Patents Assigned to The University
  • Urate transporter, as well as method and kit for evaluating urate transport-related disease factor and inflammation-related disease factor, and test sample and drug
    Patent number: 8940286
    Abstract: A method and evaluation kit are provided, in which a high-capacity urate transporter is identified to assist in the early treatment and prevention of urate transport-related disease and inflammation-related disease. The method can include a step for detecting variations in genes that encode ABCG2 protein. When a subject has an SNP of V12M, R113X, Q126X, Q141K, F208S, G268R, E334X, S441N, L447V, S486N, F506SfsX4, R575X, and/or C608X, it can be concluded that the subject has a factor that is capable of inducing urate transport failure, or a state or disease attributable to that failure. When a subject has an SNP of V12M, it can be concluded that, unlike the other SNPs, there is a possibility that the subject does not possess such a factor because, although this variation itself does not lead to a change in urate transport capability, said variation is related to linkage disequilibrium with other SNPs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignees: The University of Tokyo, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences
    Inventors: Hirotaka Matsuo, Nariyoshi Shinomiya, Takahiro Nakamura, Tappei Takada, Hiroshi Suzuki, Yuki Ikebuchi, Kousei Ito, Kimiyoshi Ichida
  • Breast tumor treatment with anti-CXCR1 compositions
    Patent number: 8940301
    Abstract: The present invention provides methods of treating cancer by administering an IL8-CXCR1 pathway inhibitor (e.g., an anti-CXCR1 antibody or Repertaxin) alone or in combination with an additional chemotherapeutic agent such that non-tumorigenic and tumorigenic cancer cells in a subject are killed. The present invention also provides compositions and methods for detecting the presence of and isolating solid tumor stem cells in a patient (e.g., based on the presence of CXCR1 or FBXO21).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: The Regents of The University of Michigan
    Inventors: Max S. Wicha, Christophe Ginestier
  • Ultrasonic method of monitoring particle size distribution of a medium
    Patent number: 8942928
    Abstract: Methods and are provided for determining, monitoring or detecting particle size distribution of a medium. An example method includes comparing a measured ultrasound attenuation spectrum of the medium with a calculated attenuation spectrum, where the calculated attenuation spectrum is obtained by accounting for the scattering of ultrasound waves into the receiver. The methods of the present invention can be used to determine particle size distribution in a dense suspension of particles in the intermediate wavelength regime. In other aspects, methods of the present invention may also be used to monitor changes in particle size distribution, infer the shape of particles, provide feedback to a process involving a change in particle size, and determine the completion of a dissolution process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: The University of Western Ontario
    Inventors: Anand Prakash, Abhishek Shukla, Sohrab Rohani
  • Micro-RNA family that modulates fibrosis and uses thereof
    Patent number: 8940713
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the identification of a microRNA family, designated miR-29a-c, that is a key regulator of fibrosis in cardiac tissue. The inventors show that members of the miR-29 family are down-regulated in the heart tissue in response to stress, and are up-regulated in heart tissue of mice that are resistant to both stress and fibrosis. Also provided are methods of modulating expression and activity of the miR-29 family of miRNAs as a treatment for fibrotic disease, including cardiac hypertrophy, skeletal muscle fibrosis other fibrosis related diseases and collagen loss-related disease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: The Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Eric N. Olson, Eva van Rooij
  • Carbon-based fuel cell
    Patent number: 8940454
    Abstract: A direct-electrochemical-oxidation fuel cell and method for generating electrical energy from a solid-state organic fuel. The fuel cell includes a cathode provided with an electrochemical-reduction catalyst that promotes formation of oxygen ions from an oxygen-containing source at the cathode, an anode provided with an electrochemical-oxidation catalyst that promotes direct electrochemical oxidation of the solid-state organic fuel in the presence of the oxygen ions to produce electrical energy, and a solid-oxide electrolyte disposed to transmit the oxygen ions from the cathode to the anode. The electrochemical oxidation catalyst can optionally include a sulfur resistant material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: The University of Akron
    Inventor: Steven S. C. Chuang
  • Protein imprinting by means of alginate-based polymers
    Patent number: 8940394
    Abstract: Methods of preparing molecularly imprinted polymers are provided. In one embodiment, a method comprises providing a solution comprising a template molecule; and forming a product comprising calcium alginate in the presence of the template molecule so that the template molecule is imprinted in the product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Nicholas A. Peppas, Edgar Perez-Herrero
  • Dye for photoelectric conversion device, and photoelectric conversion film, electrode, and solar cell using same
    Patent number: 8941008
    Abstract: A photoelectric-conversion-device dye comprising a ruthenium metal complex, which includes a molecule including elemental phosphorous and the molecule forms a coordinate bond at least at the phosphorous atom, and which also includes a terpyridine derivative that forms a coordinate bond and has at least one adsorbing group that exhibits adsorptivity toward a metal oxide. The adsorbing group is selected from the group consisting of a carboxylic acid group, an ester thereof, or a salt thereof; a phosphonic acid group, an ester thereof, or a salt thereof; a hydroxyl group; an alkoxy group; and a sulfonic acid group or salt thereof. The dye exhibits absorption over a wide range from the visible light region to the near-infrared region, and as a result, a photoelectric conversion film, an electrode, and a solar cell having improved photoelectric conversion efficiency are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignees: The University of Tokyo, Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Segawa, Takumi Kinoshita, Jun-ichi Fujisawa, Jotaro Nakazaki, Satoshi Uchida, Takaya Kubo
  • Micro-RNA family that modulates fibrosis and uses thereof
    Patent number: 8940712
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the identification of a microRNA family, designated miR-29a-c, that is a key regulator of fibrosis in cardiac tissue. The inventors show that members of the miR-29 family are down-regulated in the heart tissue in response to stress, and are up-regulated in heart tissue of mice that are resistant to both stress and fibrosis. Also provided are methods of modulating expression and activity of the miR-29 family of miRNAs as a treatment for fibrotic disease, including cardiac hypertrophy, skeletal muscle fibrosis other fibrosis related diseases and collagen loss-related disease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: The Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Eric N. Olson, Eva van Rooij
  • User-powered recommendation system
    Patent number: 8943081
    Abstract: Recommendation systems are widely used in Internet applications. In current recommendation systems, users only play a passive role and have limited control over the recommendation generation process. As a result, there is often considerable mismatch between the recommendations made by these systems and the actual user interests, which are fine-grained and constantly evolving. With a user-powered distributed recommendation architecture, individual users can flexibly define fine-grained communities of interest in a declarative fashion and obtain recommendations accurately tailored to their interests by aggregating opinions of users in such communities. By combining a progressive sampling technique with data perturbation methods, the recommendation system is both scalable and privacy-preserving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Kadangode K. Ramakrishnan, Divesh Srivastava, Tae Won Cho, Yin Zhang
  • Agent for enhancing anti-tumor effect comprising oxaliplatin liposome preparation, and anti-tumor agent comprising the liposome preparation
    Patent number: 8940327
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to further enhance the antitumor effect when oxaliplatin is administered in combination with a combination drug containing tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium. According to the present invention, by using oxaliplatin encapsulated in a liposome preparation, combination therapy of oxaliplatin plus a combination drug containing tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium, is revealed to show remarkably enhanced antitumor effect without increasing side effects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignees: The University of Tokushima, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuhiro Ishida, Hiroshi Kiwada
  • Method and apparatus for authenticating area biometric scanners
    Patent number: 8942430
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for authenticating a biometric scanner, such as area type finger print scanners, involves estimating unique intrinsic characteristics of the scanner (scanner pattern), that are permanent over time, and can identify a scanner even among scanners of the same manufacturer and model. Image processing and analysis are used to extract a scanner pattern from images acquired with the scanner. The scanner pattern is used to verify whether the scanner that acquired a particular image is the same as the scanner that acquired one or several images during enrollment of the biometric information. Authenticating the scanner can prevent subsequent security attacks using counterfeit biometric information on the scanner, or on the user authentication system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: The University of Maryland, College Park
    Inventors: Vladimir Iankov Ivanov, John S. Baras
  • Method and apparatus for authenticating swipe biometric scanners
    Patent number: 8942438
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for authenticating a biometric scanner, such as swipe type finger print scanners, involves estimating unique intrinsic characteristics of the scanner (scanner pattern), that are permanent over time, and can identify a scanner even among scanners of the same manufacturer and model. Image processing and analysis are used to extract a scanner pattern from images acquired with the scanner. The scanner pattern is used to verify whether the scanner that acquired a particular image is the same as the scanner that acquired one or several images during enrollment of the biometric information. Authenticating the scanner can prevent subsequent security attacks using counterfeit biometric information on the scanner, or on the user authentication system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: The University of Maryland, College Park
    Inventors: Vladimir Iankov Ivanov, John S. Baras
  • Micro-RNA family that modulates fibrosis and uses thereof
    Patent number: 8940711
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the identification of a microRNA family, designated miR-29a-c, that is a key regulator of fibrosis in cardiac tissue. The inventors show that members of the miR-29 family are down-regulated in the heart tissue in response to stress, and are up-regulated in heart tissue of mice that are resistant to both stress and fibrosis. Also provided are methods of modulating expression and activity of the miR-29 family of miRNAs as a treatment for fibrotic disease, including cardiac hypertrophy, skeletal muscle fibrosis other fibrosis related diseases and collagen loss-related disease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: The Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Eric N. Olson, Eva van Rooij
  • Apparatuses And Methods For Forming Wounds In Cell Layers
    Publication number: 20150024425
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an apparatus for forming wounds in cell layers includes a base that includes a guide track, and a sliding member adapted to fit within the guide track, the sliding member including a scratching element holder adapted to secure a scratching element in a position in which it contacts a cell layer, wherein the sliding member is further adapted to slide along the guide track to drag the scratching element through the cell layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2014
    Publication date: January 22, 2015
    Applicant: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: John S. Bergmann, Celeste C. Finnerty, David N. Herndon
  • BIOMARKERS OF OXIDATIVE STRESS
    Publication number: 20150024413
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for detecting cardiovascular oxidative stress in an individual, comprising detecting in a blood sample from the individual modification of a cysteine at position 45 of the ?1-subunit of the human erythrocyte ATP-dependent Na+K+ pump protein or of an equivalent cysteine in a homologue or variant thereof. The invention further relates to a kit for detecting cardiovascular oxidative stress in an individual, the kit comprising at least one agent for detecting the presence of a modification in a cysteine at position 45 of the ?1-subunit of the human erythrocyte ATP-dependent Na+K+ pump protein or of an equivalent cysteine in a homologue or variant thereof, wherein said modification is a result of oxidation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2013
    Publication date: January 22, 2015
    Applicants: The University of Sydney, Northern Sydney Local Health District
    Inventors: Gemma Alexandra Figtree, Chia-Chi Liu, Natasha Alexandria Sarah Fry, Keyvan Karimi Galougahi
  • Methods, systems, and computer program products for network server performance anomaly detection
    Patent number: 8938532
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer readable media for network server performance anomaly detection are disclosed. According to one aspect of the subject matter disclosed, a method is disclosed for real-time computation of an endpoint performance measure based on transport and network layer header information. The method includes passively collecting transport and network layer header information from packet traffic in a network. Connections in the network are modeled using an abstract syntax for characterizing a sequence of application-level bidirectional interactions between endpoints of each connection and delays between the interactions. Application-level characteristics of the packet traffic are determined based on the modeled connections. A performance measure of at least one endpoint is computed based on the application-level characteristics and the modeled connections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2015
    Assignee: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    Inventors: Jeffrey Terrell, Kevin Jeffay, Frank Donelson Smith, Robert Broadhurst
  • Physically unclonable functions based on non-linearity of sub-threshold operation
    Patent number: 8938069
    Abstract: An electronic circuit for implementing a physically unclonable function. The electronic circuit includes duplicate circuits, referred to as “circuit primitives,” that generate a first and a second output voltage based on the received input, referred to as a “challenge.” The electronic circuit further includes a comparator coupled to the circuit primitives and generates an output based on the difference between the first and second output voltages. While the circuit primitives contain duplicate circuitry, the circuit primitives may generate a different output voltage due to a particular set of transistors in the circuit primitives operating in the sub-threshold region whose gates are tied to ground and whose sub-threshold current, the magnitude of which is random based on the threshold voltage variation of the set of transistors, is used to affect the value of the output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2015
    Assignee: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventor: Michael Orshansky
  • Vinyl ether end-functionalized polyolefins
    Patent number: 8937134
    Abstract: Provided herein are vinyl ether end-functionalized polyolefins and methods for producing the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2015
    Assignee: The University of Southern Mississippi
    Inventors: Robson F. Storey, David L. Morgan
  • Anti-reflection coatings and methods of preparing and using same
    Patent number: 8936833
    Abstract: Three dimensional anti-reflection porous films or coated substrates and method for forming the films or coated substrates are disclosed, where the films or coatings have optical transmittances of at least 86% or a reflectance of at most 4%. The 3D anti-reflection porous film or coating compositions (a) one polymer or a plurality of network polymers, (b) one particles and/or a plurality particles, (c) optionally one crosslinking agent or a plurality of crosslinking agents, (d) optionally one oligomer or a plurality of oligomers, (e) optionally one polymerized monomer or a plurality of polymerized monomers, and (f) optionally void spaces, where the composition has a transmittance value of at least 86% or a reflectance value of at most 4%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2015
    Assignee: The University of Houston System
    Inventors: Rigoberto Advincula, Rebecca Tsai, Kazuya Katoh, Roderick Pernites
  • PERSONALIZED MEDICINE FOR THE PREDICTION OF THERAPY TARGETING THE HEDGEHOG PATHWAY
    Publication number: 20150017651
    Abstract: Methods and composition for tumor therapy, especially esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), are described. For example, in certain aspects methods for determining Hedgehog and mTOR signaling pathway status to select patients for administering a combination therapy of Hedgehog and mTOR signaling inhibitors are described. Furthermore, the invention provides compositions that involve testing kits for determining signaling status.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2013
    Publication date: January 15, 2015
    Applicant: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Mien-Chie Hung, Yan Wang, Jaffer Ajani