Abstract: The present invention provides materials and methods related to culturing stable Treg cells or in vivo expansion of stable Treg cells, the cells made by the methods, treatments for various inflammatory/autoimmune pathologies and transplant/graft rejection, and related materials. Ex vivo induction and expansion of the stable Tregs is described, including use of inducing compositions, such as certain mAbs and other compounds, along with expansion medium comprising IL-2. In vivo expansion of stable Treg cells and treatments for various inflammatory/autoimmune pathologies and transplant/graft rejection are described, including the use of mAbs and their variants.

Abstract: Porphyrin compounds are provided. The compounds may further comprise a fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon or a fused heterocyclic aromatic. Fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon s and fused heterocyclic aromatics may extend and broaden absorption, and modify the solubility, crystallinity, and film-forming properties of the porphyrin compounds. Additionally, devices comprising porphyrin compounds are also provided. The porphyrin compounds may be used in a donor/acceptor configuration with compounds, such as C60.

Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide an anti-cadherin antibody having high antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. The present invention provides an anti-cadherin antibody, which recognizes any one of an upstream region of EC1, a cadherin domain 4 (EC4) and a cadherin domain 5 (EC5), wherein an antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity at an antibody concentration of 1 ?g/mL is 30% or more.

Abstract: A method for reconstructing an image of an object that includes a plurality of image elements. The method includes accessing image data associated with a plurality of image elements, and reconstructing an image of the object by optimizing an objective function, where the objective function is optimized by iteratively solving a nested sequence of approximate optimization problems. The algorithm is composed of nested iterative loops, in which an inner loop iteratively optimizes an objective function approximating the outer loop objective function, and an outer loop that utilizes the solution of the inner loop to optimize the original objective function.

Abstract: An antisense molecule capable of binding to a selected target site to induce exon skipping in the dystrophin gene, as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 to 202.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the novel material fluorographene (FG), methods of making fluorographene, and its applications in electronics and related fields. The fluorographene also finds use in improving the properties of composite materials by incorporating the fluorographene of the invention with one or more materials such as fluoropolymers (FP) and the like. Conventionally, FP inter-chain interactions are very weak but spread over the area of FG, FG is able to act as a very effective and compatible reinforcement.

Abstract: Methods that entail detection of an epiregulin (EREG) protein for cancer diagnosis are disclosed. In colon cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, and kidney cancer, the gene and protein expressions of EREG were frequently found to be elevated. Antibodies that recognize an EREG protein are used for diagnosing or treating cancer in the present invention. Pharmaceutical compositions, cell proliferation inhibitors, and anticancer agents containing an EREG-binding antibody as an active ingredient are also disclosed. Methods of inducing cell damage in EREG-expressing cells and methods of suppressing the proliferation of EREG-expressing cells by contacting the EREG-expressing cells with EREG-binding antibodies are also disclosed.

Abstract: Growing spin-capable multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) forests in a repeatable fashion will become possible through understanding the critical factors affecting the forest growth. Here we show that the spinning capability depends on the alignment of adjacent MWCNTs in the forest which in turn results from the synergistic combination of a high areal density of MWCNTs and short distance between the MWCNTs. This can be realized by starting with both the proper Fe nanoparticle size and density which strongly depend on the sheet resistance of the catalyst film. Simple measurement of the sheet resistance can allow one to reliably predict the growth of spin-capable forests. The properties of pulled MWCNTs sheets reflect that there is a relationship between their electrical resistance and optical transmittance. Overlaying either 3, 5, or 10 sheets pulled out from a single forest produces much more repeatable characteristics.

Abstract: The present invention relates generally to peptides and more specifically to antimicrobial and immunomodulatory host defense peptides.

Abstract: The invention provides vesicles that may be used in diagnosing infection, especially with infection by bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The vesicles can be used in wound dressings.

Abstract: A database management system (DBMS) generates a query execution plan including information representing one or more database (DB) operations necessary for executing a query, and executes the query in accordance with the query execution plan. In the execution of the query, the DBMS dynamically generates tasks for executing the DB operations and executes the dynamically generated tasks. The query execution plan includes a plurality of query blocks, which are sets of one or more DB operations. When newly generating a task, the DBMS executes determination processing of simultaneous-task-generation number. The determination processing of simultaneous-task-generation number is to calculate, targeting each of the query blocks, the number of simultaneous task generation, which is the number of tasks simultaneously generatable as tasks for executing the query block. The number of the dynamically generated tasks is equal to or smaller than the number of simultaneous task generation.

Abstract: A prodrug can have a structure of Formula 10 or derivative thereof or stereoisomer thereof or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The prodrug can be included in a pharmaceutical composition for use in treatment of fungus, cancer, dermatitis, superficial mycoses; inflammation, tinea pedis, tinea cruris, and tinea corporis, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Epidermophyton floccosum, and Microsporum canis, candidiasis (moniliasis), Candida albicans, tinea (pityriasis) vesicolor, Malassezia furfur, acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoid leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, lymphoma or multiple myeloma.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods for adsorbing a protein onto a conductive solid substrate, comprising the application of an external potential to the solid substrate greater than +500 mV vs. the Ag/AgCl/Cl?SAT reference electrode, in the presence of a solution comprising the protein, wherein the solution has a pH within + 2 units of the isoelectric point of the protein, and wherein the protein adsorbs to the conductive solid substrate upon application of the external potential. Some embodiments are directed to a process of protein adsorption on a solid surface mediated by an applied potential that can be affected significantly by altering a number of variables such as protein concentration, flexibility, charge, molecular weight, pH, and charge of substrate.

Abstract: The present invention provides a multi-terminal power conversion device, a multi-terminal power transfer device, and a power network system which allows an existing power grid to be divided into a plurality of power grids that can be interconnected together and operated stably via existing or new transmission lines. An inter-power grid asynchronous interconnection network system includes a multi-terminal power conversion device characterized by connecting together a plurality of asynchronous power grids including a bulk power grid and controlling power so that the sum of inflow power and outflow power is zero. An intra-power grid synchronous network system includes a power apparatus control terminal device with means for controlling power for a power apparatus installed in an autonomous power grid. A plurality of inter-power grid asynchronous interconnection network systems are connected to an intra-power grid synchronous network system to integrate the power control with communication control.

Abstract: A method of preparing a DNA copy of a target polynucleotide using template switching is described. The method includes mixing a double stranded template/primer substrate made up of a DNA primer oligonucleotide associated with a complementary oligonucleotide template strand with a target polynucleotide in a reaction medium and adding a suitable amount of a non-retroviral reverse transcriptase to the reaction medium to extend the DNA primer oligonucleotide from its 3? end to provide a DNA copy polynucleotide. The DNA copy polynucleotide includes a complementary target DNA polynucleotide that is synthesized using the target polynucleotide as a template. Methods of adding nucleotides to the double stranded template/primer substrate are also described. The method can be used to facilitate detection, PCR amplification, cloning, and determination of RNA and DNA sequences.

Abstract: A management system includes a plurality of components within a computer system. A plurality of component resource managers is provided, and each of the components is controlled by at least one of the plurality of component resource managers. A plurality of component management interfaces is also provided. Each of the components communicates with at least one of the controlling component resource managers via one of the component management interfaces. At least one runtime manager autonomously controls operation of the components and the component resource managers.

Abstract: The SSD performs to encode input data from the host device into BCH code having data length and code length sequentially and controls RRAM to stores the encoded data when the write requesting signal is input from the host device. When the number of BCH code that becomes data of one page of the flash memory after being decoded is stored to RRAM, the SSD controls RRAM to read out data stored in RRAM, performs error correction and decoding to the read data as BCH code having the data length and the code length, and controls the flash memory to store the encoded data.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods, systems and articles for tracing and disabling one or more unauthorized distributors of content originally transmitted by a distribution center. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving rebroadcast transmissions of a data segment previously transmitted by the distribution center, the received segment including embedded information associated with a subset of recipients that includes at least one of the unauthorized distributors, and identifying the subset based on the embedded information. The method further includes assigning recipients in the identified subset into two or more new subsets such that the at least one unauthorized distributor is assigned to one of the two or more new subsets, and coding a subsequent data segment to be transmitted with additional embedded information associated with the two or more new subsets. The above operations may be repeated until the at least unauthorized distributor is identified.

Abstract: The present invention is based, in part, on the discovery that parvovirus (including AAV) capsids can be engineered to incorporate small, selective regions from other parvoviruses that confer desirable properties. The inventors have discovered that in some cases as little as a single amino acid insertion or substitution from a first parvovirus (e.g., an AAV) into the capsid structure of another parvovirus (e.g., an AAV) to create a chimeric parvovirus is sufficient to confer one or more of the desirable properties of the first parvovirus to the resulting chimeric parvovirus and/or to confer a property that is not exhibited by the first parvovirus or is present to a lesser extent.

Abstract: Spatially Integrated Small-Format Aerial Photography (SFAP) is one aspect of the present invention. It is a low-cost solution for bridge surface imaging and is proposed as a remote bridge inspection technique to supplement current bridge visual inspection. Providing top-down views, the airplanes flying at about 1000 feet can allow visualization of sub-inch (large) cracks and joint openings on bridge decks or highway pavements. On board Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to help geo-reference images collected and allow automated damage detection. A deck condition rating technique based on large crack detection is used to quantify the condition of the existing bridge decks.