Abstract: Provided herein are indole-2-carboxamide compounds useful for the treatment of non-tuberculosis bacterial infections. Exemplary compounds provided herein are useful for the treatment of non-tuberculosis mycobacterial infections. Methods for preparing the indole-2-carboxamide compounds are also provided.

Abstract: Implementations described and claimed herein provide systems and methods for sampling particles from air. In one implementation, an inlet opening is defined in a proximal end of a cassette top, and the inlet opening has an inlet diameter. An internal surface extends along an airflow curve from the inlet opening to an internal cavity. A sampling substrate is formed by at least one grid attached to a filter. The sampling substrate is disposed in the internal cavity at an internal distance from the inlet opening. The inlet opening and the airflow curve of the internal surface generate an airflow of the air to the sampling substrate. The sampling substrate collects a set of the particles from the air, and the inlet diameter, the airflow, and the internal distance dictate a cutoff diameter of the set of particles collected from the air by the sampling substrate.

Abstract: The invention provides polymers of Formulas I-III, such as polyesters and unsaturated polyesters, and crosslinked and copolymerized polymers thereof. The invention also provides methods to catalytically ring-open five-membered rings such lactones, lactams, and thiolactones, as via ring-opening polymerization. The polymerization products are recyclable and can be depolymerized back to their monomer form via thermolysis and acid or base catalysis.

Abstract: A method of screening a blood sample for the presence of prions. The method includes the steps of collecting the blood sample in heparin, contacting the sample with a solution comprising recombinant prion protein (rPrP) and Thioflavin T (ThT), and measuring the resulting ThT fluorescence in the sample. The method can further include the step of freezing and thawing the sample prior to contacting the sample with a solution comprising recombinant prion protein (rPrP) and Thioflavin T (ThT). The method can also include the step of precipitating the prions in sodium phosphotungstic acid (NaPTA) prior to contacting the sample with a solution comprising recombinant prion protein (rPrP) and Thioflavin T (ThT).

Abstract: Biodegradable polymers with advantageous physical and chemical properties are described, as well as methods for making such polymers. In one embodiment, a new chemical synthesis route to technologically important biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) with high isotacticity and molecular weight required for a practical use is described. The new route can utilize racemic eight-membered cyclic diolide (rac-DL), meso-DL, or a rac-DL and meso-DL mixture, derived from bio-sourced dimethyl succinate, and enantiomeric (R,R)-DL and (S,S)-DL, optically resolved by metal-based catalysts. With a stereoselective racemic molecular catalyst, the ROP of rac-DL under ambient conditions produces rapidly P3HB with essentially perfect isotacticity ([mm]>99%), high crystallinity and melting temperature (Tm=171° C.), as well as high molecular weight and low dispersity (Mn=1.54×105 g/mol, Ð=1.01).

Abstract: A cutting guide for guiding a cut in a radius, the radius being adjacent to an ulna, the cutting guide comprising: a cut guiding portion, an opposed ulnar mounting portion and a linking portion extending therebetween; the cutting guide being delimited by a cutting guide peripheral surface defining a bone facing portion, the bone facing portion being contoured to match the shape of the radius and ulna.

Abstract: A system and method for collecting a core sample. The system includes an outer cylindrical tube, a drive head, a drive shoe, a cooling chamber housed inside the outer cylindrical tube, insulation, a core sample liner, an inlet tube, and outlet tube. The drive shoe further comprises a first, second, and third step, the first step configured to receive the insulation, the second step configured to receive the cooling chamber, the third step configured to receive the core sample liner, wherein the first step has a diameter larger than the second step and the second step has a diameter larger than the third step. The method includes drilling a hole in the ground with a drilling tool, enclosing a core sample by a core sample liner, freezing the core sample via a cooling liquid, retrieving the drilling tool at a surface of the ground, and removing the core sample encased in the core sample liner from the cooling chamber.

Abstract: In this work, a hydrophilic, yet slippery solid surface was developed. Because the surfaces are hydrophilic, there is significant affinity between the surface and contacting water, which results in substantial spreading of the contacting liquids on the surface. Due to their strong affinity, a high solid-liquid adhesion having virtually no mobility of the water on the surface occurs. However, counter-intuitively, the disclosed surfaces are highly slippery such that liquids can slide on the surface while maintaining their hydrophilicity. Demonstrated herein are water droplets that can slide on the surface under its own weight, when the hydrophilic, yet slippery solid surface is slightly tilted (?=3°). This indicates that the disclosed hydrophilic surfaces are slippery to water.

Abstract: Provided herein is a soft tissue mimetic formed from a block copolymer hydrogel and methods of making such. The hydrogel comprises a glass formed from a dry blend of polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer (SO) and polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide)-polystyrene triblock copolymer (SOS) in a molar ratio from between 95:5 and 1:99 SO/SOS and a liquid medium at a concentration between about 32:1 and about 2:1 liquid medium/SO-SOS by weight. The soft tissue mimetic has a fatigue resistance to at least 500,000 compression cycles.

Abstract: A method for extracting an elemental metal from agricultural waste including collecting a sample of the waste and performing an electrochemical extraction on the waste to producing a metal precipitate and a byproduct. The method further including collecting the metal precipitate and byproduct produced via the electrochemical extraction for further reaction, recycling, sale, or reuse.

Abstract: A turbo-compression cooling system includes a power cycle and a cooling cycle coupled one to the other. The power cycle implements a waste heat waste heat exchanger configured to evaporate a first working fluid and a turbine configured to receive the evaporated working fluid. The turbine is configured to rotate as the first working fluid expands to a lower pressure. A condenser condenses the first working fluid to a saturated liquid and a pump pumps the saturated liquid to the waste heat waste heat exchanger. The cooling cycle implements a compressor increasing the pressure of a second working fluid, a condenser condensing the second working fluid to a saturated liquid upon exiting the compressor, an expansion valve expanding the second working fluid to a lower pressure, and an evaporator rejecting heat from a circulating fluid to the second working fluid, thereby cooling the circulating fluid.

Abstract: The invention provides methods for determining and evaluating the in vitro-in vivo activity relationship of the efficacy of families of compounds for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. The validity of the methods can be confirmed by evaluation of the compounds in animal models, for example, in murine models of tuberculosis. Examples of families of antibacterial compounds that can be evaluated for in vivo efficacy using the in vitro methods described herein include benzimidazoles, pyridopyrazines, pteridines, diphenyl ethers, beta-lactams, PBP inhibitors, and compounds that are non-ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis inhibitors. The methods can be used to evaluate classes of small molecule compounds and inhibitors that may be effective against any bacterial pathogen.

Abstract: The present invention provides compositions and methods for detection schemes for ascertaining pregnancy status of an animal. The compositions and methods employ interferon-tau (IFNT) and/or antibodies specific for IFNT. Methods of the present invention detect the presence of IFNT in samples obtained from animals as an early indicator of pregnancy. Methods are provided to identify non-pregnant animals so that management decisions regarding rebreeding can be made earlier compared to existing approaches.

Abstract: Provided herein is a polymeric material comprising a polymer host; and a guest molecule comprising a glycosaminoglycan; wherein the guest molecule is disposed within the polymer host, and wherein the guest molecule is covalently bonded to at least one other guest molecule. In some embodiments, the polymer host comprises a silicone-based polymer. In other embodiments, the glycosaminoglycan is chosen from hyaluronic acid and derivatives thereof.

Abstract: A miniature Hall current plasma source apparatus having magnetic shielding of the walls from ionized plasma, an integrated discharge channel and gas distributor, an instant-start hollow cathode mounted to the plasma source, and an externally mounted keeper, is described. The apparatus offers advantages over existing other Hall current plasma sources having similar power levels, including: lower mass, longer lifetime, lower part count including fewer power supplies, and the ability to be continuously adjustable to lower average power levels using pulsed operation and adjustment of the pulse duty cycle. The Hall current plasma source can provide propulsion for small spacecraft that either do not have sufficient power to accommodate a propulsion system or do not have available volume to incorporate the larger propulsion systems currently available. The present low-power Hall current plasma source can be used to provide energetic ions to assist the deposition of thin films in plasma processing applications.

Abstract: Provided herein is a composite, comprising: a polymer host selected from the group consisting of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polypropylene (PP), polyurethane, polycaprolactone (PCL), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), and polyoxymethylene (POM); and a guest molecule comprising hyaluronic acid; wherein the guest molecule is disposed within the polymer host, and wherein the guest molecule is covalently bonded to at least one other guest molecule. Also provided herein are methods for forming the composite, and blood-contracting devices made from the composite, such as heart valves and vascular grafts.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides co-cultures of human pluripotent stem cell derived hepatocytes and at least one non-parenchymal cell population in vitro, methods of preparing the co-cultures and methods of using the co-cultures for high throughput screening and evaluation of drug candidates. The stem cell derived hepatocyte co-culture system provides an in vitro model in which cell viability and relatively mature hepatocyte phenotype of stem cell derived hepatocytes are maintained for extended periods relative to conventional monoculture.

Abstract: A metal-organic compound containing polymer matrix includes a polymer and a three-dimensional metal-organic framework includes a polydentate organic linker. The metal-organic compound containing polymer matrix is configured to continuously produce nitric oxide when exposed to a physiological fluid including a nitric oxide-releasing compound via a catalytic reaction catalyzed by the three-dimensional metal-organic framework.

Abstract: The present invention relates to polymeric materials including a glycosaminoglycan networked with a polyolefin-containing polymer. The present invention also relates to hydrogels containing the polymeric materials. The present invention further relates to methods of synthesizing the polymeric materials and hydrogels of the present invention.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed to determine the concentration of a species within a sample. An example method may include collecting optical loss data over a range of frequencies from the sample using a spectroscopy system; placing the optical loss data into a plurality of bins, each bin having a defined frequency width; determining an average optical loss data value for the optical loss values within each bin that have an optical loss value less than a threshold value; removing the optical loss data within each bin having a value outside a tolerance range bounding the average optical loss data value for the respective bin; fitting a spectral curve to the remaining optical loss data; and determining the concentration of the species within the sample based on the spectral curve.