is based on fluorescence detection. Although extremely useful, there are several expensive and bulky drawbacks, such as UV light and highly sensitive optical detectors to detect the weak fluorescence light. This is problematic for the detection of small molecules because the fluorescently labeled species may alter the native properties of the small molecules. Also, fluorescence detection is usually an end point test and not suitable for studying the kin...Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:44:35 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8096http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8095Chemical sensors that can quickly, selectively and sensitively detect unknown chemicals in air or in water are vital for security, environmental, biomedical, and food and drinking water safety. Existing detection methods are divided into two categories, lab-based analytical methods, and handheld or portable chemical sensors. Lab-based analytical methods are well established but slow, expensive and bulky. Portable chemical sensors have a potentially huge market but need improvement to selectivity and reliability to enable faster, more efficient and less costly assessment. Researchers at...Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:38:15 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8095http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8094The ability to quickly and reliably detect minute changes in environmental conditions,including the presence of chemical, biological or other physical threats within a low-cost, miniaturized package would have broad impact across a variety of application. The presence or absence of specific chemicals and toxic gases in air, harmful compounds in foods and water, and early alert of trace amounts of explosives or chemical and biological warfare agents all require reliable and sensitive detection technologies. ASU scientists have developed a miniaturized device for sensing a variety of che...Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:09:38 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8094http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8093The ability to quickly and reliably detect minute changes in environmental conditions,including the presence of chemical, biological or other physical threats within a low-cost, miniaturized package would have broad impact across a variety of application. The presence or absence of specific chemicals and toxic gases in air, harmful compounds in foods and water, and early alert of trace amounts of explosives or chemical and biological warfare agents all require reliable and sensitive detection technologies. ASU scientists have developed a miniaturized device for sensing a variety of che...Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:09:33 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8093http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8092The ability to quickly and reliably detect minute changes in environmental conditions,including the presence of chemical, biological or other physical threats within a low-cost, miniaturized package would have broad impact across a variety of application. The presence or absence of specific chemicals and toxic gases in air, harmful compounds in foods and water, and early alert of trace amounts of explosives or chemical and biological warfare agents all require reliable and sensitive detection technologies. ASU scientists have developed a miniaturized device for sensing a variety of che...Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:05:20 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8092http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8091The ability to quickly and reliably detect minute changes in environmental conditions,including the presence of chemical, biological or other physical threats within a low-cost, miniaturized package would have broad impact across a variety of application. The presence or absence of specific chemicals and toxic gases in air, harmful compounds in foods and water, and early alert of trace amounts of explosives or chemical and biological warfare agents all require reliable and sensitive detection technologies. ASU scientists have developed a miniaturized device for sensing a variety of che...Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:54:32 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8091http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8088The major criteria for algae photobioreactor design are greatest photosynthesis and biomass production per volume and surface area; minimized hydrodynamic stress that damages cells; low costs of fabrication, installation, and maintenance; and capability to expand to industrial scale. All designs exhibit tradeoffs of these criteria, but there is a need to do better to make algae-derived biofuels more competitive. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a novel photobioreactor configuration that solves several drawbacks of existing designs. By incorporating a novel modific...Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:41:17 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8088http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8045Cytochrome P450 enzymes metabolize approximately 80% of prescribed drugs, as well as other exogenous chemicals (environmental toxins, occupational chemicals, etc.) to which humans are exposed. These enzymes are highly polymorphic, leading to differences in drug metabolism and clearance between individuals. Because such differential metabolism can lead to problems such as under- or overdosing, there is a need for an assay that accurately replicates the individual degree of metabolism of the chemical(s) of interest. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have...Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:20:33 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/8045http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7988The EPA requires that waste sites undergoing bioremediation be tested to show that the amount of contamination is decreasing, and that the decrease is due to bacterial degradation of the chemicals. Chlorinated hydrocarbons are prevalent environmental contaminants, in particular trichloroethene (TCE). Specialized bacteria of the genus Dehalococcoides are known to convert TCE to the non-toxic end product ethene. However, these microbes are slow-growing and very difficult to culture, rendering standard bacterial plate count measurements impractical for the determination of cell numbers an...Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:25:59 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7988http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7930In situ bioremediation holds great promise as a safe and cost-effective strategy for cleanup of contaminated sediments and groundwater. The design of bioremediation systems requires site-specific characterization of the types of microorganisms present, what their potential metabolic capabilities are, and to what extent these degradative functions are expressed. Measuring these factors is important for selecting the proper bioremediation strategy and for optimizing remedial design, but current laboratory methods cannot reproduce conditions in the field, and field pilot tests are expensiv...Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:35:14 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7930http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7862This invention contains the following distinct novelties: 1. The ability to perform flip-chip based electronic packaging for a die that contains mechanical and electrically active MEMS (Micro Electromechanical System) structures. Currently, most MEMS packaging technology still use a old-fashioned (Gold or Aluminum) wire-bonding technology which leads to the increase in the overall final package dimensions and cost. 2. The ability to provide a semi-hermetic sealing technology, which enables the active mechanical parts of MEMS to be extended outside the die boundary, while simultaneousl...Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:39:44 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7862http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7752As mass spectrometry technology continues to develop and increase in sensitivity and throughput, its sample preparation needs to develop as well. Automation can increase throughput, increase reproducibility, and decrease operator-induced variability. Developing technologies have allowed for online control of the individual processing steps for biological samples, but no process has yet linked all of the steps together into one continuous workflow. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University, TGen, and Upchurch Scientific have developed a process to automate the pr...Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:02:58 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7752http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7751Despite revolutionary advances in genomics and the study of gene expression, the majority of the encoded proteins have functions that are unknown. The next great challenge for biological research is to understand the function of all proteins; this is particularly important because most diseases are the result of protein dysfunction, and nearly all therapeutics target proteins. Current methods of studying protein function rely on techniques that detect or evaluate individual proteins, but next generation tools will need to operate on thousands of proteins. Multivalent affinity reagents ...Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:58:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7751http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7750Endovascular polymer treatment is a relatively new and expanding field. Clinical uses include treatments for arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and aneurysms. Current endovascular occlusion techniques use materials such as isobutyl-2-cyanoacrylate, polyvinyl alcohol, ethanol, hyaluronic acid gels, and cellulose acetate. These materials have many disadvantages, including their toxicity, requirement for organic solvents, and difficulty of application. Researchers at Arizona State University and the University of Michigan have optimized the properties of the two-component polymer calcium a...Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:51:29 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7750http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7706Successful delivery of construction and other services has been an issue for the past 20 years. Despite technical advances such as Building Information Management (BIM), LEAN Practices, forward thinking/scheduling, costing software, and design enhancements, the construction industry, as well as others, continue to have performance issues. The conventional price based award system, which selects vendors based solely on price, has lower performance because the party who knows less (the client or client’s representative) is giving instructions to the party (vendor) who should be an expert...Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:55:34 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7706http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7636Due to the tremendous increase in the amount of digital data, effective large scale data classification is playing an increasingly important role. In active learning algorithms a “classifier” is used to classify the unlabeled data. To ensure reliable performance of the classifier, it must be trained using a number of labeled examples, or the classifier’s “training set.” Such systems often rely on humans to manually label the training set. It is impractical for human beings to hand-label large datasets, so in order to optimize the labeling effort associated with training data classifiers...Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:53:41 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7636http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7629Noroviruses (also known as Norwalk viruses) are believed to cause approximately 90% of epidemic nonbacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis worldwide and may be responsible for 50% of all foodborne outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the US. The CDC estimates that up to 200,000 children under the age of 5 die of norovirus infection in developing countries each year. There is no vaccine against norovirus and no specific antiviral drugs to treat infections. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a subunit antigen consisting of norovirus virus-like pa...Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:34:29 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7629http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7628Certain natural clays are known to have antibacterial activity; some are used in Ivory Coast to treat Buruli ulcer, a flesh-eating disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Despite their promise, such as the potential to be effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, these clays are little used in medicine. The main reasons for this are the lack of elucidation of the mechanism of antibacterial action, the variation in activity of known antibacterial clays, and the inability to predict a priori the antibacterial efficacy of any natural, modified, or synthetic clay. Researchers at t...Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:18:17 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7628http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7627Algal biofuels are a promising area of research in the field of alternative energy. A major drawback of the currently available methods of algae cultivation is the lack of an economical and efficient method to harvest the biomass; recovery of the algae biomass from the culture medium may contribute 20-30% of the total cost of culture. Recovery and concentration of biomass using membrane technology is very promising, as the water and residual nutrients can be reused. However, fouling of the membrane remains an issue. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a cross flow m...Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:13:19 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7627http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7621Infections caused by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) are very common worldwide (afflicting up to 3% of the population), and chronic infection may develop into cirrhosis and liver cancer. For this reason a vaccine against HCV would have great utility, with the HCV envelope protein 2 (E2) a promising candidate because it can directly bind to a human cell receptor and plays a role in viral entry. However, studies of producing E2 for a vaccine have shown that much of the E2 produced is misfolded and thus not functional. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have de...Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:31:24 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7621http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7620Mitochondrial diseases are a group of disorders associated with dysfunctional mitochondria, often caused by genetic mutations to mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial defects are damaging, particularly to tissues with high energy demands such as neural and muscle tissues. Energetic defects have been implicated in forms of movement disorders, cardiomyopathy, myopathy, blindness and deafness. Membrane-penetrating antioxidants are often prescribed but treatment options are limited. There have been extensive efforts to find alternative, synthetic antioxidants with superior activities and simplif...Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:26:50 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7620http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7619Single cell analysis devices are finding increasing use (for studying cellular metabolism, respiration rates, protein expression, etc.) because they overcome the difficulties in ensuring cell homogeneity in larger cell populations. However, current devices determine extracellular flux by measuring temporal changes in concentration, and thus require a sealed microenvironment. This method slows the response rate and lowers the throughput considerably. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a novel device and method to measure the extracellular ...Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:21:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7619http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7618West Nile virus (WNV), a member of the Flavivirus genus, can cause severe neurological disease, long-term morbidity, and death. In the last decade, nearly 30,000 cases of severe WNV infection have been diagnosed in the U.S. Historically, there has been a lack of effective and specific antiviral treatment for flavivirus infection; current treatment for WNV is supportive and no vaccine or therapeutic agent has been approved for human use. A promising humanized murine Mab (monoclonal antibody) mHu-E16 therapeutic candidate is in Phase II clinical trials, but since it does not cross the blo...Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:12:31 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7618http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7617Phenylurea compounds are mass-produced, toxic compounds that find use as pesticides and include triclocarban, an antimicrobial used in disinfectants, soaps and other household products. These compounds persist during normal wastewater treatment schemes and largely become sequestered in sewage sludge. From both wastewater and sludge reclamation, they are released back into the environment where they are known to cause widespread contamination in aqueous and terrestrial environments. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University and Johns Hopkins University have disc...Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:05:02 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7617http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7616Protein microarrays have the potential to revolutionize proteomics research for vaccine development, drug discovery, and diagnosis. However, this potential is far from being realized mainly due to technical complexity of protein array fabrication and uncertainties about the functionality and integrity of proteins once immobilized onto a solid surface. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a native protein array that combines the advantages of current in situ self-assembled and spotted microarrays. By directly spotting protein-carrying magnet...Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:57:51 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7616http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7334Two-dimensional microarrays have proven useful for a wide range of applications, from ELISA microarrays to basic protein research. However, attaching an antibody, enzyme, or other protein to a functionalized surface is not without its problems. Antibodies are costly and time-consuming to produce and screen, and the process of attaching a protein often alters its conformation. Thus, there is a need for a simple, rapid and inexpensive method to produce a surface with a high density of binding sites, and which orients and binds the protein in its native form (or other desired conformation)...Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:00:16 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7334http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7333A major limitation of current methods to detect specific DNA sequences is the need to amplify the target DNA to detectable levels using PCR. The additional instrumentation and reagents required for PCR severely limit the portability of PCR based detection systems, greatly extend the time required for analysis, and potentially introduce significant errors into the results. The detection thresholds of the most sensitive detection methods currently available still correspond to a large number- presumably hundreds or thousands - of hybridization events. Researchers at Arizona State Univers...Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:00:15 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7333http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7329A buck converter is a step down DC/DC converter used in portable electronic devices to convert higher DC voltages to small voltages necessary to function. Lossless load current sensing ability is one of the most desirable features of contemporary current or voltage mode controlled DC/DC converters. Recently, current sensing techniques in DC/DC converters that use the existing inductor series DC resistance (DCR) are gaining attention due to their reduced complexity and minimized loss. This is important for critical monitoring of output within the device. The increase in the use of DCR se...Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:02:03 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7329http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7324There is a continuing need for high-level device security to transfer information on penetrable channels, track the device and data, and encrypt valuable data, whether for national security purposes, intellectual property, or company and individual privacy. Obtaining a unique signature for an integrated circuit can be an excellent tool to achieve these objectives, but the current techniques to extract one are difficult to implement and not effective enough. To have a successful fingerprint, an integrated circuit must be algorithmically unpredictable, be consistent under all applied cond...Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:41:16 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7324http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7323The hearing threshold is defined as the lowest sound levels that a listener can detect. Finding accurate hearing threshold is one of the critical parameters in hearing loss diagnosis and hearing aid. However, current methods of testing suffer from various problems. One of the main problems is accuracy. Several contributing factors of inaccuracy have been identified including the long test duration, which exceeds subject’s attention span. The amount of experience of the examiner can also affect accuracy. Current systems also need to be frequently calibrated which requires downtime that l...Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:28:31 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7323http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7321Alternatives to silicon dioxide and silicon nitride, the traditional dielectric and passivation materials in semiconductor devices, have been the subject of intense research for the past two decades. Alloy compounds whose properties can be tuned via compositional adjustments are of particular interest. These include materials such as silicon oxynitride. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a technology that uses compositional tuning to produce a family of amorphous dielectrics with near stoichiometric Si3N4-xPx (x~ 0-1) compositions and adjustable optical response. Pr...Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:06:33 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7321http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7291Noninvasive imaging systems, such as PET, SPECT, MRI, and CT, have become an essential part of modern medicine. Though MRI provides good contrast between the different soft tissues, contrast agents may be used to enhance the appearance of blood vessels, tumors, inflammation, or joints. When a contrast agent is specified, it is important to use one giving as high a contrast as possible, preferably by increasing R1. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed an innovative MRI contrast agent with a per-ion R1 relaxivity at least twice as great as tha...Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:32:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7291http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7286There is an ever-growing need for synthetic gene assembly. However, none of the currently-available protocols is suitable for robust, reliable high-throughput operation. PCR-based techniques are highly-dependent on the quality of the oligonucleotide raw materials, leading to high and inconsistent error rates. With new applications for synthetic genes appearing every day, there is a significant need for a high-throughput protocol which is robust (can use oligos of variable quality), reliable (consistently low error rates), and inexpensive (microarray synthesized oligos are acceptable). ...Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:00:53 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7286http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7260Dolastatin compounds, isolated from the sea hare (sea slug) Dolabella auricularia, have been shown to have remarkable anticancer properties. In particular, dolaststin 16 has been shown to be an extraordinarily potent cancer cell growth inhibitor. Its 3-dimensional structure, however, has heretofore remained unknown. Researchers at Arizona State University have determined the 3-dimensional X-ray crystal structure of dolaststin 16, thus paving the way for further development. Additionally, they have determined a way to stereoselectively synthesize two unique amino acid units of dolaststi...Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:58:37 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7260http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7258The FRODA (Framework Rigidity Optimized Dynamics Algorithm) software was developed by researchers at Arizona State University for analyzing conformations of proteins and other biomolecules. This software uses novel algorithms that are optimized to rapidly determine conformational changes in macromolecules, especially proteins. Knowledge of the conformational changes in a molecule is important for understanding the function of the molecule. A key example is the case of protein-ligand binding. For example, this software can lead to a better understanding of the conformational change in a...Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:42:00 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7258http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7257Plant viral vectors have great potential for rapid production of important pharmaceutical proteins. High-yield production, however, of hetero-oligomeric proteins that require the expression and assembly of two or more protein subunits often is problematic due to the competing nature of viral vectors derived from the same virus. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have developed two solutions to this problem. They have produced a novel, single-vector replicon system providing high-yield production capacity for hetero-oligomeric proteins, without the need f...Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:21:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7257http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7256The remarkable anticancer properties of dolastatin 10, isolated from the sea hare (sea slug) Dolabella auricularia, have led to interest in closely related derivatives (auristatins) suitable for clinical trials. Most recently, such auristatins have been linked to antibodies for delivery. In many indications, however, it would be desirable to deliver such drugs without resort to conjugation. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed prodrug forms of a novel auristatin tyramine derivative as phosphate salts, as well as auristatin quinoline modifications. These compounds exhi...Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:05:17 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7256http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7245Many efforts have been made to control the speed with which molecules pass through a small orifice. This could be useful for new approaches to DNA sequencing, new sensors, and digital computing based on hybrid electronic/molecular transistors. Current designs, however, are complex and have important limitations, such as limited ability to control molecular flow through the device. Thus, a need exists for a microfluidic device that precisely controls the flow of individual molecules through a channel under direct electronic control. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona Stat...Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:47:38 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7245http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7243Biofuel production from photoautotrophic biomass is a promising energy solution; also attractive is the carbon-neutral nature of resulting biofuels made with CO2 fixation. Strains of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. are promising candidates, with high biomass yield and robustness over a wide range of temperatures, salinity, and pH. For highest productivity, the nutrient supply rates must be matched with the rate of biomass synthesis. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a novel Membrane Carbonation Photobioreactor that uses a hollow-fib...Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:05:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7243http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7242There is growing concern about groundwater contamination and the impact of such contamination on health, agriculture, and water supplies. Because of this, it is becoming increasingly important to demonstrate the effectiveness of environmental remediation processes. One of the best ways to do this is to obtain a set of time-discrete samples from which kinetic rates (such as for pollutant destruction) can be calculated. Issues with taking such measurements include the difficulty of storing large volumes of fluid for later analysis in the lab, especially if the chemical of interest is labi...Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:08:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7242http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7241Persistent contaminants may be present in very low concentrations in the environ-ment and yet exert considerable effects on living organisms via bioaccumulation. Current environmental engineering sample collection, preparation, and analysis practices may under- or overestimate the actual concentrations to which aquatic or sedimentary biota are exposed. In the fields of environmental risk characterization and risk management, there is a significant need for a device that enables the determination of critical parameters via more reliable determination of the bioavailability of contaminan...Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:53:18 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7241http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7053Norovirus causes almost 90% of epidemic, non-bacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis around the world. Extremely infectious and diverse, the virus causes acute diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache, fatigue, and fever. Though the illness is generally resolved within 48 hours, mortalities do occur in the young, elderly, and immune-compromised, as a result of complications brought on by dehydration. In spite of the high prevalence of norovirus infections, there is still no vaccine available to prevent the disease. Progress is hindered by a lack of a suitable animal model and low ...Mon, 02 May 2011 11:17:14 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7053http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7043More than 170 million people worldwide are chronic carriers of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), but there is no therapeutic vaccine currently available for treating this infection. Persistent HCV infection results in chronic active hepatitis which may lead to progressive liver disease. Current treatment strategies are expensive, have substantial side effects, and are effective in only approximately 50% of patients. Therapeutic vaccines that enhance host immune responses to eliminate chronic HCV infection would be a major advancement in the treatment of this disease. Researchers at the Biodesig...Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:23:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7043http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7042Kitasatospora sp. produces a variety of metabolites with anti-cancer activity, such as the cyclodepsipeptide respirantin. Researchers at Arizona State have isolated other related molecules with anti-cancer and anti-microbial activities: kitastatin 1 and a valeryl modification of respirantin. These three compounds exhibit potent anti- cancer cell growth properties (GI50 ~ 0.0006 µg/mL). These compounds also have potential anti-infective activities. Researchers at ASU have also realized the total synthesis of the respirantin compound. This approach should offer ready access to the sca...Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:11:14 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7042http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7041The FIRST software (Floppy Inclusions and Rigid Substructure Topography) was developed by researchers at Arizona State University for analyzing conformations of proteins and other biomolecules. This software uses patented algorithms for identifying rigid and flexible regions within proteins and other biomolecules of thousands of residues in a few seconds. The FRODA module (Framework Rigidity-Optimized Dynamics Algorithm) within the FIRST software uses geometric simulation algorithms to quickly explore the “clash free” conformational space in proteins or other biomolecules. FRODA is c...Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:32:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/7041http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6985Pulmonary embolism is a common cardiovascular emergency with approximately 600,000 incidents and 200,000 deaths occurring annually in the United States. CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) has become the reference standard for pulmonary embolism diagnosis, but this technique has several issues with interpretation of the intricate branching structure of the pulmonary vessels, artifacts that may obscure or mimic embolisms, suboptimal contrast, and inhomogeneities. To overcome these shortcomings, researchers at Arizona State University have developed a machine learning-based approach for auto...Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:28:13 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6985http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6984Carotid Intima-Media Thickness (CIMT) measurement with B-mode ultrasound is a noninvasive, sensitive, and highly reproducible technique for cardiovascular risk stratification. Studies have shown that CIMT measurement is correlated with cardiac risk factors and can be used as an independent predictor of future myocardial infarction and stroke risk. When using commercially-available software in such measurement, however, interpretation of CIMT ultrasound exams is lengthy. This is because considerable experience needed to achieve accurate and reproducible measurements. In order to overcom...Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:28:13 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6984http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6982Infectious diseases are one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world. However, these infectious diseases are becoming increasingly difficult to treat due to the growing abundance of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and insufficient development of new antibacterial agents. The development of novel and inexpensive treatment options is becoming increasingly important to help relieve such burdens. Researchers at Arizona State University have identified a natural mineral mixture that exhibits in vitro antibacterial activity against a broad-spectrum of pathogenic organisms. H...Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:28:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6982http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6981Next-generation DNA sequencing has been developed to improve the classical Sanger sequencing process. Common to many next-generation sequencing approaches is a problem of limited read length due to the steady loss of DNA from an array surface and the growth of out-of-phase signals. Therefore, there is a need for greater stabilization of DNA attachment to the surface and a minimization of out-of-phase signal growth. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a method for preparing highly stable, silane-derivatized glass surfaces for use in DNA sequencing applications. By usi...Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:28:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6981http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6980Many sites with ground and/or surface water pollution have been identified across the United States. For site characterization, exposure and risk assessment as well as remediation monitoring, it is important to analyze the environment for toxic contaminants at trace levels. However, this sensing is often expensive, especially when attempting to detect ultra-trace contaminants. A researcher at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University has developed a field-deployable sampling device for long-term, cost-effective monitoring of ground and surface waters. It can be used in space...Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:23:55 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6980http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6979Using engineered gene "circuits" to control cellular function in the presence of background noise has many potential applications in the emerging field of synthetic biology. Such a technology would also be relevant to the creation and design of cells controlled by chemically-synthesized genomes. The "holy grail" would be the ability to apply this control by externally manipulating an engineered circuit. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed an auto-regulatory gene network in the bacteriophage l. This network emulates a logical AND gate. Through varying internal system ...Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:07:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6979http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6945Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's are affecting an increasing number, with annual new diagnoses approaching one-half million; and total cost, $150 billion. Early diagnosis and treatment are important for optimal outcomes, yet there is currently no test to detect such diseases in their early, asymptomatic stages. Active immuniza-tion for Alzheimer's is one promising therapeutic approach, yet current techniques utilize monomeric or fibrillar aggregates of the protein beta-amyloid (Aß), rather than the preferred oligomeric Aß form. Researchers at Arizona State University have...Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:01:49 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6945http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6944Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's are affecting an increasing number, with annual new diagnoses approaching one-half million; and total cost, $150 billion. Early diagnosis and treatment are important for optimal outcomes, yet there is currently no test to detect such diseases in their early, asymptomatic stages. Active immuniza-tion for Alzheimer's is one promising therapeutic approach, yet current techniques utilize monomeric or fibrillar aggregates of the protein beta-amyloid (Aß), rather than the preferred oligomeric Aß form. Researchers at Arizona State University have...Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:56:52 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6944http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6943Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s are affecting an increasing number, with annual new diagnoses approaching one-half million; and total cost, $150 billion. Early diagnosis and treatment are important for optimal outcomes, yet there is currently no test to detect such diseases in their early, asymptomatic stages. Active immuniza-tion for Alzheimer’s is one promising therapeutic approach, yet current techniques utilize monomeric or fibrillar aggregates of the protein beta-amyloid (Aß), rather than the preferred oligomeric Aß form. Researchers at Arizona State University have...Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:16:16 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6943http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6646The accurate measurement of potassium ion levels in biological samples is essential given the impact such ion levels have on many aspects of homeo-stasis. Normal potassium levels are important for the maintenance of heart and nervous system function. Traditionally, potassium ions have been measured in plasma or serum using ion-selective electrodes, which are cumbersome to use and costly to maintain. Therefore, there is a need for the development of alternative methods of measuring potassium ion concentra- tion in a variety of sample mediums. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Ar...Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:21:11 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6646http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6596Cell culture is an indispensible tool in many fields including cell biology, immunology, microbiology, cancer and infectious disease research. However, conventional two-dimensional culture, which involves growing cells as monolayers on solid, impermeable surfaces, may lead to the loss of key phenotypic and functional cell characteristics, and often does not predict in vivo tissue responses. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a novel method to produce three-dimensional, physiologically relevant immune tissue systems. The low sedimental flui...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:26:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6596http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6594Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is one of two hormones in the body primarily responsible for calcium regulation. PTH affects bone and kidney tissue. The inappropriate regulation of this hormone is associated with diseases such as primary and secondary hyperpara-thyroidism, hypoparathyroidism, hypo/hypercalcemia, and adynamic bone disease. PTH exists in at least two biologically active (and several inactive) forms. Depending on the disease, multiple forms of PTH may have important diagnostic relevance. Most PTH assays presently in use target only a single form of PTH. Employing multiple diffe...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:26:09 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6594http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6593Biofuel precursors are typically extracted from algae via mechanical pressing and/or solvent extraction. Some problems associated with these methods include capture of only a small fraction of the biofuel, slow processing time, and handling of hazardous and often flammable solvents. Other industrial processes involve dewatering algae, using such methods as membrane filtration, flocculation, and centrifugation. However, the remaining water content can still be quite high, often near 85%, requiring more involved methods such as homogenization. Clearly a need exists for improved methods o...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:26:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6593http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6592The two greatest challenges facing the world in the 21st century are environmental degradation and sustainable energy. Global warming due to increased greenhouse gases, along with widespread water pollution with nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphate) and other contaminants are major environmental concerns. Conventional techniques for pollution control are typically very expensive, have high energy consumption, and generate large quantities of sludge which requires disposal. Production and consumption of fossil fuels are major causes of air and water pollutions and is nonsustainable ...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:26:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6592http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6591The two greatest challenges facing the world in the 21st century are environmental degradation and sustainable energy. Global warming due to increased greenhouse gases, along with widespread water pollution with nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphate) and other contaminants are major environmental concerns. Conventional techniques for pollution control are typically very expensive, have high energy consumption, and generate large quantities of sludge which requires disposal. Production and consumption of fossil fuels are major causes of air and water pollutions and is nonsustainable ...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:26:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6591http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6589Despite the promise of cholinesterases as effective treatments against nerve-agent intoxication, the practicality of this therapeutic approach depends on the availability of large amounts of these enzymes. Furthermore, these enzymes are required in stoichiometric rather than catalytic quantities. The present invention is a method of making a transgenic plant that is capable of expressing a physiologically active human acetylcholinesterase (AChE), human butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) or their derivatives. It is a robust system that is capable of production and delivery of effective coun...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:26:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6589http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6587People without natural obstacle detection capability, due to a visual impairment, require some type of an aid to effectively maneuver within their environment. Although Electronic Travel Aids (ETA) have been in existence for over 40 years, a combination of economic, technical, and other issues has prevented them from becoming mainstream assistive tools for the vision impaired. Researchers at ASU have developed a new design focused on overcoming these challenges to provide the right balance of cost, functionality and ease of use. Additionally, a potentially novel concept is presented; t...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:26:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6587http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6586This invention provides a novel promoter useful for obtaining extremely high levels of cellular transcription and translation. As a result, production of high levels of heterologous proteins is possible. The significance of this product lies in both the strength and the specificity of the promoter for transgene expression in plants and plant tissue as compared to all existing technologies. Research has demonstrated these outcomes by monitoring the expression of heterologous jellyfish green fluorescence protein (GFP) using novel promoter and comparing it with levels expressed from the c...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:26:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6586http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6581Live attenuated vaccines are considered among the most powerful tools for disease control and potentially disease eradication. Although vaccines have made a major contribution to public health, there are still significant deaths from diseases for which vaccines are not available. There is a need to develop better, safer, and cheaper vaccines capable for promoting long-lasting protection. Melha Mellata at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has developed compositions and methods for using regulated, toxin/antitoxin systems in live Salmonella typ. bacterium as a directed ...Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:07:30 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6581http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6565Live attenuated vaccines are considered among the most powerful tools for disease control and potentially disease eradication. Although vaccines have made a major contribution to public health, there are still significant deaths from diseases for which vaccines are not available. There is a need to develop better, safer, and cheaper vaccines capable for promoting long-lasting protection. Melha Mellata at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has developed compositions and methods for using regulated, toxin/antitoxin systems in live Salmonella typ. bacterium as a directed ...Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:13 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6565http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6564Cyanobacteria are a promising source of biofuels. They have higher growth rates and greater solar energy capture efficiency than multi-cellular plants. Traditional downstream recovery of the cell membrane lipids from cyanobacteria, however, typically requires cell lysis followed by solvent extraction. This can account for 70-80% of the cost of biofuel production. If these operations could be eliminated, it would substantially reduce the cost of producing biofuels from cyanobacteria. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have engineered a strain of the cyano...Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:13 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6564http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6563Despite advances in treatment, cancer continues to be the leading cause of death. Worldwide, cancer accounted for 7.4 million deaths in 2004; this number is projected to rise to 12 million by 2030 (WHO). A significant need continues to exist for therapeutics to decrease cancer cell viability, invasion, and metastasis. Researchers at Arizona State University have discovered that the sulfhydryl oxidase QSOX1 is over-expressed in tumors but not in normal tissue. Short hairpin RNA was developed that inhibits QSOX1 expression, leading to a decrease in tumor cell growth and more importantly,...Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6563http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6562Rapid and sensitive detection of nucleic acids and proteins is vital for the identification of pathogenic agents. Biomolecules, such as F1-ATPase, have been previously shown to provide a single molecule detection system for DNA using a detection signal that is visible by fluorescence microscopy (US 6,989,235). Prof. Wayne Frasch at Arizona State University has developed a detection device for the identification of targets that employs and further develops the immobilized F1-ATPase. Target detection is achieved when the metabolite of interest binds to a protein attached to the F1-ATPase...Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6562http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6561Photosynthetic bacteria potentially provide a source of lipids that is relatively easy to harvest and convert into biofuels. To increase the efficiency of this system it would be beneficial to use a bacterial strain that produces lipids that are readily converted to biofuels, such as neutral lipids. Hence, there is a need for a photosynthesizing bacterium that produces high concentrations of neutral lipids. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a cyanobacterium capable of producing neutral lipids. The cyanobacterium regulates expression of a ...Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6561http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6559Homologous recombination is the process by which similar DNA sequences exchange information with one another. Since homologous recombination is a rare event, various selection markers are used for isolation of recombinants that have undergone homo-logous recombination. Though a variety of positive selection markers exists, very few negative selection markers are available, such as are necessary to select against random integrations and/or eliminate marker genes. Currently, for example, the herpes simplex-thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) gene is the primary negative selection marker used. This ...Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:11 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6559http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6558The monitoring and control of gas flows are important in industrial applications, including fluid transport and delivery and in medical applications such as oxygen delivery and breath measurements. Flow sensors have been built on many principles including mass transport, mechanical measurements of flow and/or pressure, optical techniques, and many others. However, there still exists a need for a flow sensor that is simple, compact, and inexpensive. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a novel method to measure flow rate using acoustic reson...Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6558http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6555Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:09 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6555http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6553Non-classical translation initiation sites are believed to play an important role in the human genome. Studies of these, however, have been limited by the absence of effective tools for identifying their sequences at the DNA level. There is a pressing need then for new functional tools that can be used to identify and map these sequences in known genomes. Researchers at Arizona State University have applied a novel in vitro selection scheme to survey the entire human genome for RNA elements that are capable of initiating protein translation. This technique may solve many interesting qu...Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:27:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6553http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6534Despite recent advances in early detection and treatment, breast cancer remains a common and devastating health problem. With the advent of molecularly-targeted therapeutics, biomarkers that are associated with biological subtypes of cancer may be useful for predicting responses to therapeutic interventions. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University and collaborators have identified 28 antigens as potential biomarkers for the early detection of breast cancer. These biomarkers were selected out of 6500 tumor antigens in a sequential screening study and yielded s...Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:52:39 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6534http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6533Loss of bone mineral content leads to a variety of significant medical problems such as osteoporosis. Development of new treatments for metabolic bone disease and evaluation of the effectiveness of existing therapies in individual patients are severely hampered by the lack of a reliable tool for quickly measuring changes in bone mineral balance in response to treatment. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a new tracerless calcium isotope biomarker of bone mineral balance. When properly applied, the calcium isotope biomarker reveals changes in bone mineral balance wi...Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:52:04 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6533http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6402Microwaves have a wide use in telecommunications, radar, semiconductor, industrial and biological applications. Hence, a precise knowledge of the microwave properties of materials is critical for efficient design and operation of microwave systems. In the measurement of dielectric and magneto-dielectric constitutive properties of lossy materials, an admittance tunnel is usually setup. This apparatus is used to characterize the materials for absorption of electromagnetic energy. In a typical application, large areas of the material interact with the incident wave. Hence, it is desirable ...Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:53:09 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6402http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6400Microwaves have a wide use in telecommunications, radar, semiconductor, industrial and biological applications. Hence, a precise knowledge of the microwave properties of materials is critical for efficient design and operation of microwave systems. In the measurement of microwave constitutive properties of a material, two standard approaches are followed. The first approach is to create an aperture on a metal screen placed between a source and receiver. A thin sheet of the test material is then placed over the aperture. The change in the transmitted field can be used to measure the pro...Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:53:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6400http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6398Electronic communication systems widely use bandpass filters. In conventional radio transceivers with fixed band(s) of operation, bandpass filters operate for a predetermined center frequency and bandwidth. Fixed RF filtration is usually realized using lumped element L-C resonators, transmission-line and waveguide resonators, ceramic resonators, surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators, or film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR). However, in multi-standard single-platform radio applications, such as software-defined radio (SDR) transceivers, the frequency range of interest spans nearly two ...Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:53:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6398http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6397In the manufacture of (Silicon based) semiconductor devices, an oxide layer is typically formed at the surface of a wafer prior to device fabrication. This oxide layer (such as SiO2 grown on a Si (100) surface) typically grows completely amorphous with little ordering in the first atomic layers near the interface. This can lead to thickness and structural variations that can affect the electronic performance of devices using these oxides. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a proprietary method to grow oxide layers in an ordered manner (US6,613,677). Further innovat...Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:53:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6397http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6396For mobile devices, reducing power draw and prolonging battery life are critical design objectives. Presently, current-steering digital to analog converters (DACs) require high power consumption and dynamic element matching and are vulnerable to component source mismatch. Accordingly, large rail devices and higher supply voltages are needed. Additionally, DACs do not provide quantization noise suppression and are forced to rely on RF filtering for out of band noise suppression. These power-hungry converters are complex and limit the operational performance of many wireless devices. Res...Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:53:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6396http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6392The primary cause of performance degradation in modern integrated circuit (IC) systems is manufacturing process variations. Specifically, variations in IC components (e.g. CMOS devices, metal interconnects, etc.) result in performance uncertainties and inconsistencies. For example, metal interconnect thickness is dependent upon the slurry thickness in the chemical mechanical polishing step and the quality of the polishing pad. Meanwhile, the effective channel length of each CMOS device depends on the effectiveness of critical dimension (CD) controllability. As a result, variations in m...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6392http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6391Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEM-FCs) are becoming an increasingly important technology in both stationary and mobile applications. Problems impeding the development of fuel cell technology mainly involve electrocatalysts and electrolyte membranes. Commercially available membranes limit the operating temperature range to an approximate maximum of 80°C, and consequently, catalyst poisoning can result from overheating, creating serious problems. To overcome these problems, researchers at ASU have developed membrane materials for PEM-FCs that can operate at temperatures up to ...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6391http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6390Processes for building devices in heterogeneous systems, such as silicon on insulator (SOI) technology, are becoming increasingly popular, especially in light of the recent interest in employing novel heterostructures for use in flexible electronics and displays. Of the two leading processes, ion cut technology, which comprises implanting ions into a donor substrate and using an anneal to exfoliate a semiconductor layer from the donor substrate onto the carrier substrate, is generally superior to back etch silicon on insulator (BESOI) technology, which comprises etching away hundreds o...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:47 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6390http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6389Current commercial and defense electronics are based on Silicon (Si) while most RF and optical sources and detectors are based on III-V and II-VI semiconductors grown on non-Si substrates such as GaAs, InP, InAs, GaSb, and CdZnTe. This partitioning of the substrates poses major obstacles to device integration and restricts the choice of material systems that are candidates for bandgap engineering of future devices. To overcome these problems, this invention utilizes new methodologies for integration of III-V and II-VI compound semiconductors with Si via buffer layers based on novel Si-...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:47 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6389http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6387The ability to manufacture high quality Sn-Ge and Si-Ge-Sn alloys has significant industry value for various reasons; however, existing techniques have failed to produce sufficiently high quality alloys to allow for effective use of these alloys in device applications. Specifically, the ability of Sn-Ge alloys to transition from indirect- to direct-gap semiconductors may ultimately allow for a direct-gap semiconductor to be fully integrated with Si technology. Subsequently, arbitrarily thick Sn-Ge layers deposited on Si can function as “virtual substrates” or “buffer layers” to allow fo...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6387http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6386Automatic face authorization has long been an active research area for its wide potential applications, such as law enforcement, security access, and man-machine interaction. Among various approaches, Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to face imaging is now a cornerstone in face recognition. However, 2-D face recognition methods are in general unable to overcome the problems resulting from illumination, expression or pose variations. The emerging trend noted by many researchers in the field of face recognition is the 3-D technology. 3-D method is more accurate and is able to overcome...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6386http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6385Many different graphic file formats are used for storing graphics: JPEG, TIF, GIF, etc. Highly desirable characteristic for all still digital image compression formats are quality and compression size. JPEG 2000 was developed as an open, ISO compliant technology that improved upon the JPEG file format. With the increased use in digital imaging technology there has been a need to improve digital image compression formats. Researchers at Arizona State University and NASA have developed a new encoding algorithm that enables image quality controls for JPEG 2000 encoding. The approach works...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6385http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6383In the field of biochemical deposition, the use of organic molecules to modify the interface between metal and high-permittivity (K) material is a recent development with a wealth of applications. Generally, there have been two main approaches to molecular control over electronic device properties: 1) control of the electrical potential at the interface (electrostatics), 2) control of charge transport across the interface (electron dynamics). For purposes of stability and reliability, the electrostatic approach may be more favorable. Methods, while complicated, do exist for tuning comp...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:44 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6383http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6382Recently, efforts have been made to obtain larger capacitance values in capacitors of semiconductor devices using noble metals such as ruthenium (Ru), platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir), and osmium (Os) as a lower electrode or an upper electrode of a capacitor. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is often used to deposit this metal over the entire wafer surface. In later steps, the undesired portions of the metal thin film are removed by etching and cleaning, leaving the metal thin film in the desired locations. However, the etching process to remove the undesired metal thin film adds manufacturin...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:43 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6382http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6380Currently, there is a surge in interest in fuel cell research, as companies across the globe race to take advantage of the high energy capacity that fuel cells provide in comparison to other portable electrochemical systems. Many approaches to fuel cell technology use strong acid electrolytes. Such systems suffer from corrosion problems, which limit their functional life. Despite significant research in the area, there remains a need for higher-performance proton carriers for use in fuel cells. To address this crucial need, researchers at Arizona State University have developed neutral...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:42 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6380http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6377Lock in Amplifiers can extract signals from extremely noisy environments. This property can be put to use in improving the detection of signals in micro channels. In effect there is improvement in the signal to noise ratio hence increasing detection sensitivity in environmental and biological tests in miniaturized systems. There have are several techniques to measure signals in nano-scale volumes but the challenge always lied in the accuracy of the signal and filtering the background noise. Accurate and noise free signal will boost the Signal to noise ratio and also help avoid false rea...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:45:41 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6377http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6376Crystalline Si has enjoyed spectacular success in the solar cell industry for various reasons including the ability to benefit from technological breakthroughs in the microelectronics industry and the close proximity of the 1.1 eV band gap value of Si to the optimal theoretical 1.3 eV band gap value for which the thermodynamically limited single-cell efficiency reaches a maximum value. Since modern single-cell crystal solar technology appears to be approaching the maximum expected efficiency, efforts to increase the competitiveness of these cells have focused on decreasing the cell thic...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:51 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6376http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6374Although numerous antenna applications demand broad bandwidths, many antenna configurations simply cannot achieve the bandwidths these applications require. For example, both communication and radar systems operate over broad bands of frequency (greater than 2:1 and typically 10:1), yet the electrically or physically limited (compact) antennas available for these applications (e.g. low-profile antennas mounted above conducting metallic platforms as on tanks, aircraft, etc.) often cannot facilitate these needs. Indeed, many existing compact antennas operate as resonant circuits that prov...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:50 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6374http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6372Global energy demand is increasing rapidly in response to growth in both the existing and the emerging economies of the world; consequently, there is unprecedented demand for new solar cell technologies that can provide clean, renewable energy. Thus far, conversion inefficiencies and high production costs have limited the potential of existing photovoltaic devices. As a result, the primary focus of current photovoltaic cell research is to find new methods and materials to improve device efficiency and cost. To this end, improving the tunnel junctions incorporated in all high-efficienc...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:49 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6372http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6370Tunable RF filters have significant utility in software-defined radio applications. Often, these applications require wideband frequency coverage that may differ greatly from frequency coverage used in civilian telecommunication systems. Most commonly, tuning response is a product of changes made to capacitors and inductors in the resonators of a bandpass filter; however, the higher order resonances and spurious pass-bands induced by the periodic nature of the distributed elements present in the filter structure limit the utility of this method of tuning. Researchers at Arizona State U...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6370http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6368Employing selective epitaxy to grow fully strained Si-Ge alloys in the source and drain (S/D) of a p-type metal-oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistor compresses the Si-channel to significantly increase the hole mobility, and consequently, the speed of the device. Ge-rich alloys, where Ge constitutes = 50% of the alloy, are of particular interest because of expectations that these alloys will produce disruptive improvements in the saturation/drive currents over traditional, Si-rich, configurations. Still, current selective growth processes are unable to yield films with device quality m...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:47 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6368http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6367The on-line monitoring capability of heavy metal ions would be of interest to the laboratory water market. Heavy metal ions are a cause of environmental pollution from a number of sources, including lead in petrol, industrial effluents and leaching of metal ions from the soil into lakes and rivers by acid rain. The concept of stripping voltammetry is a well understood and highly respected technique that has been applied for trace level detection of heavy metal ions, such as zinc, lead, cadmium, copper, mercury, arsenic, etc. There are commercially available voltammetric systems availabl...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:47 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6367http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6365Currently, Si wafers and related wafer processing accounts for seventy-five percent of the cost of producing conventional solar panels. With a potential concentration ratio of 500 – 1000 and double the efficiency over conventional single junction cells, the use of concentrator multi-junction solar cell technologies will dramatically reduce the fraction of the wafer cost for solar panels, which will solve the semiconductor materials bottleneck and lower the overall cost for electricity generation using PV cells. Essentially, multi-junction photovoltaic devices employ a stack of different...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6365http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6364The Gañán-Calvo method for utilizing a “virtual nozzle” to produce very small diameter columnar liquid jets is currently the state of the art in the field. This method involves passing a gaseous fluid entraining a liquid fluid through a capillary tube and out an aperture at the end. The gas-dynamic forces exerted by the gaseous fluid provide the “virtual nozzle” that reduces the liquid flow diameter well below that of the aperture diameter. While the Gañán-Calvo method improves markedly over conventional solid walled converging nozzles by offering reduced liquid flow diameters and reduc...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6364http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6363An inexpensive, miniaturized electrochemical silica detector has been developed at Arizona State University for use in ultrapure water (UPW) systems requiring silica concentrations much lower than 1 ppm. The semiconductor industry is by far the largest user of UPW, but the burgeoning flat panel display and bioscience industries are driving demand growth. This voltammetric detection method competes directly with industry standard colorimetric systems, which measure the absorbance of specific wavelengths of light by a distinct solution. These systems require large volumes of expensive and...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6363http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6362Random Access Memories (RAM) are read/write memory devices that can read data from or write data to any of its memory addresses. Static random access memories (SRAM) store data in flip-flops, which retain data as long as the SRAM is powered up. SRAMs are one of the VLSI circuit types most amenable to leakage power mitigation techniques. Most of these techniques achieve this objective by focusing on SRAM array leakage. However, up to half of the total SRAM transistor width may be comprised of peripheral circuitry. These peripheral circuits used to perform decode, sense, and write functio...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6362http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6361Microprocessors depend on high integrity instructions and data to function properly. Various factors can corrupt this information, with high-energy sub-atomic particles and other types of electromagnetic radiation effects being among the more difficult of these factors against which to guard. Because a single erroneous bit of information can lead to significant operation errors, processors may employ error detection and correction (EDAC) techniques to verify the integrity of information prior to use. Indeed, EDAC schemes can even provide an effective safety-guard against radiation effec...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6361http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6360MEMS microphones have become very popular in commercialized products in recent years, and one of the greatest demands currently is for directionality. This requires that multiple microphones be matched with great precision, but there is generally some degree of mismatch even when the microphones are manufactured very carefully. Existing techniques for producing microphones with directionality consume significant amounts of power and have other various limitations. Researchers at ASU have developed a technique for tuning the resonant frequencies of microphone membranes to compensate for...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:44 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6360http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6359Before converting detected power levels to the digital domain, conventional antenna tuning systems couple incident and reflected powers through a three-line directional coupler in addition to two RF power detectors. Replacing these conventional antenna tuning systems with the automatic antenna matching techniques and devices employed at lower radio frequencies can greatly improve commercial wireless and military communications. Researchers at ASU have invented a system that effectively utilizes these automatic antenna matching techniques and devices and have reduced the system to pract...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:44 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6359http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6357Germanium (Ge) has a direct band gap (E0) of 0.81 eV at room temperature; however, applying small perturbations to Ge can shift E0 to lower energies resulting in dramatically improved performance for semiconductor and telecommunication applications. Stressing Ge using tensile strain provides one means by which to lower its E0, but the current best method requires depositing the Ge on Silicon (Si) at relatively high temperatures and inducing stress through the subsequent contraction of the Si. While this process provides biaxial tensile strains as high as 0.25% in films as thick as 1 µm,...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:43 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6357http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6356Conducting polymers are used in applications such as photovoltaic cells, sensors and similar devices. The standard organic solar cells contain such polymers, mixed with an organic or inorganic electron conducting phase, along with metal oxides and a low work function metal. The commonly used polymers are polyacetylenes, polyphenyleneethynylenes (PPE), polyphenylenevinylenes (PPV), polythiophenes, and polyanilines. The polymers have different properties based on their organic structures and substituent groups. The substituents influence the physical and chemical properties and alter the...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:43 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6356http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6355Fuel cells are considered to be a likely alternative to current fuel sources. All fuel cells require electrolytes for conducting current. There are several types of fuel cells and they all have electrolytes that determine how the fuel cell works. Phosphoric acid based fuel cells are typically used in stationary applications, and higher power mobile applications. However, these electrolytes are corrosive and require expensive platinum catalysts. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed low-melting inorganic salt mixtures as electrolytes in fuel cells operating in the temp...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:42 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6355http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6354It is possible to fabricate radiation-hardened circuits using commercially available, state-of-the-art CMOS manufacturing processes via novel applications of Radiation Hardening by Design (RHBD) techniques. RHBD techniques allow users to mitigate total ionizing dose (TID) effects caused by layout techniques while being able to handle single event effects (SEE) via a combination of layout and circuit design; however, contemporary RHBD techniques have their limits. For example, while dual interlocked storage cells (DICE) latches can mitigate the effects of single event upsets (SEU), these...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:42 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6354http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6353Electronic circuits, electronic state storing circuits in particular, are vulnerable to high-energy sub-atomic particles and electromagnetic radiation. Consequently, techniques of “radiation hardening” the circuits that utilize special circuit designs, circuit layouts, select materials, or any combination thereof, are commonly employed to reduce this vulnerability. While special circuit layering techniques help to mitigate radiation affecting long-term functionality of circuits, the common solution to mitigate short-term effects, such as single event transients (SETs) and single event ...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:42 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6353http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6352Development and refinement of surgical skills of novice surgeons is critical and time consuming processes. Demand for better performance and accountability has resulted in shifting the focus of training from subjective to objective evaluation. Modern surgeon training techniques are moving towards a ‘hands-on’ approach and eliminating the process of ‘learning on patients’. Current training systems use metrics such as time, kinematics of laparoscopic tools, and smoothness of movements as a measure of surgical proficiency. Some systems use Markov models to model processes such as Minimally...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:41 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6352http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6351Most modern speech compression (coding) algorithms, for example those used in cell phones, deliver narrowband (=3200Hz) telephone (near toll) quality speech. This limits the naturalness and intelligibility of the speech signal. Although wideband coding technology is available for most networks, the cost of renewing the entire infrastructure to support them is prohibitive. Efforts to increase the bandwidth of the signal while using existing infrastructure are thus very desirable. Researchers at Arizona State University have proposed a novel bandwidth extension method that enhances signi...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:41 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6351http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6350Researchers at Arizona State University have developed organic materials having strong phosphorescent emission in the near infrared region (i.e., from about 650 nm to about 2000 nm, or from about 650 nm to about 1000 nm) using organometallic complexes. These complexes offer high efficiency, wavelength-tunable phosphorescent emitters in the fabrication of near infrared phosphorescent organic light emitting devices (PhOLEDs) and/or as absorbers in organic solar cells. Potential Applications Night Vision Devices Military Security Bio-imaging Display Units (digital cameras, ...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:34:40 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6350http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6347As mobile electronics continue to evolve, the need for high-output, long-lasting rechargeable batteries has grown tremendously. Rechargeable lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries have high energy/weight ratios and high charge/discharge efficiencies relative to other rechargeable batteries which make them ideal for modern portable electronics, medical devices, satellites and electric vehicles. The development of high-energy storage devices has been a research area of top-most importance in recent years and rechargeable batteries are anticipated to be the primary sources of power for modern-day ...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:51 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6347http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6346Diffraction gratings are an important component in several applications including optical telecommunications and spectroscopy. Their usefulness increases if the gratings are externally tunable. To date, the basis for tunable gratings has been hard materials through multiple steps of micromachining technology. Another effort speaks of using the sinusoidal profile generated from compressing a polymer film grating; however this only accomplished a change in the grating amplitude rather than the period, thereby tuning just the intensity. If a grating allowed in-plane tuning of the waveleng...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:51 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6346http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6345Ionizing radiation sensing has many applications in a variety of industries. Low dose sensing is important for nuclear materials detection and security. Some space applications require measurement of the flux and direction of high energy radiation. Furthermore, it is essential to determine the exact location and amount of radiation directed toward human tissues in radiation therapies used for cancer treatment. Presently, there are several different types of sensors that are utilized for these different types of radiation detection; however some are very expensive and large, while others...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:50 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6345http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6344Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) provide electricity by using hydrogen as fuel and expelling heat and water as exhaust. PEMFCs are the promising power sources for automotive, stationary and mobile electronics because of their higher power densities and environmental benefits and hence they have attracted enormous interest. Unfortunately, for wide-scale commercialization, this technology must overcome several challenges including three critical barriers: performance, cost and durability. Platinum is frequently used in PEMFCs because it is a highly effective catalyst, however,...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:50 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6344http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6342Breath alcohol analyzers have been used as a quick and reliable testing device at sobriety checkpoints for individuals suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. Acetone is typically considered the only endogenous volatile organic compound that can potentially prevent an accurate reading from being produced. It is naturally in a person’s breath and is present in increased levels during prolonged fasting or in people with diabetes. The metal oxide sensors commonly used in practice are relatively inexpensive and easy to use, but experience a similar decrease in resistivity as th...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:49 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6342http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6341Cataracts, a clouding of the eye lens, are a common eye disorder among the population. According to the Center for Disease Control, approximately 20.5 million, or 17.2% of Americans age 40 years or older, have a cataract in one or both eyes. The numbers continue to grow and data suggests that by the year 2020, 30.1 million Americans will have cataracts in at least one eye. A routine surgery can be performed in which a small incision is made in the eye and the clouded lens is removed and replaced by a new permanent intraocular implant. During surgery the implant is stored in a solution...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:49 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6341http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6340Blogging as a medium for communication, sharing, and collaboration on the Web is growing in popularity. With the introduction of Web 2.0 applications, web users no longer just play the role of information consumers, but also participate in information production. The Blogosphere, home of all blogs, is a stage where virtual communities with similar interests can form. These forces can affect the external world in areas such as viral marketing, sales forecasting, political campaigns and even counter-terrorism efforts. Recent numbers indicate that the size of the Blogosphere grows by about...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6340http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6339The application of silicon photonic technologies to optical telecommunications requires the development of near-infrared detectors monolithically integrated to the Si platform. Most present approaches require the bonding of the semiconductor detector material to the silicon circuitry, which can be time consuming and expensive. While approaches to integrate Ge with Silicon have also been explored, the direct absorption edge of pure Ge falls in the middle of one of the infrared optical communications windows, and provides poor absorption (hence optical signal detection) in the other two o...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6339http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6338Robotics is a field that has grown substantially in the past few years, specifically in the advancement of sensors for environmental detection. Currently, artificial tactile vibration sensors only report one composite spectrogram of vibration data for a single fingertip. Although the human tactile mechanoreceptors, or sensors that respond to mechanical deformation, have the lowest spatial resolution in the finger, there is still 22 per square centimeter in the human fingertip. Therefore, the robotic manipulation capabilities in unstructured environments are rather rudimentary compared ...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6338http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6337Nanopores are orifices of nanoscale diameter that connect two fluid reservoirs. At these dimensions, even a single molecule passing through the nanopore generates a detectable change in the flow of ionic current through the pore. As a result, nanopores can function as nanoscale Coulter counters, sensory devices that measure the effective change in electrical conductance across a small orifice as a particle passes through the orifice, to detect and analyze molecules. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), particularly single-walled (SW) CNTs, are obvious candidates for fabricating nanopore structures...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:47 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6337http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6336Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:47 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6336http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6335Recent innovations in developing damage tolerance in ceramic composites have focused on three features, i.e. a porous matrix, low bonding strength coatings, and fugitive coatings that ultimately produce a gap between fiber and matrix. There is a lot of research being carried out in the field of ceramics to produce highly porous, and possess high temperature structurally stable composites. Researchers at Arizona State University have created a mechanism to produce highly porous ceramic composite with a very high degree of dimensional and chemical stability at high temperatures. This mat...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6335http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6334Face Recognition has been a highly active research area for many years for its wide potential applications, such as law enforcement, security access, and man-machine interaction. The existing techniques have reached maturity in their capability but cannot still fully address practical challenges including the problem of recognition under varying facial expressions. Another commercially important challenge is handling high dimensionality data for large face databases, i.e., dimensionality reduction without much compromise on accuracy of recognition. Researchers at Arizona State Universi...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6334http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6333In recent years, the proliferation of internet streaming applications has brought about the need for low-bit rate speech and audio coding methods. Several parametric designs such as the sinusoids+transients+noise model have been somewhat successful for speech and audio synthesis. Low-bit rate and streaming applications are restricted by only being able to transmit a limited number of parameters for loudness estimation, resulting in reduced audio quality. Current techniques for selecting relevant parameters are based on either Signal to Mask Ratio (SMR) or loudness patterns. Despite thei...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6333http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6332Recently, the discovery of flexible and stretchable electronics has brought about the potential for many new applications previously unattainable with rigid electronics. The lone inhibitor to the advancement of this technology is the lack of a formidable flexible and stretchable power source. Considering all possible power sources, supercapacitors have the most promise because of their high power and energy densities compared to lithium-ion batteries and conventional dielectric capacitors, respectively. Currently, the primary research in supercapacitors revolves around electrode materia...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6332http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6331The exponential growth of the Internet over the last few decades provides testament to the extreme success of the internet protocol (IP), the primary protocol responsible for delivering data packets between hosts across the heavily trafficked internet. Notwithstanding this success, IP address space is rapidly running out. Consequently, the more complex 128-bit IPv6 will soon replace the nearly exhausted 32-bit range of the existing IPv4. IP routers are the devices responsible for physically employing the IP to forward packets toward their final destination. In order for an IP router to...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:51:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6331http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6325Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems require electrical inverters to convert direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC), the standard type of electricity supplied by utilities. Inverters make up a large portion of capital costs because they must be replaced periodically over the lifetime of a solar system. The mean time before failures (MTBF) is about 3 -5 years for most PV inverters, while the expected lifetime of PV cells is 20 years or more. Reductions in inverter costs as well as extended lifetimes would significantly reduce overall system costs. The market for PV...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:13 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6325http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6323Radiation dosimeters are devices used to measure exposure to ionizing radiation such as, X-rays, alpha and beta particles, and gamma rays. The damage that this radiation can cause to a material (e.g., human tissue) is typically cumulative, related to the total ionizing dose received. Therefore, workers who are exposed to ionizing radiation are usually required to carry a dosimeter. Microscale dosimeters are being developed for high-dose applications, such as radiotherapy and space flight. Common solid state dosimeters include PIN diodes and radiation sensing field effect transistors (RA...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:13 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6323http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6322The unique optical properties exhibited by organic compounds with delocalized conjugated pi-electrons make these compounds ideal for fabricating a wide variety of optical and electro-optical devices. Moreover, the process for fabricating these materials into devices is relatively easy. Consequently, these factors have stimulated significant research into the integration of these materials into optical and electro-optical devices. Still, despite substantial advances, researchers have yet to fully optimize devices employing these compounds. Specifically, problems persist physically among...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6322http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6321Bandgap engineering in semiconductors can be used to produce optoelectronic devices, such as photovoltaic devices and lasers for operation in different wavelengths. A new bandgap (or wavelength) can be achieved by alloying together two (or more) semiconductor materials of different bandgaps. However, existing methods of growing planar epitaxial heterostructures of semiconductors on crystalline substrates invariably require limited lattice constant mismatch (or a method to relieve the strain developed by lattice mismatch). Consequently, this requirement has provided the primary obstacle ...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:12 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6321http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6320Electrical structures which interact with light, such as solar cells and optical sensors, generally employ electrodes to collect a generated current (or to apply an external field), however, the electrode designs commonly used suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the wide spacing of electrodes in conventional solar cells, necessary to reduce electrode shadowing and limit manufacturing cost, results in high series resistance between the current generating areas and the current gathering electrodes. This resistance leads to inefficient energy collection, especially from th...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:11 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6320http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6319Currently, the fabrication of semiconductor devices requires immensely complicated procedures, performed on high quality materials, under extreme conditions. Consequently, the semiconductor industry is constantly looking for improved methods of and superior materials for device fabrication. Researchers at Arizona State University have nucleated and synthesized a novel group of bonding nanophases (“SilOxSis”) that can perform as a cross-bridging 2-D interphase between semiconductor wafers or 3-D nanophase between nanobeads. SilOxSis has numerous unique properties that can significantly...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:11 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6319http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6318Global concerns over the environmental impacts and health effects of Pb-based solders in consumer electronics has led to the development of Pb-free solder alternatives. Among the potential alternatives for Pb-Sn solder, Sn-Ag-Cu alloy is one of the most promising as a result of its relatively low melting temperature, superior mechanical properties, good solderability, and relatively low cost. Although these materials are, in principle, suitable as replacements for Pb-Sn, there remain many issues to address, in particular, the lower ductility of the alloy. The lower ductility of the sol...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6318http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6317Transition metal and transition metal oxides have many useful applications, including catalysis, photo catalysis, sensors, and the preparation of electrodes. In many of these applications, a high surface area is desirable in order to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of these applications. Higher surface areas can be realized by the formation of mesoporous structures. However, fully metallic or transition metal oxide materials are not ideal for many of the aforementioned applications as only the surface is active. Thus, composite materials are desired. While it is recogniz...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6317http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6316In many electronics applications various blocks of components on the integrated circuit may have optimal power consumption at different operational voltages. Power optimization and low power requirements are getting even more critical in wireless applications. Several low power schemes are in use today. In some mobile applications, minimizing power consumption requires that a single battery supply different voltage levels to different parts of the circuit. This voltage level shifting is achieved with a DC-DC converter. Commercially available switched mode DC-DC converters require exter...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6316http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6315Semiconductor devices are manufactured on semiconductor wafers through a number of thermal, chemical, and physical processes. One such process is known as chemical mechanical planarization or polish (CMP). The CMP process uses chemical reactions and mechanical polishing to remove excess material. As the critical dimensions of the transistors built on the wafer die have decreased in size, the importance of the CMP has increased. Manufacturers must address a significant concern of particles contamination on semiconductor wafers and integrated circuits. The CMP process removes the excess ...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6315http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6314Existing methods of liquid deposition are either limited to micron-scale resolution or are time-consuming and cumbersome direct-contact techniques. Ink-jet printing has developed over recent years into a preferred method of dispensing liquid micro-droplets for the purpose of printing and microfabrication. This is an accurate, high-throughput, non-contact technique that has been used with a wide variety of fluids ranging from printer ink to electrical solder to polymers to biologically active molecules. Due to basic physical limitations, existing ink-jet printing is limited to feature si...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6314http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6313Magnetically inducible particles, such as paramagnetic microspheres, when placed in an external magnetic field align along the magnetic flux lines, to form aggregates in the form of long chains. This phenomenon has been the topic of interest in recent years due to its possible applications in microfluidics and rheology. Until now the preferred method of magnetic field generation has been via the electromagnetic technique, in which Helmholtz coils placed across the fluid cell are used to generate an external field. At small distances, the field is uniform and unidirectional, and the flu...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6313http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6312Anomalies on semiconductor substrates, such as process contaminants, post-polishing substrate fragments, or voids, must be accurately located and identified in order to obtain the cleanliness required by the next generation of integrated microcircuits. While technological advances have reduced the critical anomaly size to less than 80 nm, existing conventional optical beam scattering approaches are incapable of detecting anomalies so minute in size; indeed, current optical scattering approaches can accurately detect objects no smaller than approximately 500 nm. The diffraction limit (a...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6312http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6311There is increasing need for better methods of data storage and sharing between computers. Likewise, in order to accommodate the growing use of mobile computing devices, there is increasing need to make consistent the data to which these devices have access. It is impractical and inconvenient to increase storage space on individual machines, as needed. Instead, wireless storage central to all networked computers provides a more sensible option. Conventional computer networks and systems connect via a hierarchy and communicate through a hub or switch architecture; however, hubs and switc...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6311http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6310Arizona State University researchers have developed a dynamic inertial balance device and methodology designed to meet the need to match the behavior of golf clubs during the swing. This device was developed directly from biomechanical research conducted at ASU. It duplicates, or exceeds, the ability of an expert golfer with a "grooved swing" to match their clubs to one another. With the mechanical variation minimized between clubs, each swing will give feedback to the golfer pertaining to their swing motion, making it easier to learn the game of golf. The expert will be able to swing t...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6310http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6309As a result of the high current density running through integrated circuit interconnects, metal atoms in the conductor migrate from their positions and create voids in the material. As these voids form, the voids increasingly degrade the material until the interconnect fails. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a new technique to detect the onset of this electromigration and its precise location within the wafer area. The technique employs a pair of conductive traces deposited on the substrate and a multiplicity of conductors connected along the length of the traces....Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6309http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6308The advent of epitaxial techniques for growing thin films has allowed for the growth of unnatural, metastable structures having properties previously unattainable in equilibrium systems. Specifically, quaternary compounds are of great interest for microelectronic and optoelectronic devices due to expectations that these materials will exhibit the promising physical (e.g. mechanical hardness, thermal expansion, close matching lattice parameters, etc.) and electronic properties of their binary constituents. Indeed, quaternary materials may not only have bandgaps intermediate to those of t...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6308http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6306There has been a recent surge of interest in molecular electronics and organic electronic materials. This is demonstrated by potentially useful electronic devices. Examples of such devices are programmable logic elements, and molecules with negative differential resistance. Despite this progress there are certain fundamental questions which remain unanswered. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a novel technique to develop and fabricate a molecular electronic device which can eliminate the problem of highly variable nature of the electrical contact between the molec...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:04 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6306http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6305Nanotechnology is the study of the control of matter at the atomic and molecular level, and is focused mainly on the creation of materials and equipment to work within that scale. One thing holding back the advancement of this technology is the lack of experimental tools capable of visualizing nanoprocesses in real time across their full range of operation. Near-field detection systems, primarily consisting of different Scanning Probe Microscopes, provide the best current option for this type of activity. They have a detection tip that is sensitive to nanoscale changes in its vicinity t...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:04 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6305http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6304Semiconductor devices such as MEMS, MOSFETS, CMOS, nMOS, pMOS, and BiCMOS comprise integrated circuits that perform complex and fast operations. As the dimensions of these devices continue to decrease, manufacturers must also fabricate increasingly smaller contacts in order to optimize device speeds. Specifically, these contacts require nanometer dimensions and low resistivity. As a result, manufacturers traditionally fabricate these contacts from transition metal silicides like titanium, cobalt, and nickel. Unfortunately, conventional methods of silicide fabrication require complex, l...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:03 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6304http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6300Understanding the causes and effects of dimensional and geometrical variations that result during the manufacture of mechanical products provides a major concern for designers and manufactures. Designers must carefully account for these variations so that parts assemble and function properly; otherwise, designers and manufacturers risk producing unusable products. Consequently, designers specify an acceptable range or tolerance of imperfections in size and shape for each part designed. Parts falling outside of the permissible range receive rejection. Unfortunately, designers currently l...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6300http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6299In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, the substrate, usually Silicon, is oxidized to form an oxide layer at the surface prior to device fabrication. This oxide layer (such as SiO2 grown on a Si (100)) surface typically grows completely amorphous with little ordering in the first atomic layers near the interface. This can lead to thickness and structural variations that can affect the electronic performance of devices using these oxides. To overcome this problem, researchers at Arizona State University have developed a method to grow such oxide layers in an ordered manner, to si...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6299http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6297Mechanisms using linear springs have been widely known and researched to give increased force outputs with greater input displacements. In many applications, however, the output force may be desired to be constant regardless of input displacement. Such situations arise in applications such as robotic grasping, biomedical applications, haptic devices, and micro-grasps. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a constant-force mechanism (‘CFM’) suitable for use at all scales from macro to micro. Additionally, the level of constant force supplied by the mechanism can be act...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:10:00 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6297http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6296Manufacturing processes utilizing deposition techniques have been developed for rapid and flexible prototyping of three-dimensional parts and tooling. Metals are typically deposited on a surface through thermal spray or weld deposition techniques. A newer technique, drop generation, deposits liquid metal from a nozzle onto the substrate. However, the range of droplet sizes which can be created is small, limiting the speed and capabilities of drop generation prototyping machines. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a novel method and apparatus for drop generation manu...Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:09:59 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6296http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6278Conventional cancer therapies are limited by a number of factors including the develop-ment of drug-resistant tumor cells, the toxicity of treatment agents to normal tissue, and the difficulty of bringing therapy to poorly perfused areas of solid tumors. While these factors have prompted the development of new approaches for the treatment of cancer, including various methods of gene therapy, there is still an urgent need for new methods to fight tumor growth and metastasis. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University are developing a recombinant strain of Salmone...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6278http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6277The development of sustainable biofuels has gained significant support because of the prospect of global climate change, energy shortages, and petroleum supply constraints. Microalgae and cyanobacteria are efficient at converting solar energy into fuels; however, their potential biofuel productivity depends on their biomass. It would be a significant advantage therefore, to have a cyanobacteria that could continuously secrete free fatty acids. This would avoid a number of energy-intensive steps in biomass processing. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University h...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6277http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6276With the increasing focus on personalized medicine there is a need for specific tools that can be used to predict, diagnose, and monitor disease progression and treatments. The clinical significance of one such disease marker, RANTES, a chemoattractant cytokine in inflammation, has been suggested in kidney related complications, autoimmune diseases, and several forms of carcinoma. Plasma RANTES levels have been found to increase with progressive cancer stages (I, II, III, or IV). Furthermore, a large population study found RANTES in higher concentration in the plasma of subjects with T...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6276http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6275In the past decade, West Nile Virus (WNV) in the United States has resulted in more than 29,000 diagnosed cases of infection. These infections can lead to severe neurological disease, long-term morbidity, and in some cases even death. There are no effective and specific antiviral treatments for infection by WNV. There are no currently approved vaccines or therapeutic agents for human use. The impact of WNV infection—particularly in resource-poor health care systems—calls out for the develop-ment of a cost-effective and safe therapeutic. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizon...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6275http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6272Mitochondria are intracellular organelles responsible for a number of metabolic transformations and regulatory functions. They produce much of the ATP employed by eukaryotic cells. They are also the major source of free radicals and reactive oxygen species that cause oxidative stress. Mitochondrial defects are damaging, particularly to neural and muscle tissues which have high energy demands. Energetic defects have been implicated in forms of movement disorders, cardiomyopathy, myopathy, blindness, and deafness. Currently, there are no effective treatments for mitochondrial diseases. ...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6272http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6271Non-invasive imaging systems, such as MRI and CT, have become an essential part of modern medicine for obtaining the information necessary to diagnose various diseases. MRI contrast agents have been tested in imaging cancers of the liver, the spleen, and the gastrointestinal tract as well as in imaging cardiovascular diseases. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a new contrast agent that can be used for both CT scanning and MRI imaging. The contrast agent is a tungsten-iron ferritin nanoparticle with spin lattice (T1) and spin-spin (T2) rel...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6271http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6270Cheap renewable energy is a major goal of many countries. Although wind, solar, and hydro power are supplements to the power grid, they cannot be efficiently converted into the liquid biofuels needed for cars, ships, and planes. In contrast, photosynthetic microbes are not only the most efficient organisms for solar energy conversion, but they have been shown to be able to produce fatty acids capable of being made into liquid biofuels. Based on this, it is expected that there will be a high demand for microbes capable of producing fatty acids, especially ones with minimal processing and...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6270http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6269Plague is endemic in many areas of the world, including even the western United States. The etiological agent of the disease, Yersinia pestis, infects both humans and rodents. Once a potential host is exposed, Y. pestis can rapidly invade the lymphatic system to produce systemic and often fatal disease. Recent efforts to create a safe and effective plague vaccine have focused on the develop-ment of recombinant subunit vaccines that elicit antibodies against multiple Y. pestis antigens. These live, attenuated vaccine strains, however, are produced by selection rather than genetic manipu...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:04 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6269http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6268Halogenated organic compounds (organohalides) have often been released into the soil and groundwater. These compounds may be carcinogenic and are hazardous to the natural environment. A significant need exists therefore for techniques to efficiently decontaminate these types of toxic compounds. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed methods and systems for dehalogenating organohalides present at contamination sites. Dehalogenation of contaminants can be achieved by providing hydrogen to anaerobic dehalogenating bacteria. Hydrogen can readily ...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:04 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6268http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6266Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most prominent and feared neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging. A hallmark of this disease is the formation of extra-cellular amyloid plaques in the brain. The principle component of these extracellular plaques is amyloid-ß protein (Aß). Though the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease pathology remain controversial, accumulation and deposition of Aß appears to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of AD. Amyloid-ß protein is formed through cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by beta-secretase. Alternatively, cleavage of...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:03 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6266http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6265Bacterial strains designed for immunization frequently have mutations that eliminate lipopolysaccharide O-antigen. These mutants are less immunogenic, however they also have a lowered ability to colonize the intestinal tract and invade intestinal mucosal cells. There is a need then, for a bacterium that has a mutation allowing O-antigen synthesis, but that still reduces the host immune response against the bacterium itself. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a recombinant bacterium with a regulated rfaH nucleic acid. Regulation of the expr...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:02 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6265http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6264Researchers lead by Professor Roy Curtiss of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have developed a strain of recombinant attenuated Salmonella that can effectively deliver a diversity of genes encoding important antigens in a highly flexible format. The Curtiss lab has developed a cassette approach (Rapid Antigen Delivery System, or RADS) to deliver antigens in a highly regulated fashion to enable effective vaccination of the host to a variety of pathogens. Key components of these vectors include: the gene encoding the desired product(s) linked to a control sequence; an ...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:56:00 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6264http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6263The use of Salmonella as an immunogenic vector to deliver protective antigens encoded by genes from various pathogens as a recombinant vaccine to immunize humans is strongly enabled through use of a completely attenuated strain of Salmonella typhi with an RpoS+ phenotype. Such attenuated strains being unable to induce disease symptoms would afford safety advantages and flexibility of use over previously used attenuated S. typhi vaccine vectors that have an RpoS- phenotype. Investigators at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have developed an improved more immunogenic g...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:55:59 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6263http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6262Researchers lead by Professor Roy Curtiss of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have developed a strain of recombinant attenuated Salmonella that can effectively deliver a diversity of genes encoding important antigens in a highly flexible format. The Curtiss lab has developed a cassette approach (Rapid Antigen Delivery System, or RADS) to deliver antigens in a highly regulated fashion to enable effective vaccination of the host to a variety of pathogens. Key components of these vectors include: the gene encoding the desired product(s) linked to a control sequence; an ...Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:55:59 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6262http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6261Obesity is epidemic in the United States, and it is increasingly a problem in much of the developed world. The health care costs associated with obesity and obesity-related diseases are a significant and increasing fraction of total healthcare spending. Currently, the most effective means to reverse obesity is surgical intervention: gastric bypass or gastric binding. Both of these procedures are invasive, expensive, and present significant risks to the patient. There is a need then, for a simpler, non-invasive means to inhibit, reverse, or even prevent altogether the development of obe...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:03:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6261http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6259BTEX is a complex group of aromatic volatile organic compounds (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes) associated with automobile exhaust pollution. Many epidemiological studies have linked elevated levels of BTEX to adverse human health effects. Measuring BTEX usually requires the use of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS). This instrumentation is bulky, expensive, and slow. For occupational health and safety applications as well as for toxicological population studies, it would be desirable to have a small, lightweight, fast and inexpensive alternative to GC-MS tha...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:03:47 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6259http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6258Norovirus causes almost 90% of epidemic, non-bacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis around the world. Extremely infectious and diverse, the virus causes acute diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache, fatigue, and fever. Though the illness is generally resolved within 48 hours, mortalities do occur in the young, elderly, and immune-compromised, as a result of complications brought on by dehydration. In spite of the high prevalence of norovirus infections, there is still no vaccine available to prevent the disease. Progress is hindered by a lack of a suitable animal model and low ...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:03:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6258http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6257Pancreatic cancer has a generally poor prognosis with a five-year survival rate of less than 5%. Since the symptoms of pancreatic cancer tend to occur after the disease has advanced beyond stage I, early detection is rare. Early detection of pancreatic cancer would permit treatment at an earlier stage and improve patient prognosis. Currently, there are no adequate early detection methods available. Researchers at Arizona State University have discovered a method to detect pancreatic tumors by identifying the presence of peptides from quiescin sulfhydrl oxidase 1 (QSOX1) and serine prot...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:03:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6257http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6256Bexarotene (Targretin®) is a synthetic retinoid analog used to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (as well as off label to treat other types of cancer). Moreover, recent research may show great potential in its use for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Bexarotene is especially effective because it has specific high affinity for retinoid X receptors (RXR), enabling regulation of RXR genes to slow or stop cell proliferation of cancer cells. Despite these advantages, there are major drawbacks to the use of Bexarotene due to side effects which include hypothyroidism, hyperlipidemia, and cutane...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:03:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6256http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6255Chloroethenes are among the most common pollutants at hazardous waste sites. They have been used extensively as solvents in dry-cleaning operations, metal degreasing, textile finishing, dyeing, and industrial extraction processes, and they were sometimes carelessly handled, stored or disposed of. Because these compounds are highly toxic and in many cases are either known or suspected to be carcinogens, their presence in the environment poses important health risks. This has stimulated investigations into their degradation, transport, and fate in the subsurface as well as inexpensive, y...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:03:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6255http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6254The bleomycins (BLMs) are well-known antineoplastic agents. They are particularly useful in the treatment of squamous cell carcinomas and malignant lymphomas. The therapeutic effect of bleomycin analogues is believed to result from their selective oxidative cleavage of DNA and possibly RNA. Much of the site-specific cleavage is thought to be effected by the N-terminal metal-binding domain, the C-terminal bithiazole region, and the linker domain. The least understood structural domain of BLM is the disaccharide moiety. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:03:45 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6254http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6253DNA immunization strategies offer the promise of controlling avian coccidiosis in the poultry industry. DNA vaccination, however, typically requires delivery of large quantities of DNA by injection or particle gun. This mandates the handling of individual birds for each vaccination and makes the use of DNA vaccines prohibitively expensive for control of coccidiosis in poultry. Investigators at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a vaccine delivery system that employs genetically engineered Salmonella strains. These strains exhibit efficient colonization o...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:03:44 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6253http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6251Fish farming generates billions of dollars of revenue, and the culture of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) is the largest aquaculture in the U.S. The most serious bacterial pathogens affecting this industry are Edwardsiella ictaluri and Flavobacterium columnare. Losses due to these pathogens are estimated to be $50-80 million, annually. The current live vaccines against E. ictaluri and F. columnare, consisting of rifampicin-resistant strains, are attenuated by unknown genetic modifications and have only modest efficacy. Live recombinant vaccines, which might protect against severa...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:54:17 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6251http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6250Despite recent progress in prosthetic science, 38% of artificial limb users ultimately reject their limb. This is mostly due to the quality of sensation and control. There are more than 1.7 million people with limb loss in the US with more than 185,000 new amputations each year. The development of a more responsive prosthesis communication interface is needed. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a communication interface circuit capable of connecting the sensor outputs from a prosthetic limb with a stimulator. They have also designed an intrafascicular neural electr...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:54:16 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6250http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6249Despite decades of research, cancer remains one of today’s most pressing health concerns. Traditional treatment approaches such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy can cause systemic toxicity and become ineffective when resistant tumors emerge. Recently, anticancer strategies have focused on drugs which specifically target tumor-related biological molecules. Recognizing cancer cells and inducing apoptosis is a promising approach to tumor therapy. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed a selection method for ligands to tumor cell-specific ma...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:54:16 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6249http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6247In the process of developing vaccines against influenza, generating influenza virus in cultured cells using a minimal number of plasmid constructs has been a long-term challenge. In an effort to reduce costs and save time in constructing these plasmids a new technology has been developed to generate influenza virus from cultured eukaryotic cells using a single plasmid DNA. Using several plasmids in the previous methods made the process lengthy, expensive and gave only a low yield of recombinant virus. This technology allows for a simpler approach for generating vaccine seeds. Furtherm...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:54:15 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6247http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6245The effective delivery of DNA into cells has the potential to cure genetic-based diseases. A safe, non-viral delivery vehicle, however, remains elusive. Alternative delivery vehicles such as cationic polymers bind well to negatively charged DNA but generally have high cytotoxicity and low efficacy. Researchers at Arizona State University have synthesized cationic polymers of diglycidylethers and amines for delivery of substances into cells. Using in vitro transfection models, the investigators demonstrated higher transfection efficacy and lower cytotoxicity using these polymers. In ad...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:15:16 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6245http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6243Hydrogel matrices have been developed to promote tissue regeneration after injury or to deliver drugs to a specific location. The interaction of the hydrogel with the surrounding tissue is complex and unique to each individual’s biochemistry, thus making it important to monitor the molecular structure and degradation rate of the gels once implanted. Present techniques used to observe hydrogels and their intended progress are limited in resolution and depth. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a biocompatible hydrogel matrix that incorporates superparamagnetic nanopar...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:15:15 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6243http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6240ASU researchers have identified new methods and compositions to directly target therapeutics to tumors while also performing diagnostic imaging. Ultrasound contrast agent materials are combined with glycopeptide-based antibiotics in a unique formulation capable of simultaneous targeting of therapeutics and selective imaging. Traditionally used with ultrasound technology for in-vivo imaging, microbubbles typically consist of a shell comprised of albumin, galactose or lipids enclosing a gas core. Microbubbles are administrated intravenously to the systemic circulation, their echogenocity...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:16:42 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6240http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6238Hydrogen is a potentially significant contributor to global energy sustainability if it is produced from renewable, non-fossil fuel resources such as biomass and sunlight. The use of Microbial Electrolytic Cells (MEC) has become an attractive alternative source for biological H2 production. MEC’s have many advantages over other biohydrogen processes, such as having a variety of organic donor substrates and that the non-fermentable substrates are completely oxidized to CO2, resulting in high hydrogen conversion yields. MEC’s include two redox steps, one occurring at the anode and the ot...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:16:41 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6238http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6236Heterogeneity within cell populations is a major obstacle for gathering accurate data for genomic and proteomic studies. Single cell analysis has emerged as the platform technology for solving the problem of cell heterogeneity in basic cell studies. A more precise understanding of single cell behavior and differences between individual cells would lead to better treatments for a wide range of diseases from cancer to diabetes. However, the field has been hampered by many problems, such as low-throughput analysis, labor intensive single cell manipulation/selection, and lack of user config...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:16:40 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6236http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6232Age-related macular degeneration is the most frequent cause of blindness in the elderly. The disease is characterized by progressive apoptosis of retinal pigment epithelia (RPE) cells, inflammation, changes in the extracellular matrix and neovascularization of the tissue. Present research suggests that the disease may ultimately result from accumulation of lipofuscin, a highly heterogeneous mixture of compounds that accumulate, over time, in RPE cells. Current treatment for macular degeneration can only suppress symptoms or slow disease progression. Researchers at Arizona State Univers...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:01:47 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6232http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6230Despite decades of research effort, cancer remains one of today’s most pressing health concerns. Present day treatment methods tend to include debilitating side effects mainly due to low specificity of the treatments. Recently, some attempts have been made to augment tumor immunity by using bi-specific, hybrid antibodies that direct immune cells to the tumor cell, thus increasing the specificity of the treatment and consequently decreasing side effects. The creation of such hybrid antibodies however, is predicated on several requirements including: the availability of existing antibod...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:01:46 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6230http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6224Recording of bioelectrical event from the brain, spine and nervous system in a wireless and minimally invasive manner is an important capability that has received much attention over the years. Investigations of the neural system of the body are both fundamentally enabled, as well as, limited by modern electrophysiological tools. Effective biotelemetry obviates the need to pass neural signals through the wired connectors on the skin or skull. Wires are not only undesirable but can harbor infection sites, lead to mechanical failure, and present dangers of being scraped by abrasion or cau...Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:22:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6224http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6219Surface or interfacial impedance spectroscopy has been established as a powerful technique for many applications, ranging from electrochemistry and corrosion analysis to biochips and biosensors. Most applications utilize a single or an array of electrodes and an electrical instrument to perform impedance measurement and analysis, which does not have imaging capability. Atomic force microscopy has been used to probe local capacitance, but it is impractical for routine analysis because it is slow and complicated. It is highly desired to image or map the local impedance of the entire surf...Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:44:53 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6219http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6215Because of the obvious cost-effective advantages to producing mammalian proteins in plants, as opposed to conventional mammalian tissue culture, considerable efforts have been expended in the biotech arena to perfect this technology. One of the major challenges is the efficient transient expression of hetero-oligomeric proteins, which currently requires multiple viral expressions systems. Researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute have developed a single vector that contains two non-competing replicons for expression in transgenic plants. This system advances plant ...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:16:16 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6215http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6210Biological fuel cells (BFCs) are being widely researched these days as a means to produce combustion-less electrical energy from organic compounds present in waste water. BFCs are capable of oxidizing many complex and simple organic compounds. BFCs open up the possibility of producing electrical energy directly from biomass feed stocks that are renewable and carbon-neutral fuels. Currently, however, this technology is limited by the development of a pH gradient across the anode/cathode compartments of the cell that results in approximately a 20% loss in available energy output. Resear...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:46:25 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6210http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6209Necrotic enteritis poses a major threat to the current objective of ‘antibiotic-free’ poultry farming. It causes economic loss due to high mortality in broilers and, most commonly, it causes a chronic sub-clinical intestinal mucosal damage, leading to reduced feed efficiency and growth reduction. There is no vaccine in the market for necrotic enteritis. Necrotic enteritis can be controlled by the routine application of antibiotics at sub-therapeutic levels in the feed, a practice currently frowned upon and soon likely to be banned by federal regulations. The withdrawal of in-feed antib...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:13:07 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6209http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6208Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common cause of community acquired pneumonia. It also results in some two million deaths in children under five and is the major cause of otitis media (ear aches) in the US and Europe. Hence, there is a real need for an effective vaccine against this pathogen. Professor Roy Curtiss and colleagues at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute have developed four robust attenuated Salmonella vaccine strains capable of preventing infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae. These live vaccines are safe and suitable for oral delivery to humans. These vac...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:13:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6208http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6207Through advances in molecular biology, many bacteria have been genetically engineered to become essentially bioreactors, producing numerous valuable products, such as proteins, chemicals, drugs, and fuels. Most of the products produced typically accumulate inside the bacterial cells. This necessitates degradation of the peptidoglycan layer of the cell wall to release the cellular contents. Traditional cell processing methods can require significant energy inputs or raise environmental issues. Thus, there is a need for facile methods of degrading the bacterial cell wall in a controlled f...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:13:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6207http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6206Diabetes is estimated to affect 24 million Americans to date. The disease has increased in prevalence by approximately 50% over the last decade and is expected to double in the next 40 years. Not only is diabetes the sixth leading cause of death among Americans, complications related to the disease include the leading cause of kidney failure, 60% of non traumatic limb amputation and 24,000 new cases of blindness annually. Furthermore, the 2007 expenditures for Diabetes diagnostics and management were estimated to be $174 billion, the majority of which was applied to managing complicatio...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:13:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6206http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6205Models of molecular dynamics are important tools in the study of biological molecules. Understanding how molecules interact can lead to better predictions of conformational transitions and protein folding, substrate (drug) binding, and binding of proteins to DNA. Current models, however, lack sufficient computational load to efficiently study properties of biopolymers. Researchers at Arizona State University have designed an efficient algorithm for calculating the thermodynamics of biopolymers in aqueous solution. SolvMol performs calculations of the free energy of polar solvation of a ...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:13:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6205http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6204The development of new drugs and diagnostic assays requires the ability to identify and prepare high-affinity, high-specificity ligands. Monoclonal antibodies are useful reagents in this regard, but are difficult to humanize and express in large amounts. Monoclonal antibodies are also intrinsically limited by the immunological repertoire of the immunized host and the need to be produced in cell culture. Finally, the process of developing new Monoclonal Antibodies is laborious and expensive. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have developed high-throughpu...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:13:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6204http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6203Diseases caused by enteric bacterial pathogens are a major problem worldwide. They are estimated to cause over 2 million deaths each year. Many of these pathogens are carried by animals reared for food, such as poultry and swine. The bacteria can also be transmitted to humans by contaminated food and water. In developing countries, bacterial enteropathogens in food animals are a major factor that decreases the productivity of livestock. This can contribute significantly to food shortages. Thus, it is expected that vaccines to prevent these diseases will provide, not only improved anima...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 12:02:56 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6203http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6202The low sedimental fluid shear conditions encountered during spaceflight and spaceflight analogue culture uniquely alter the virulence (disease-causing potential), gene expression, stress response, and metabolism of microbial cells in novel ways not observed using traditional culture conditions. Since low sedimental fluid shear environments also reflect conditions encountered by cells during the course of their normal lifecycles, including by pathogens in the human body during infection, analysis of organisms in this environment provides novel insight into how disease occurs and ways to...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:58:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6202http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6200Approximately 50 million people in the world suffer from epilepsy, about one third of which have seizures that are not controlled by anti-convulsant medication. One of the most debilitating aspects of epilepsy is the seemingly unpredictable nature of seizures. If seizures cannot be controlled, the patient experiences major limitations in family, social, educational, and vocational activities. A real need exists to develop methods that can predict with a high degree of reliability the onset of these debilitating seizures. Furthermore, methods are also needed to define periods of suscept...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:44:26 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6200http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6198Present day society is constantly demanding enhanced security for location and identification for both friend and foe. One avenue is biometric signatures, where standoff and clandestine systems are highly desirable. A biometric signature that holds great promise, but has not been exploited is biosignatures for subjects of interest gathered airborne samples. Until recently exploiting this signature was not recognized or technically feasible. Researchers at Arizona State University and collaborators have developed a revolutionary method and platform to recognize and characterize aerosol...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:29:57 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6198http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6194Very small implantable wireless telemetry systems have the potential to become a tool for continuous in vivo biomonitoring, implant monitoring and drug delivery. Such minimally invasive devices may provide a practical way of continuously monitoring of brain and central nervous system function, thusly enabling continuous physiological and biomarker monitoring and supporting the development of man-machine interfaces. Conventional biopotential electrodes with implanted wires are often heavy, cumbersome, and limit a person's mobility. Electrodes that must pass through the skin to contact th...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:55:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6194http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6193Electrochemical sensors are widely used in numerous chemical and medical applications to detect concentrations of analytes. Electrical sensors are also widely used to determine analyte concentrations detecting molecular binding-induced conductance or impedance changes in electrical materials. Although both sensing techniques have proven extremely useful, there are some severe limitations to each technique. When using electrochemical sensors, the amount of analyte detected in directly proportional to the current flowing through the sensor, and therefore, small analyte concentrations go ...Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:34:29 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6193http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6192Live attenuated vaccines must possess a number of important characteristics: able to withstand biological stresses imposed by the host; able to reach their target lymphoid tissue; able to provoke an effective immune response to the antigen of choice; and do this all in a safe manner. Multivalent vaccines containing multiple antigens that can provoke a robust and broadly acting immune response is needed to afford optimal protection against many pathogens. Thus it would be beneficial to deliver several protective antigens in a single recombinant bacterial strain. However, this is difficu...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:10:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6192http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6191High-level expression of genes encoding protective antigens produced by recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccine strains is desirable to maximize antibody responses to the protective antigen(s). However, high-level expression of protective antigens that are of no benefit to the recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccine strain causes the strain to grow more slowly and be less robust in withstanding stresses encountered after oral delivery to an immunized individual. This can be overcome by administering higher doses but that is costly and results in vaccinating fewer individuals. Simila...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:10:22 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6191http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6190Controlling drop movement on superhydrophobic surfaces is important in a number of technologies. For example, self-cleaning, superhydrophobic surfaces, microfluidics devices, and digital microfluidics can benefit from advances in developing non-wetting drops. To move water-based droplets, magnetic fields have been applied across a surface, but droplet movement is typically retarded by the low contact angle between the droplet and the surface. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a magneto-fluidic device composed of a superhydrophobic surface and a fluid sample with m...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:10:22 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6190http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6189The biopolymer market has been expanding rapidly, but many biopolymer technologies rely on petroleum or conventionally derived agricultural feedstocks. In the coming decades, materials made from renewable sources are expected to gradually replace non-renewable petrochemical-based industrial materials, including polymers. The production of plastics from renewable biopolymers will offer several advantages over conventional petroleum-based plastic production. These advantages include having reliable (domestic) suppliers, sustainable production, lower greenhouse gas emissions, competitive ...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:17:37 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6189http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6188Despite recent progress in prosthetic science, 38% of artificial limb users ultimately reject their limb. This is mostly due to the quality of sensation and control. There are more than 1.7 million people with limb loss in the US with more than 185,000 new amputations each year. The development of a more responsive prosthesis communication interface is needed. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a communication interface circuit capable of connecting the sensor outputs from a prosthetic limb with a stimulator. They have also designed an intrafascicular neural electr...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:17:36 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6188http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6187Current research in genomics, proteomics and personalized medicine requires fast, precise and high-throughput target profiling. To meet this challenge, barcode technology for massively parallel and high-throughput bio-detection has attracted much attention. Furthermore, multifunctional carriers would find broad usage in in vitro diagnostics and in drug discovery laboratories. Organic dyes are typically used for fluorescent–labeling systems for target profiling. However, organic dyes are problematic for several reasons. They have a broad emission spectrum which severely limits the number...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:48:06 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6187http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6186Two challenges facing the world today include the ongoing pollution of the environment with carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming and the increasing consumption of the world’s natural energy resources of fossil fuels. A problematic cycle exists where the increase in fossil fuel consumption correlates with an increase in carbon dioxide air pollution. An elegant solution to these challenges would be to cultivate microorganisms such as cyanobacteria that take and utilize carbon dioxide for their growth while producing useful products and alternative sources of energy. Resear...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:37:08 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6186http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6185Two challenges facing the world today include the ongoing pollution of the environment with carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming and the increasing consumption of the world’s natural energy resources of fossil fuels. A problematic cycle exists where the increase in fossil fuel consumption correlates with an increase in carbon dioxide air pollution. An elegant solution to these challenges would be to cultivate microorganisms such as cyanobacteria that take and utilize carbon dioxide for their growth while producing useful products and alternative sources of energy. Resear...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:11:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6185http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6184Technologies capable of rapid and sensitive detection of single biomolecules is continuously evolving, and is now beginning to emerge as a very promising new tool for precision detection and identification. Application areas span analytical chemical and biochemical fields, with high potential economic impact in the genomic analysis, drug discovery, pathogen identification and diagnostics fields. Some of the most sensitive DNA detection technologies, such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering of DNA molecules bound to metal nanoparticles still require high concentrations of DNA-reporter ...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:06:51 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6184http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6183A variety of medical ailments can be characterized by the presence of specific nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids that are generated during the course of the ailment. Multiplexed and sensitive detection of these molecules is of great importance in the medical diagnostics field. Current technologies designed to detect biological events coded by specific macromolecules typically consist of chip-based or particle-based platforms incorporating a large number of designed probes for proteins and nucleic acids. Chemically synthesized DNA oligonucleotides can self-assemble into ordered nuclei...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:06:51 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6183http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6180The proper treatment of wastewater is becoming more and more important as the number of toxic and biologically recalcitrant organic compounds continues to increase. Current treatment systems are sequentially coupled, in that they involve a two-step process of advanced oxidation followed by biodegradation. In the ideal case of sequential coupling, advanced oxidation is controlled so that the recalcitrant organic compounds are only transformed to the point that they are rapidly biodegradable, at which point they would be passed to the biodegradation stage. Chemical transformation beyond t...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:06:49 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6180http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6179In 2009, approximately 1.5 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in the United States. With an annual mortality rate of over 500,000 per year, cancer is the nation’s second leading cause of death. One promising area of treatment and prevention is the development of cancer vaccinations where the body can be stimulated to produce an immune response against tumor cells. However, identifying “tumor specific antigens” (TSAs) from cancer cells has proven elusive. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University have discovered methods for identifying candidate antigens fo...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:25:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6179http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6178Microarrays are commonly used in the analysis of an analyte or a mixture of analytes for the purposes of identification and quantification, as well as to characterize their physical and chemical properties. For example, DNA microarrays are often used to identify the presence or amount of specific gene transcripts or other specific nucleic acid sequences. Microarrays are often constructed through sequential, position-specific, deprotection reactions performed on chemical side groups, followed by the addition of new, appropriately protected, chemical moieties by a specific reaction with ...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:14:37 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6178http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6177The Combretastatins, discovered by ASU researchers, are a series of very potent antineoplastic compounds. Combretastatin A-4 (CA4), the most potent compound of the family, is currently undergoing phase III human cancer clinical trials. ASU researchers have conducted extended SAR on Combretastatins. They eventually synthesized structural analogs of Combretastatins A-4, A-3 and their phosphate prodrugs by replacing their C-3 and/or C-5 substituents with halogens (F, Cl, Br and I). These new compounds, named Halocombstatins, retained the powerful human cancer cell lines inhibitory activi...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:14:37 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6177http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6176Over the last decade there has been much interest in the anti-oxidative properties of polyphenols derived from olive oils. The literature indicates that polyphenols may be of some benefit in reducing the deleterious effects of oxygen free radicals on inflammatory and stress related disorders. Olivenol, a supplement produced from the by-products of olive oil production, is a natural anti-oxidant with high levels of polyphenols. Some have hypothesized whether Olivenol antioxidant properties can reduce the symptoms of inflammatory and stress related disorders, such as arthritis. Arthritis ...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:50:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6176http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6175Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. The discovery then of new classes of drugs to address this constellation of diseases is critical to mitigating many presently untreatable conditions. One approach to new drug discovery in this area is the systematic investigation of marine organisms. They are potential sources of unique, chemotherapeutically active drug structures. Researchers at Arizona State University have successfully isolated glycosphingolipid compounds from the Asian topshell snail Turbo stenogyrus for the treatment of cancer. Denoted as turbostat...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:44:35 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6175http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6174Approximately 50 million people in the world suffer from epilepsy, one third of which have seizures that are not responsive to anti-convulsant medication. The seemingly unpredictable nature of epileptic seizures present debilitating limitation in the familial, social, educational and vocational activities of the afflicted. Thus presenting an unmet, dire need for the ability to prevent epileptic convulsions and regulate chaotic brain activity. Researchers Leonidas Iasemidis and Konstantinos Tsakalis at Arizona State University have developed a framework for regulating the epileptic bra...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:27 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6174http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6173Commercial applications of nanotechnology require reliable and cost-effective methods to mass-fabricate various nanostructured materials and devices. Atomic-scale contacts between metal electrodes have been created mechanically by breaking a fine metal wire and by separating two metal electrodes in contact. The breaking and separating are usually controlled by an apparatus involving stepping motor or piezoelectric transducer. The contacts fabricated by the mechanical methods cannot be removed from the apparatus, and they are, therefore, not suitable for most applications. A non-mechanic...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:27 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6173http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6172The promise of advanced neuroprosthetic systems to improve the quality of life for the deaf, blind, paralyzed, or other handicapped individuals hinges on the development of a safe and effective neural interface for the central nervous system. Existing devices are typically made from photolithographed or micromachined silicon which tend to be stiff, bulky; and the recording quality substantially diminishes over relatively short periods of time. Accordingly, there is a tremendous need for a reliable, flexible, and long-term neural interface which can be implanted and maintained with relat...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:26 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6172http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6171Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:26 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6171http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6166THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS Rheumatoid arthritis Possibly other autoimmune diseases, such as, IBD, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Atherosclerosis, etc. EFFICACY In the adjuvant induced arthritis model in rats, SNS, dosed orally, reduces dorsoplantar swelling in a dose dependent manner. More significantly, SNS also displays dose dependent bone sparing activity. Dose dependent reductions in: Joint space narrowing Bone erosion Osteoporosis Periosteal bone formation. SNS outperforms both methotrexate and Remicade in this model. SAF...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6166http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6165Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) occurs when the cells within the spinal cord are damaged or the nerve tracts that relay signals up and down the spinal cord are severed. There are an estimated 250,000 people with SCI and roughly 10,000 new cases annually. Depending on the type and level of the injury, SCI can have different effects and is usually divided into two categories; complete and incomplete. A Complete injury means that there is no function below the level of the injury; no sensation, no voluntary movement, and an incomplete injury means that there is some functioning below the primar...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6165http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6164A major limitation of current methods to detect specific DNA sequences is the need to amplify the target DNA to detectable levels using PCR. The additional instrumentation and reagents required for PCR severely limit the portability of PCR based detection systems, greatly extend the time required for analysis, and potentially introduce significant errors into the results. The detection thresholds of the most sensitive detection methods currently available still correspond to a large number- presumably hundreds or thousands – of hybridization events. Researchers at Arizona State Univers...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6164http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6163Large scale artificial photosynthesis has been a long standing goal of many in the biotech industry. This need has become more dramatic as we search for alternative sources of energy. Some of the methods of mimicking photosynthesis rely on the ability to detect and quantify cofactors associated with the process. This task is currently accomplished by optical spectroscopy and is subject to interference by other materials that absorb light at overlapping wavelengths. Researchers at ASU have developed a method, using a photoelectrochemical cell, to detect and quantify the amount of cofact...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:22 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6163http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6162A long standing problem in medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging is its relatively poor contrast for small medical devices introduced inside the body. Plastic catheters, stents, small metal clips, needles, radiographic markers, and many small surgically implanted devices cannot be easily seen on ultrasound images due to the physics of ultrasound interactions. This limits the utility of ultrasound as a medical imaging tool and requires the alternate and less desirable use of x-ray radiography. Researchers at ASU have shown that microchips of certain inexpensive ceramic and polymer mater...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:33:22 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6162http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6161The Combretastatins, discovered by ASU researchers, are a series of very potent antineoplastic compounds. Combretastatin A-4 (CA4), the most potent compound of the family, is currently undergoing phase III human cancer clinical trials. ASU researchers have conducted extended SAR on Combretastatins. They eventually synthesized structural analogs of Combretastatins A-4, A-3 and their phosphate prodrugs by replacing their C-3 and/or C-5 substituents with halogens (F, Cl, Br and I). These new compounds, named Halocombstatins, retained the powerful human cancer cell lines inhibitory activi...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:25:57 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6161http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6159Tryptic digests with the subsequent analysis of the fragments produced are frequently used to characterize proteins. Such digests are limited by the amino acid specificity of the digesting enzyme (K and R in the case of trypsin). The analysis of fragments may also be complicated by self-digestion of the enzyme. The present invention provides a method for the digestion of proteins and other biomolecules by the in situ production of hydroxyl radicals from an excited semiconductor source. The concentration of the radicals, and hence the degree of digestion, can be precisely tuned and is h...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:25:56 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6159http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6158The ability to selectively stimulate specific nerve fibrils in a complex nerve bundle is a long sought-after capability in biomedical research. The artificial excitation or inhibition of nerve cells allows researchers to either stimulate nerve function or block pain impulses. One method that accomplishes artificial stimulation is to place electrodes in direct contact with specific nerve fibrils. Another approach is to use a nerve cuff which involves placing multiple electrodes around the nerve to create an electric field designed to stimulate a specific nerve fiber. Unfortunately, the ...Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:25:56 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6158http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6156Modified vaccinia virus can be used as a vector to deliver genes encoding proteins for therapeutic and vaccine applications. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University and their collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a form of vaccinia virus with genetic modifications that decrease the risk of recipient viral infection. Potential Applications The modified vaccinia virus of this technology has numerous potential applications. An almost limitless variety of foreign DNAs can be recombined with the virus for subsequent expression ...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:11:41 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6156http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6155SODIUM NARCISTATIN (SNS) A Potent, Orally Bioavailable Anti-Inflammatory Compound With Bone Sparing Activity THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS Rheumatoid arthritis Possibly other autoimmune diseases, such as, IBD, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Atherosclerosis, etc. EFFICACY In the adjuvant induced arthritis model in rats, SNS, dosed orally, reduces dorsoplantar swelling in a dose dependent manner. More significantly, SNS also displays dose dependent bone sparing activity. Dose dependent reductions in: Joint space narrowing Bone erosion ...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:07:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6155http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6154The early promise of pancratistatin as a new type of anticancer and antiviral drug led to various preclinical developments. While there have been improvements to the availability of pancratistatin by the development of new horticultural and synthetic approaches, still there is a need for more efficient techniques for the conversion of pancratistatin to the water soluble phosphate prodrug. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a new series of promising 3, 4-O cyclic phenpanstatin phosphate prodrugs, 3,4-O cyclic pancratistatin phosphate prodrugs, and 4-O sodium pancrati...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:07:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6154http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6153Most currently available vaccines consist of killed or live-attenuated pathogens delivered by injection. Despite their success in preventing disease, there are compelling conceptual technical and economical reasons to seek alternatives. Subunit vaccines that target the mucosal immune system are considered by many as such alternatives. For example recent breakthroughs suggest that vaccines can be produced in edible tissues of transgenic plants which can then be orally immunogenic. However, to be effective, mucosal subunit vaccines may need to be co-administered together with an "adjuvan...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:17:35 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6153http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6152ASU researchers began to investigate the blue sponge Cribrochalina sp. in 1986. From this species they successively isolated Cribrostatins 1 to 5 compounds. Cribrostatins 3 and 5 disclosed high potency against a minipanel of human cancer cell lines (Mean panel GI50 values of 4.27 x 10-6M and 5.01 x 10-6M respectively) and Cribrostatins 2 and 4 had broad antimicrobial spectra. Eventually Cribrostatin 6 was isolated from the same sponge, and its structure elucidated. When tested against a panel of human cancer cell lines, Cribrostatin 6 exhibited significant cancer cell growth inhibition...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:06:50 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6152http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6150Commercial applications of nanotechnology require reliable and cost-effective methods to mass-fabricate various nanostructured materials and devices. Atomic-scale contacts between metal electrodes have been created mechanically by breaking a fine metal wire and by separating two metal electrodes in contact. The breaking and separating are usually controlled by an apparatus involving stepping motor or piezoelectric transducer. The contacts fabricated by the mechanical methods cannot be removed from the apparatus, and they are, therefore, not suitable for most applications. A non-mechanic...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:06:50 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6150http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6148Modified vaccinia virus can be used as a vector to deliver genes encoding proteins for therapeutic and vaccine applications. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University and their collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a form of vaccinia virus with genetic modifications that decrease the risk of recipient viral infection. Potential Applications The modified vaccinia virus of this technology has numerous potential applications. An almost limitless variety of foreign DNAs can be recombined with the virus for subsequent expression ...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:00:20 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6148http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6147Resveratrol, phenstatin and combretastatin A-4 are molecules belonging to the classes of stilbenes or benzophenones. Resveratrol is known to possesst a variety of useful biological properties, i.e. antileukemic and antibacterial properties, and has displayed cancer cell growth inhibition in vitro. Combretastatin A-4 has anti-mitotic activity and is now in phase III clinical trials to study its effectiveness in treating a variety of cancers. Early structure-activity work demonstrated that phenstatin, a benzophenone, retained most of the cytotoxic properties of combretastatin A-4. Furthe...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:00:20 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6147http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6146Modified vaccinia virus can be used as a vector to deliver genes encoding proteins for therapeutic and vaccine applications. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University and their collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a form of vaccinia virus with genetic modifications that decrease the risk of recipient viral infection. Potential Applications The modified vaccinia virus of this technology has numerous potential applications. An almost limitless variety of foreign DNAs can be recombined with the virus for subsequent expression ...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:54:49 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6146http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6145Directed evolution is a process wherein a gene sequence is varied randomly, generating a library of mutated genes. These mutated genes are expressed and the functions of those gene products are assayed. A selection procedure is then applied to select those genes that express products with desirable functions. These genes are then selectively amplified and the mutagenesis, screening and selection process is repeated until gene products with the most desirable functions are obtained. The screening process involves exciting genes with light and observing the fluorescence from these genes ...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:54:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6145http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6144In the early 80s the collection of Pancratium found a very potent anticancer constituent, pancratistatin. Subsequently, the U.S. National Cancer Institute initiated preclinical development of pancratistatin due to its high level of in vitro and in vivo cancer cell growth inhibitory. Unfortunately, the preclinical development slowed by severe supply constraints and by its very low aqueous solubility properties. There is an urgent need to further research and explore any potential anticancer drugs. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a successful synthesis of pancratis...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:51:01 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6144http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6143The promise of advanced neuroprosthetic systems to significantly improve the quality of life for many of the deaf, blind, or paralyzed population hinges on the development of effective, and safe, multi-channel neural interfaces for the central nervous system. In order to be successful, neural microelectrodes must have effectively long recording life, be insensitive to implant micromotion, have the ability to incorporate bioactive species onto electrode surface, and be easily positioned into the requisite implant area. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a thin-film ...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:49:04 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6143http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6142The Combretastatin A-4 (CA-4) Prodrug is a very promising compound now in phase II clinical trials against cancer. CA-4 is acting as a tubulin polymerization inhibitor, preventing cancerous cells from dividing. While performing a structural activity relationship (SAR) study of the antineoplastic compound CA-4, ASU researchers discovered the Phenstatins family. Phenstatins are Combretastatins analogs with a modification of the double bond, which is replaced by a carbonyl group. The first compound, Phenstatin, showed strong cytotoxicity and an antitubulin activity similar to that of CA-...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:47:23 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6142http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6141DNA binding proteins play an important regulatory role in activating transcription. Both the study and the utility of such specific DNA binding proteins would be enhanced if the binding protein where able to report its binding state and some information about its environment. In addition, it would be useful if controlled activities, such as DNA cleavage, could be built into these systems. ASU researchers have developed a technology that consists of peptide/dye conjugates useful for single molecule detection and/or cleavage of specific DNA sequences. The dye is fluorescent only when the...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:44:14 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6141http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6140Treatment specificity is a goal for all oncologic therapies. There is a new class of alkylating agents, the pyrrolobenzimidazoles (“PBIs”), that display very high in-vitro cytotoxicity and in antitumor activity. Such extraordinary specificity is due to the reduction of PBI by the two-electron reducing enzyme, DT-diaphorase. A research group at Arizona State University under the direction of Professor Ed Skibo has been involved with the design of a new class of small molecule reductive alkylating agents, based the function of DT-diaphorase, that show a high degree of specific cytotoxici...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:41:29 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6140http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6139The vaccinia virus, when used for various clinical applications, is quite versatile and potentially very beneficial to human health. In addition to its utilization as a smallpox vaccine, the vaccinia virus is extensively used as an effective expression vector since it is easy to isolate, can accommodate vast amounts of exogenous DNA and has a wide host range. Foreign genetic material, which is incorporated into the vaccinia genome, may encode for antigens and other useful molecules, including anticancer agents. Unfortunately, while the vaccinia virus has many potentially valuable appli...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:37:48 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6139http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6138Capillary Zone Electrophoresis (CZE) is a separation technique used for various analytical applications. It has been integrated onto glass substrates, microchips and in parallel with total chemical analysis systems, in order to provide efficient and informative results to its end user. Although CZE has developed into a highly regarded useful technique, much room for improvement still exists. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a device entailing a series of CZE channels on a microchip that allows for precise control of sample movement through the channels, as well as...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:31:59 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6138http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6137The Combretastatin A-4 (CA-4) Prodrug is a very promising compound now in phase II clinical trials against cancer. CA-4 is acting as a tubulin polymerization inhibitor, preventing cancerous cells from dividing. While performing a structural activity relationship (SAR) study of the antineoplastic compound CA-4, ASU researchers discovered the Phenstatins family. Phenstatins are Combretastatins analogs with a modification of the double bond, which is replaced by a carbonyl group. The first compound, Phenstatin, showed strong cytotoxicity and an antitubulin activity similar to that of CA-...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:26:14 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6137http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6136Bryostatins are a class of macrocyclic lactones with a unique polyacetate backbone. Currently, there are 20 known exceptionally potent anti-neoplastic natural compounds belonging to the Bryostatin family. Bryostatin 1 has undergone Phase II clinical trials for treatment of cancer, and is now in combination therapy trials. Bryostatins modified at the C-26 position show a significantly increased therapeutic window versus unmodified Bryostatin 1. Potential Applications This new development has applications in: Anti-cancer agents with enhanced therapeutic windows. Benefits and Adv...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:21:38 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6136http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6135The Spongistatins are a family of macrocyclic lactone polyethers isolated from marine sponges Spongia and Spirastrella spinispirulifera that display remarkable potency (sub-nanomolar) against a number of highly chemoresistant tumors types (including lung, colon and brain cancer) in the NCI’s panel of 60 human cancer cell lines. For instance, Spongistatin 5 and Spongistatin 7 are extremely toxic to human breast cancer cell lines (GI50 10-11 - 10-12 M). Spongistatins 1-7 also demonstrated antifungal activity in disk diffusion methods. Experiments demonstrated that Spongistatin 1 was fun...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:08:09 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6135http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6134Halistatins are highly potent polyether macrolides with anti-mitotic actions that were originally isolated from certain marine sponges. Similar polyether macrolides, such as, Bryostatin 1 (Ph2), Halichondrin B (PC) and its analog, E7389 (Ph 2), are being tested both preclinically and clinically as anti-cancer agents. Halistatin 1 has highly potent cytotoxic activity in vitro against P388 cells (ED50 of 4x10-4 ?g/mL) and against 60 human cancer cell lines from the NCI’s anti-tumor screening panel (average overall panel GI50 of 7x10-10 M). Halistatin 2 has highly potent cytotoxic activi...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:06:10 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6134http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6133The Spongistatins are a family of macrocyclic lactone polyethers isolated from marine sponges Spongia and Spirastrella spinispirulifera that display remarkable potency (sub-nanomolar) against a number of highly chemoresistant tumors types (including lung, colon and brain cancer) in the NCI’s panel of 60 human cancer cell lines. For instance, Spongistatin 5 and Spongistatin 7 are extremely toxic to human breast cancer cell lines (GI50 10-11 - 10-12 M). Spongistatins 1-7 also demonstrated antifungal activity in disk diffusion methods. Experiments demonstrated that Spongistatin 1 was fun...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:03:43 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6133http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6132Halistatins are highly potent polyether macrolides with anti-mitotic actions that were originally isolated from certain marine sponges. Similar polyether macrolides, such as, Bryostatin 1 (Ph2), Halichondrin B (PC) and its analog, E7389 (Ph 2), are being tested both preclinically and clinically as anti-cancer agents. Halistatin 1 has highly potent cytotoxic activity in vitro against P388 cells (ED50 of 4x10-4 ?g/mL) and against 60 human cancer cell lines from the NCI’s anti-tumor screening panel (average overall panel GI50 of 7x10-10 M). Halistatin 2 has highly potent cytotoxic activi...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:00:57 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6132http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6131Halistatins are highly potent polyether macrolides with anti-mitotic actions that were originally isolated from certain marine sponges. Similar polyether macrolides, such as, Bryostatin 1 (Ph2), Halichondrin B (PC) and its analog, E7389 (Ph 2), are being tested both preclinically and clinically as anti-cancer agents. Halistatin 1 has highly potent cytotoxic activity in vitro against P388 cells (ED50 of 4x10-4 ?g/mL) and against 60 human cancer cell lines from the NCI’s anti-tumor screening panel (average overall panel GI50 of 7x10-10 M). Halistatin 2 has highly potent cytotoxic activi...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:49:41 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6131http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6130The future availability of groundwater as a source of potable water is jeopardized by the widespread occurrence of organic contaminants in water supplies. Of particular concern are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as trichloroethylene (TCE), and other contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These materials are carcinogenic. Current treatment methods usually shift the contaminant to another medium, rather than converting the contaminants to environmentally benign compounds. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a ultraviolet-driven heterogeneous pho...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:29:36 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6130http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6129In addition to their low cost and ease of administration, attenuated vaccines have the advantage of stimulating robust immunity by activating all phases of the immune response, potentially obviating the need for boosters. A new technology has been developed in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University that enables the construction of a live attenuated derivative of pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae bacteria. This derivative comprises a polynucleotide that encodes a foreign antigen that increases the expression of Type 1 fimbriae which, in part, allows for attachment of bacteria ...Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:15:05 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6129http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6076A major limitation of current methods to detect specific DNA sequences is the need to amplify the target DNA to detectable levels using PCR. The additional instrumentation and reagents required for PCR severely limit the portability of PCR based detection systems, greatly extend the time required for analysis, and potentially introduce significant errors into the results. The detection thresholds of the most sensitive detection methods currently available still correspond to a large number - presumably hundreds or thousands - of hybridization events. Researchers at Arizona State Univer...Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:13:43 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/6076http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/5876Vaccination is a critical tool in medicine for achieving the immunological protection of a host against a disease. Vaccines typically comprise an antigen and an adjuvant. The former is the target against which the host’s immune response is raised. The latter is an essential booster of that response. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is a potent adjuvant. It acts through TLR3, RIG-I, MDA5, and other innate immunity signaling molecules to stimulate the immune response. When delivered as a bulk adjuvant, however, dsRNA is known to have toxic effects. This generally precludes its use in typical ...Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:23:09 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/5876http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/5857Electrochemical sensors that can quickly, selectively, and sensitively detect unknown chemicals in air or water are vital for many applications. These include environmental monitoring, biomedical diagnostics, security applications, and food and drinking water safety. Current electrochemical sensors fail to detect low concentrations of important analytes and are often highly dependent on the environmental conditions. In addition, electrical sensors are typically large and can be expensive to manufacture. To overcome these drawbacks, researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona Sta...Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:49:44 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/5857http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/5853 Computing by representing information in the form of DNA base sequences has several potential advantages over silicon-based computing methods, due to the massive parallelism of the biochemical reactions on DNA molecules. These advantages include, enhanced processing speeds, reduced energy consumption and greater storage capacity. DNA computing can solve problems intractable by conventional methods including but not limited to, organization of massive evacuations, organization of response to invasion, supply chain problems, and computer chip assembly problems. As a result, there is tre...Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:34:50 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/5853http://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/4768 Contact Jack Geltosky, PhD Senior Vice President of Business Development, Life Sciences Arizona Technology Enterprises, LLC (AzTE) P: 480.884.1989 F: 480.884.1984 JGELTOSKY@AZTE.COM Inventors George Pettit, PhD Regents Professor Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Arizona State University Rui Tan Feng Gao Yoshitatsu Ichtihara Halistatins 1, 2 and 3 AzTE Cases # 626, 627, 701 Intellectual Property Status: U.S. Patent 5,426,194 U.S. Patent 5,352,804 U.S. Patent 5,519,050 Invention Description Halistatins are highly potent polyether macrolides with anti-mitotic acti...Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:00:02 GMTkdouglass@azte.comhttp://azte.technologypublisher.com/technology/4768