Abstract: Plasticized, unpigmented and pigmented PVC films are described which utilize a biobased, phthalate ester alternative primary plasticizer. The films show comparable color performance to the phthalate ester-plasticized unpigmented or pigmented PVC films, even where the neat biobased plasticizer has a much higher Pt—Co color as measured according to DIN-6271 (ASTM D 1209) compared to the neat phthalate ester plasticizer. Biobased primary plasticizers in the form of diesters of furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid are especially contemplated, and provide increased thermal stability to the PVC films as an added benefit.

Abstract: A simple method was developed to extract adipose-derived stromal stem cells (ASCs) without using enzymatic digestion of the collagen in adipose tissue. The resulting ASCs isolated by the simple wash method have lower levels of CD34 expression, a hematopoietic stem cell marker, as compared to ASCs isolated using conventional enzymatic digestion using collagenase. This characteristic is consistent with non-enzymatically treated stem cells obtained from bone marrow aspirates, which are negative for CD34. Additionally, the washed ASCs have higher levels of CD44 expression, a hyaluronate receptor, and lower levels of contaminating hematopoietic cells, as evidenced by low CD45 expression, as compared to enzymatically digested cells. The cells produced by this simple method can be used therapeutically for allogenic or autologous tissue regeneration, and can be administered using any pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Abstract: An apparatus for spectroscopic Doppler imaging comprises collection and focusing optics, a field splitter configured to form a composite image from multiple fields of view, and a Fabry-Perot etalon configured to spatially modulate the incoming light in order to analyze the spectral content of the light from spatially resolved regions of a scene. Methods for Doppler imaging of a scene comprise split-field imagery and scene scanning techniques to create a spatially resolved spectral profile spectra of a scene, useful for measuring and profiling wind vectors and temperatures within the scene.

Abstract: A membrane is provided including a coating layer having cellulose nanofibers produced from oxidized cellulose microfibers and an electrospun substrate upon which the coating layer is applied. The nanofibers of the electrospun substrate have a diameter greater than that of the cellulose nanofibers. The membrane also has non-woven support upon which the electrospun substrate is disposed. Microfibers of the non-woven support have a diameter greater than that of the nanofibers of the electrospun substrate. Application of electrospun membrane is in microfiltration area, while the cellulose nanofiber membrane serves in ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis after chemical modification.

Abstract: The invention provides the disclosure of a novel plant growth pathway involving several receptor like kinases. The pathway was shown to work largely independent of brassinosteroids and involves several members of the CrRLK1L family of receptor kinases. According to the invention, HERK1, HERK2, FER, THE1 and the brassinosteroid BES1 may be modulated to influence plant growth and elongation. The invention includes methods, and transformed plants, cells tissues and seeds with increased cellular elongation and other related yield traits.

Abstract: A novel method for real-time small-signal stability analysis within the instability borders for power electronic-based components in a power system. The method may be used to monitor a power system in real-time by perturbing the source side of an electronic-based component of the power system of about 0.5 to 1 percent of a nominal current of the power system at the source side, and perturbing the load side of the power electronic-based component by varying the voltage at the load side. Time-domain results of the perturbations may be transferred to frequency-domain results and the stability of the power system may be monitored by obtaining a Nyquist contour and employing unit circuit criterion or Generalized Nyquist Criterion.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the present invention provide a lure composition, lure arrangement, and/or method for attracting and capturing bed bugs and the like. In some embodiments, the present invention combines a collection structure with a chemical lure composition that has improved efficacy due to a synergistic combination of elements. The present invention reduces the need for sprayed or broadcast attractants. In one aspect of the invention, a lure composition for attracting bed bugs and the like is provided. The 5-chemical lure mixture comprises a combination of Nonanal, 1-octen-3-ol, L-lactic acid, spearmint oil, and coriander Egyptian oil. In another embodiment of the invention, the mixture comprises a 4-chemical lure mixture Nonanal, 1-octen-3-ol, spearmint oil, and coriander Egyptian oil.

Abstract: Fused cyclic pyrimidine compounds, including tautomers thereof, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts, prodrugs, solvates and hydrates thereof, are disclosed having the general Formula 1: These compounds are useful in methods for treating cancer, selectively targeting cancerous cells via the proton coupled folate transporter, folate receptor alpha, and/or folate receptor beta pathways, inhibiting GARFTase in cancerous cells, and selectively targeting activated macrophages in a patient having an autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Abstract: A linear-motion stage that is angularly or radially symmetric or asymmetric, or monolithic may be used as the moving mechanism in a Fourier transform spectrometer. In embodiments, a linear-motion stage includes a base; a first multiple-arm linkage extending from the base to a first carriage attachment piece; and a second multiple-arm linkage extending from the first carriage attachment piece to the base. The first multiple-arm linkage constrains a motion of the first carriage attachment piece to motion in a first plane and the second multiple-arm linkage constrains the first carriage attachment piece to motion in a second plane, the first and second planes intersecting at a plane intersection line. The first and second multiple-arm linkages constrain the motion of the first carriage attachment piece along a carriage motion line.

Abstract: A device and method for measuring the structural integrity and structural health of the female pelvic floor, or other lumenal organ, is disclosed. Said device comprises an insertable probe with a pressure chamber capable of distending the walls of said lumenal organ. The invention also comprises means for positioning the pressure chamber and adjusting its location along the lumen. Said device also comprises means for changing and recording the volume and pressure of a balloon which is part of the pressure chamber, and means for determining and recording the location of the walls of the balloon. Said device also comprises a means for integrating information obtained to determine important biomechanical information, such as stress-strain curves, which a medical clinician can use for diagnostic purposes. Said method comprises the insertion of said probe, the expansion and contraction of the pressure chamber under desired condition, and means for analyzing obtained data for increased usefulness to the clinician.

Abstract: A novel bio-based superabsorbent polymer material based on a proteinaceous natural polymer is introduced herein. There is further disclosed a method for the manufacture of such a bio-based crosslinked superabsorbent polymer material. The method includes, but not limited to, introducing polymerizable unsaturated groups onto the natural polymer or its derivative so as to yield a macromonomer. The macromonomer can be formed by covalently binding unsaturated carbon-carbon double bonds to a proteinaceous substrate through a reaction of a selected chemical compound and the amino group on the proteinaceous substrate. The macromonomer is then copolymerized with unsaturated co-monomer(s) to form a crosslinked superabsorbent material.

Abstract: A supported catalyst for aldehyde coupling reaction, comprising a carrier having supported thereon a catalyst comprising at least one azolium compound selected from the group consisting of a thiazolium salt, an imidazolium salt, a benzimidazolium salt and a triazolium salt, the azolium compound having, at a nitrogen atom thereof, a substituent selected from the group consisting of an aliphatic group having 6 or more carbon atoms and an aromatic group having 6 or more carbon atoms.

Abstract: The present invention is based, in part, on our discovery that certain types of therapeutic agents can be used in combination to treat a variety of neuropsychiatric and related disorders, including addiction (e.g., to a substance or to an activity) as well as to alleviate some of the symptoms experienced during menopause or associated with the menstrual cycle. Regardless of the precise formulation, the compositions of the invention can include at least one active ingredient that targets the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and at least one active ingredient that targets the prefrontal cortex. Either or both of these types of agents can be combined with an agent that inhibits activity in the sympathetic nervous system. Thus, the compositions or combination pharmacotherapies can also include an agent that inhibits a beta-adrenergic receptor or that otherwise acts as an anti-hypertensive or anxiolytic agent.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are nucleic acid sequences that encode pro-apoptotic polypeptides. Also disclosed are polypeptides encoded by these nucleic acid sequences, and antibodies, which immunospecifically-bind to the polypeptide, as well as derivatives, variants, mutants, or fragments of the aforementioned polypeptide, polynucleotide, or antibody. The invention further discloses therapeutic, diagnostic and research methods for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of proliferative disorders and bacterial infections using the nucleic acids and proteins of the invention.

Abstract: Some embodiments include a wireless sensor network system. Other embodiments of related systems and methods are also disclosed.

Abstract: A system, method, computer-readable medium, apparatus, and device for simulating placement of an expandable device in a cavity is provided. For example, a three or more dimensional image of a cavity, e.g., a tubular cavity, geometry is acquired. A centerline of the cavity, and a perimeter of the cavity based on the centerline of the cavity and the three-dimensional image of the cavity geometry, are determined. The length of a wire of the expandable device as the wire rotates along the perimeter of the cavity in a deployment direction is determined. A pitch of the rotation of the wire based on a local diameter at the centerline site of rotation and in-air parameters of the expandable device is determined. A deployed device length of the expandable device along the centerline of the cavity is determined. A processor is usable to determine and/or calculate each of the above.

Abstract: A method for solvent-less adhesive bonding is provided comprising depositing thin, functional, polymeric films on one or more substrates and bonding the substrates to each other or to other substrates. Depositing the polymeric films, including, for example, chemically reactive polymers and thermoplastics with adhesive qualities, may be accomplished using an initiated chemical vapor deposition technique compatible with a variety of monomers, including monomers with chemically functional moieties such as amine and epoxy groups. The technique allows for deposition of polymeric films on a wide variety of substrates/devices and provides an alternative for other coating/deposition methods that are incompatible with certain substrates/devices and/or do not provide adequate control over the resulting polymeric film. The provided method is advantageous in that it is applicable to fabrication of hybrid devices and is compatible with microfabrication technology, including that in clean-room settings.

Abstract: Probes for selectively detecting compounds comprising a thiol group and an amino group (“thiols”) are disclosed. Exemplary thiols include cysteine, homocysteine, and glutathione. Embodiments of the disclosed probes produce a detectable change in absorbance spectrum and/or emission spectrum when reacted with one or more thiols in solution. Methods and kits for performing the detection also are disclosed. The probes have a general formula where each bond depicted as “” is a single or double bond; R1, R3-R6 and R8 independently are hydrogen, hydroxyl, thiol, lower alkyl, carboxyalkyl, amino, alkoxy, or halogen; R2 is an ?,?-unsaturated aliphatic ester; R7 is oxygen, sulfur, hydrogen, hydroxyl, thiol, lower alkyl, carboxyalkyl, amino, alkoxy, or halogen, or R7 and R8 together form a cycloalkyl or aryl ring; X1 is CH2, S, NH, O, Se, Si(CH3)2, Ge(CH3)2, Sn(CH3)2, or C(CH3)2; and X2 is CH, CH2, N, NH, or CR9 where R9 is aryl.

Abstract: According to an embodiment, there is provided herein a method of determining the air void distribution in a sample of fresh concrete. One embodiment of the invention determines a parameter related to air void distribution by applying a known pressure to a fresh concrete sample, measuring a first value representative of the volume under compression, releases at least a portion of the pressure, reapplies the same pressure to the sample, measures a second value representative of the volume under the second compression, and uses differential between the first and second values to estimate a parameter related to the air void distribution.

Abstract: Resistance of plants, particularly wheat and barley, to Fusarium head blight (FHB) and other Fusarium-related diseases may be induced or enhanced by transformation with a nucleic acid (DNA) construct comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding the wheat ethylene-responsive transcription factor TaERF7-1 operatively linked to a promoter effective for expression in the plant. Plants transformed with the construct exhibit increased resistance to FHB and other Fusarium-related diseases in comparison to a non-transformed control plant. The transgenic plants may be produced from any plant, tissue or cell which is capable of regeneration, by transformation with the construct. Transformed plants, plant tissue or plant cells comprising the construct are selected, and the transgenic plant is generated therefrom.