Patents Assigned to Aston University
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Publication number: 20080305517Abstract: The present invention provides a method for producing an improved biomaterial comprising treating a collagen biomaterial with a transglutaminase under conditions which permit the formation of cross-links within the collagen. Preferably, the transglutaminase is a tissue transglutaminase, a plasma transglutaminase or a microbial transglutaminase. In a preferred embodiment, the collagen biomaterial further comprises a cell adhesion factor, such as fibronectin. The invention further provides biomaterials obtainable by the methods of the invention, and medical implants and wound dressings comprising the same.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 12, 2005Publication date: December 11, 2008Applicant: ASTON UNIVERSITYInventors: Martin Griffin, Russell Collighan, David Chau, Elisabetta Verderio Edwards
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Publication number: 20080299170Abstract: A coating for a medical device, the device generally being of the type which is to be used internally in a subject, includes a transglutaminase (TGase) inhibitor. The Tgase inhibitor effectively prevents the activity of any Tgase involved in clot formation or clot stability. Preferably, the transglutaminase inhibitor is a factor XIIIa inhibitor. The coating may be prepared by suitable processes such as esterification. The coating may be immobilized on a suitable medical device in a number of ways and is preferably included in a TGase inhibitor containing polymer. The coating may also include a suitable antimicrobial agent.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 12, 2006Publication date: December 4, 2008Applicant: Aston UniversityInventors: Peter A. Lambert, Martin Griffin, Daniel Rathbone, Russell Collighan
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Publication number: 20080292713Abstract: A spray dried dispersible powdered composition suitable for inhalation by a human subject, which composition comprises: a) at least one active agent suitable for treating a condition in said subject by inhalation; b) a hydrophobic amino acid; and c) a pharmaceutically acceptable biodegradable polymer.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 25, 2006Publication date: November 27, 2008Applicant: ASTON UNIVERSITYInventors: Peter Craig Seville, Tristan Paul Learoyd
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Publication number: 20080267220Abstract: A method of processing a signal to infer a information encoded in the signal, measuring characteristics of the signal, making an estimate of the information from measured signal characteristics, using an expanded set of information, the expanded set of information being correlated to the measured signal characteristics, determining an update rule and applying the update rule to the expanded set of information to generate an inferred set of information representative of that encoded in the signal. The method may be used in many applications, for example inferring information in CDMA signals, learning in an Ising perceptron and lossy compression.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 16, 2006Publication date: October 30, 2008Applicant: Aston UniversityInventors: David Saad, Juan Pablo Neirotti
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Publication number: 20080212978Abstract: An optical pulse regenerator comprising means for broadening the temporal widths and flattening the centre portions of an optical pulse in optical communication using a saturable absorber such as, an unbalanced optical interferometer, and with an optical amplifier.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 3, 2005Publication date: September 4, 2008Applicant: Aston UniversityInventors: Sonia Boscolo, Sergei Turitsyn
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Publication number: 20080204859Abstract: A Gires-Tournois etalon (GTE) (10) comprising an optical fibre (12) in which a primary chirped fibre Bragg grating (FBG) (16) is provided, an RF signal generator (20), a piezoelectric transducer (22), and a glass horn (24), for coupling an acoustic wave (26) into the fibre (12). The acoustic wave (26) causes a periodic compression within the fibre (12), which induces a low frequency periodic refractive index modulation within the grating section (14) of the fibre (12). This causes two side frequency components to be generated for each high-frequency component of the FBG (16). Two secondary grating are thus excited, having the same spectral bandwidth as the FBG (16), but a lower reflectivity and different central wavelengths. The free spectral range of the GTE (10) can be adjusted by varying the frequency of the acoustic wave (26). The reflectivity of the excited secondary gratings can be adjusted by adjusting the amplitude of the acoustic wave (26).Type: ApplicationFiled: December 15, 2005Publication date: August 28, 2008Applicant: Aston UniversityInventors: Xuewen Shu, Catherine Anne Sugden, Ian Bennion
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Publication number: 20080200511Abstract: The present invention relates to novel compounds of Formula (I) wherein ‘X’ represents an amino acid group, ‘n’ is an integer between 1 and 4, ‘R1’ represents benzyl, t-butyl or 9-fluorenylmethyl and ‘R2’ represents a tetramethylmercaptoimidazole derivative or —S+R3R4, wherein R3 and R4 each independently represent lower alkyl, or a pharmaceutically and/or veterinarily acceptable derivative thereof. The present invention further relates to pharmaceutical formulations of said compound and the use thereof in the preparation of a medicament for inhibiting diseases in which transglutaminase has been implicated. Advantageously, the medicament is for treating fibrosis, scarring and/or cancer. Additionally, the invention relates to a method of inhibiting autoimmune diseases such as coeliac disease, neurodegeneration and chronic inflammatory diseases (e.g. of the joints including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis in a subject).Type: ApplicationFiled: June 16, 2004Publication date: August 21, 2008Applicant: ASTON UNIVERSITYInventors: Martin Griffin, Ian George Coutts, Robert Edward Saint
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Patent number: 7406386Abstract: The present invention relates to a sensing system which is capable of discriminating types of causes of changing loads on a surface, such as the type of motion of a human subject. The system has wide ranging applications including sports performance (e.g. golf club swing analysis). The system comprises a deformable load bearing surface (2), a plurality of mutually spaced sensors (6), a processor (8) and an output (10). The sensors (6) are coupled through the deformation response of the surface (2) to an applied load (4) to receive local sensory data from the surface (2). The processor (8) is operatively coupled to the sensors (6) and is arranged to transform the sensory data into information data relating to a load (4) applied to the surface (2), e.g. by means of a neural network algorithm. In an alternative embodiment, a housing including the deformable load bearing surface (2) contains a flowable material (e.g. liquid) which flows in response to the deformation of the surface.Type: GrantFiled: July 9, 2004Date of Patent: July 29, 2008Assignee: Aston UniversityInventors: Peter Brett, Anthony Molloy, Xianghong Ma
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Publication number: 20080096894Abstract: Compounds of formula (I), or salts or solvates thereof, in vitro as inhibitors of growth of Gram-positive bacteria, where A is selected from formula (a).Type: ApplicationFiled: January 12, 2006Publication date: April 24, 2008Applicant: ASTON UNIVERSITYInventors: Katy Parker, Daniel Rathbone, Peter Lambert, Michael Coleman, Anthony Hilton, Antony Worthington, David Billington
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Patent number: 7263257Abstract: A first embodiment of the invention provides a Gires-Tournois etalon (DGTE) 20 comprising a cladding mode suppressed optical fibre 22, including an etalon section 24 in which a weakly reflective optical waveguide grating 26 and a strongly reflective optical waveguide grating 28 are provided. The two gratings 26, 28 are chirped fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs). The chirped FBGs 26, 28 are arranged to together define an etalon cavity. Another aspect of the invention provides a dispersion compensator 60 comprising two DGTEs 62, 64 according to the first embodiment of the invention. The DGTEs 62, 64 have a linearly varying dispersion over a selected optical bandwidth. The first DGTE 62 has a positive dispersion slope and the second DGTE 64 has a negative dispersion slope. The magnitudes of the dispersion slopes of the two DGTEs 62, 64 are substantially equal, so that the dispersion compensator 60 has a constant dispersion across the selected bandwidth.Type: GrantFiled: November 8, 2002Date of Patent: August 28, 2007Assignee: Aston UniversityInventors: Catherine Anne Sugden, Xuewen Shu, Lee Ann Kennedy, Kevin Christopher Byron
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Publication number: 20070185094Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds of formula (I). The invention also relates to methods for preparing the compounds and their uses as CCK receptor ligands and CCK antagonists.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 27, 2004Publication date: August 9, 2007Applicant: ASTON UNIVERSITYInventors: Eric Lattmann, Michael Offel, Harjit Singh
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Publication number: 20070185115Abstract: The present invention provides compounds of formula (I); wherein each of R1 to R4 is independently selected from hydrogen, a halogen, a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic and heterocyclic moiety, substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched alkyl, alkyloxy, alkylcarbonyl, alkyloxycarbonyl, alkenyl, alkenyloxy, alkenylcarbonyl, alkenyloxycarbonyl, alkynyl, alkynyloxy, alkynylcarbonyl, alkynyloxycarbonyl, aryl, benzyl, arlyoxy, arylcarbonyl, aryloxycarbonyl and sulphur equivalents of said oxy, carbonyl and oxycarbonyl moieties, and A is NH, or (CH2)n, where n is preferably 0, 1 or 2. The invention also relates to methods for preparing the compounds and their uses as CCK receptor ligands and CCK antagonists.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 27, 2004Publication date: August 9, 2007Applicant: Aston UniversityInventors: Eric Lattmann, Pornthip Lattmann, Harjit Singh
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Publication number: 20070123718Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds of formula (1): wherein X is selected from hydrogen, a halogen, a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic and heterocyclic moiety, substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched alkyl, alkyloxy, alkylcarbonyl, alkyloxycarbonyl, alkenyl, alkenyloxy, alkenylcarbonyl, alkenyloxycarbonyl, alkynyl, alkynyloxy, alkynylcarbonyl, alkynyloxycarbonyl, aryl, benzyl, arlyoxy, arylcarbonyl, aryloxycarbonyl and sulphur equivalents of said oxy, carbonyl and oxycarbonyl moieties, R is selected from hydrogen, a halogen, an amide, a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic and heterocyclic moiety, substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched alkyl, alkyloxy, alkylcarbonyl, alkyloxycarbonyl, alkenyl, alkenyloxy, alkenylcarbonyl, alkenyloxycarbonyl, alkynyl, alkynyloxy, alkynylcarbonyl, alkynyloxycarbonyl, aryl, benzyl, arlyoxy, arylcarbonyl, aryloxycarbonyl and sulphur equivalents of said oxy, carbonyl and oxycarbonyl moieties, and R1 and R2 arc each independently selected from H, C1-18 sType: ApplicationFiled: May 27, 2004Publication date: May 31, 2007Applicant: Aston UniversityInventor: Eric Lattmann
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Patent number: 7221814Abstract: Surface profiling apparatus (10) according to one embodiment comprises three long period gratings (LPGs) (12, 14, 16) fabricated in progressive three layered (PTL) fibre (18) and embedded within a deformable carrier member (40) comprising a skeleton (42) provided between two sheets of flexible rubber skin (44, 46). The LPGs (12, 14, 16) are illuminated by three wavelength modulated, narrow bandwidth optical signals, each having a different wavelength and modulation frequency. A photodetector (26) connected to three lock-in amplifiers (28, 30, 32) measures the amplitudes of the first and second harmonic frequency components of the photodetector output signal corresponding to each LPG (12, 14, 16). Similar surface profiling apparatus (10) forms the basis for respiratory function monitoring apparatus (100) in which five LPGs are provided within each of four PTL fibres (104, 106, 108, 110) and embedded in four carrier members (40a–d) attached to a garment (114) to be worn by a subject.Type: GrantFiled: July 23, 2003Date of Patent: May 22, 2007Assignee: Aston UniversityInventors: Thomas David Paul Allsop, Timothy Earthrowl-Gould, Ian Bennion
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Publication number: 20070088052Abstract: The present invention discloses a compound of formula (I):—wherein A is an aromatic moiety or selected from benzyl, C1-C16 alkyl dialkylamino, dialkylaminoalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, cyano, and mono-, di-, or tri-hydroxyalkyl and/or aryl, B is an aromatic moiety, R1 and R2 are independently C1 to C6 alkyl or NR1R2 forms a 5 to 8 membered ring optionally containing one or two additional heteroatoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur and which is optionally substituted by C1 to C6 alkyl, and n is 0 or 1, and salts and hydrates thereof. The invention is also concerned with methods of synthesising the compounds and their uses as 5-HT7 ligands.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 29, 2004Publication date: April 19, 2007Applicant: Aston UniversityInventors: Eric Lattmann, Isidro Ferdandez
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Patent number: 6931031Abstract: A dual wavelength optical fiber distributed feedback laser comprises a pump laser coupled to a birefringent fiber in which a first grating device (two co-located single phase-shift fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs)) is provided. The grating device gives the laser two potential lasing modes in each of two orthogonal polarization states. A polarization mode coupling FBG selects two orthogonally polarized modes on which the laser oscillates. In a photonic data carrying signal source, the laser is coupled to a polarization dependent, optical modulator operable to apply a modulation, at a data signal frequency, to one polarization mode of the laser output. In an optical waveguide based electronic signal transmission system the modulated and un-modulated polarization modes output from the source are transmitted across a fiber transmission line to a polarizing optical fiber in which the two modes heterodyne to generate an electronic carrier signal in the optical domain.Type: GrantFiled: March 6, 2003Date of Patent: August 16, 2005Assignee: Aston UniversityInventors: John Arthur Robert Williams, Yicheng Lai, Wei Zhang
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Patent number: 6917735Abstract: Apparatus (10) for interrogating an optical signal (not shown) propagating in an optical waveguide, such as an optical fiber, having an input section (12) and a second section (14) through which light entering from the input section (12) will subsequently propagate. The second section (14) includes a grating portion, such as a tilted chirped fiber Bragg grating (16). The grating (16) causes at least part of the optical signal to be coupled out of the optical fiber, through the fiber cladding. A photodetector (18) is provided generally alongside the grating (16). The photodetector (18) is arranged to collect and detect substantially all of the outcoupled optical signal. The relationship between the optical power outcoupled by the grating (16) and the wavelength of the optical signal is known, allowing a measurement of the outcoupled optical power to be used to determine the wavelength of the optical signal propagating through the grating (16).Type: GrantFiled: May 31, 2001Date of Patent: July 12, 2005Assignee: Aston UniversityInventors: Ian John Murgatroyd, Catherine Anne Sugden, Karen Elizabeth Chisholm
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Patent number: 6826340Abstract: An optical pulse transmission line portion is provided, having dispersion slope compensation, including an optical waveguide (length L1, dispersion parameter D1) having a dispersion slope parameter (S1) of a first sign, and a dispersion compensation unit (length L2, dispersion parameter D2) having a dispersion slope parameter (S2) of the opposite sign.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 2002Date of Patent: November 30, 2004Assignee: Aston UniversityInventors: Ian Bennion, Sergei Konstantinovich Turitsyn
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Patent number: 6623962Abstract: Enzymatic nucleic acid molecules which cleave EGFR RNA.Type: GrantFiled: September 22, 1999Date of Patent: September 23, 2003Assignees: Sirna Therapeutics, Inc., Aston UniversityInventors: Saghir Akhtar, Patricia Fell, James A. McSwiggen
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Patent number: 6436905Abstract: Lipid-containing compositions are disclosed which provide surfactants and solubilizing agents useful in medicine, biochemistry and other industries.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2000Date of Patent: August 20, 2002Assignee: Aston UniversityInventors: Stephen R Tonge, Brian J Tighe