Abstract: The present invention relates generally to products, compositions and methods useful for promoting neural repair and regeneration. The products and compositions of this invention include myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) derivatives that are inhibitors of endogenous MAG (e.g., mutant MAG proteins) and Nogo Receptor (NgR) binding inhibitors that are peptides derived from MAG, Nogo and OMgp that can bind to NgR and block NgR signaling. Peptides that can bind and activate NgR signaling are also provided. Inhibitory MAG derivatives and NgR binding inhibitors are useful for blocking the inhibition of neural regeneration mediated by proteins such as MAG, Nogo and/or OMgp in the nervous system. These inhibitors are also useful for treating neural degeneration associated with injuries, disorders or diseases.

Abstract: In one aspect, the invention provides a defect multiple-quantum-well structure for manipulation of reflection and transmission of light by way of optical control of spatial distribution of electric field across the defect multiple-quantum-well structure. The defect multiple-quantum-well structure includes a pair of terminal multiple-quantum-well structures and a central multiple-quantum-well structure. The central multiple-quantum-well structure is sandwiched between the pair of terminal multiple-quantum-well structures. Each of the pair of terminal multiple-quantum-well structures has a band gap profile, and the central multiple-quantum-well structure has a band gap profile. The band gap profile of the central multiple-quantum-well structure is greater than the band gap profile of each of the pair of terminal multiple-quantum-well structures.

Abstract: A magnetic nanotube includes bacterial magnetic nanocrystals contacted onto a nanotube which absorbs the nanocrystals. The nanocrystals are contacted on at least one surface of the nanotube. A method of fabricating a magnetic nanotube includes synthesizing the bacterial magnetic nanocrystals, which have an outer layer of proteins. A nanotube provided is capable of absorbing the nanocrystals and contacting the nanotube with the nanocrystals. The nanotube is preferably a peptide bolaamphiphile. A nanotube solution and a nanocrystal solution including a buffer and a concentration of nanocrystals are mixed. The concentration of nanocrystals is optimized, resulting in a nanocrystal to nanotube ratio for which bacterial magnetic nanocrystals are immobilized on at least one surface of the nanotubes. The ratio controls whether the nanocrystals bind only to the interior or to the exterior surfaces of the nanotubes. Uses include cell manipulation and separation, biological assay, enzyme recovery, and biosensors.

Abstract: Disclosed is a system and a method for detecting the presence of one or more objects in a turbid medium, the method including: illuminating at least a portion of the turbid medium with incident light having at least one wavelength which interacts with the one or more objects contained in the turbid medium differently than the incident light interacts with the turbid medium; measuring light that emerges from the turbid medium; and detecting and locating the one or more objects using Independent Component Analysis (ICA) of the emergent light from the turbid medium. The present invention is useful for medical applications, such as for finding and locating, a tumor(s) in body organs, or excised tissues. Moreover, the present invention can be used to locate objects in obscuring medium, such as, mines in shallow coastal water, a plane in fog, military targets under fog, smoke or cloud cover.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods for stimulating neuronal survival, growth and regeneration by administering SLPIs to animals, such as humans. These methods can be used to treat a variety of neurological conditions such as neural injuries and degenerative diseases in subjects in need thereof.

Abstract: The invention relates to novel curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin derivatives, which have been modified at one phenolic group to incorporate more-reactive groups. The curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin derivatives are in the form of monomers, dimmers, and polymers.

Abstract: The invention is directed to novel synthetic C-glycolipids that selectively induce a ThI-type immune response characterized by enhanced IL-12 secretion and increased activation of dendritic cells. The compounds of the invention are thereby useful in treating infections, cancers, cell proliferative disorders, and autoimmune diseases, both directly and as adjuvants.

Abstract: This invention relates to the novel identification of arginase as an enzymatic activity which can reverse inhibition of neuronal regeneration in the central and peripheral nervous system. Assays to monitor the effects of various agents on arginase expression and thus on neuronal regeneration and repair and to identify agents which will block or promote the inhibitory effects on neuronal outgrowth are provided. This invention also relates to compositions and methods using agents that can reverse the inhibitory effects of myelin on neural regeneration by affecting arginase activity or putrescine and derivative polyamine levels in a neuron.

Abstract: A method of storing heat includes moving a portion of a heated fluid from at least one reactor core to at least one tank having solid media, storing heat from the portion of the heated fluid in the solid media, and transferring the stored heat from the solid media to a fluid that can be used by a power plant to generate electrical energy. A system for storing heat in a nuclear power plant includes at least one tank comprising solid media structured and arranged to store heat and an arrangement structured and arranged to pass a first fluid through the at least one tank, transfer heat from the first fluid to the solid media, store the heat in the solid media, and transfer the heat from the solid media to a second fluid. This Abstract is not intended to define the invention disclosed in the specification, nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for a simplified approach for determining the output of a total covariance signal processor. A single set of offline calculations is performed and then used to estimate the output of the total covariance signal processor. A simplified approach for performing matrix inversion may also be used in determining the output of the total covariance processor.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods and compositions for augmenting an immunogenicity of an antigen in a mammal, comprising administering said antigen together with an adjuvant composition that includes a synthetic glycolipid compound of Formula I, as described herein. According to the present invention, the use of a compound of Formula I as an adjuvant is attributed at least in part to the enhancement and/or extension of antigen-specific Th1-type responses, in particular, CD8+ T cell responses. The methods and compositions of the present invention can be useful for prophylaxis and treatment of various infectious and neoplastic diseases.

Abstract: The present invention provides compositions and methods of using curcumin or curcumin derivatives or analogs to activate the pro-apoptotic enzymes caspase-3/7 in cancer cells. The present invention also provides formulations of curcumin or derivatives or analogs with increased solubility or improved bioavailability. The formulations may be administered to a subject such that high concentrations of therapeutically effective curcumin compounds resuit in the subject's bloodstream. The invention thus involves the use of curcumin or curcumin derivatives or analogs to diminish cancer cell growth, decrease tumor size, prevent tumor formation, and Curcumin Carrier to reduce or prevent cancer or tumor cell invasion or metastasis into a tissue, e.g., into the nervous System and especially the brain, of a subject.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to perovskite nanostructures of Formula ABO3, wherein A and B represent one or more metals with A having a valence lower than B, to methods of making the perovskite nanostructures of Formula ABO3 comprising their synthesis within and precipitation from reverse micelles, and the use of the perovskite nanostructures of Formula ABO3 as capacitors, and their use in dynamic random access memory, electromechanics, and non-linear optics.

Abstract: A data routing method and system, the data routing method including: locating a destination node using a destination locating packet; establishing a preliminary route including anchor nodes based on a route where the destination locating packet is transmitted to the destination node; determining a link cost between neighbor nodes of each of the anchor nodes, and also between the anchor nodes and the neighbor nodes of each of the anchor nodes; generating minimum cost information with respect to a route consuming a minimum cost from the destination node to a source node using the link cost; and forming a data route from the destination node to the source node using the minimum cost information.

Abstract: This invention relates to the novel identification of arginase as an enzymatic activity which can reverse inhibition of neuronal regeneration in the central and peripheral nervous system. Assays to monitor the effects of various agents on arginase expression and thus on neuronal regeneration and repair and to identify agents which will block or promote the inhibitory effects on neuronal outgrowth are provided. This invention also relates to compositions and methods using agents that can reverse the inhibitory effects of myelin on neural regeneration by affecting arginase activity or putrescine and derivative polyamine levels in a neuron.

Abstract: Industrial waste derived adsorbents were obtained by pyrolysis of sewage sludge, metal sludge, waste oil sludge and tobacco waste in some combination. The materials were used as media to remove hydrogen sulfide at room temperature in the presence of moisture. The initial and exhausted adsorbents after the breakthrough tests were characterized using sorption of nitrogen, thermal analysis, XRD, ICP, and surface pH measurements. Mixing tobacco and sludges result in a strong synergy enhancing the catalytic properties of adsorbents. During pyrolysis new mineral phases are formed as a result of solid state reaction between the components of the sludges. High temperature of pyrolysis is beneficial for the adsorbents due to the enhanced activation of carbonaceous phase and chemical stabilization of inorganic phase. Samples obtained at low temperature are sensitive to water, which deactivates their catalytic centers.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods for the fabrication of polymer nanoparticles comprising the addition polymer solutions to aqueous solutions containing surfactants, wherein the concentration of the surfactants in the aqueous solution are lower than the critical micelle concentration of the surfactants. The methods of the present invention provide for the precipitation of uniformly dispersed polymer particles in the submicron size range, preferably from about 5 nm to about 100 nm.

Abstract: Spectral optical imaging at one or more key water absorption fingerprint wavelengths measures the difference in water content between a region of cancerous or precancerous tissue and a region of normal tissue. Water content is an important diagnostic parameter because cancerous and precancerous tissues have different water content than normal tissues. Key water absorption wavelengths include at least one of 980 nanometers (nm), 1195 nm, 1456 nm, 1944 nm, 2880 nm to 3360 nm, and 4720 nm. In the range of 400 nm to 6000 nm, one or more points of negligible water absorption are used as reference points for a comparison with one or more key neighboring water absorption wavelengths. Different images are generated using at least two wavelengths, including a water absorption wavelength and a negligible water absorption wavelength, to yield diagnostic information relevant for classifying a tissue region as cancerous, precancerous, or normal.

Abstract: A spin-coated polymer microcavity for light emitters and lasers producing enhancement of spontaneous emission rate from colloidal CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots embedded in a one dimensional polymer microcavity structure at room temperature. The polymer microcavity structures are fabricated using spin coating. Alternating layers of polymers of two different refractive indices were stacked to form the Distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). To achieve high reflectivity, the polymers for the DBR structures were chosen so that they have a relatively high refractive index ratio. The high and low refractive index polymers chosen were poly-N(vinylcarbazole) (PVK) and poly acrylic acid (PAA), with refractive indices of 1.683 and 1.420 at 600 nm, respectively. Thin films of quarter wavelength thickness of the two polymers are alternately spin coated on a glass substrate to make the DBR structures. Greater than 90% reflectivity is obtained using ten periods of the structure.

Abstract: A grating structure for channeling and concentrating incident radiation includes a regular pattern of elements each with a metallic shell partially surrounding at least one subcavity. The subcavity is filled with a dielectric or semiconductor. Light of one or more predetermined wavelength ranges can be concentrated in the subcavity(s) and then efficiently channeled through the grooves between adjacent elements. An optoelectronic device includes the structure superposed on a substrate, which can be semiconductive, and the elements of the grating used as electrodes and adapted to allow a potential difference between adjacent (electrode) elements. The optoelectronic devices include photodetectors, e.g., metal-semiconductor-metal, pn, pin, avalanche, LEDs, IR emitting devices, and biological or chemical sensors.