Abstract: The present invention relates an aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor for use in the treatment or prevention of fibrosis.

Abstract: A layered body comprising: a core region; at least one intermediate layer disposed around the core region; and an outer layer disposed around the at least one intermediate layer, wherein at least one of the at least one intermediate layers comprises a gas, the layered body having at least one dimension, measured across the body and through the core region, of 100 ?m or less.

Abstract: Methods of treating a head and neck cancer are disclosed.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for determining a concentration of a glycopeptide antibiotic containing a phenol moiety such as Vancomycin in a complex sample matrix by extracting the glycopeptide antibiotic from a metered portion of the complex sample matrix by exposing said metered portion to an extraction material having an affinity with the glycopeptide antibiotic; and exposing the extraction material to a metered portion of an eluent for releasing the glycopeptide antibiotic from the extraction material; and by determining a concentration of the glycopeptide antibiotic by adding a Gibbs reagent (2,6 dichloroquinone-4chloroimide) to the metered portion of the complex sample matrix or the eluent; activating the Gibbs reagent and, after the reaction between the activated Gibbs reagent and the antibiotic has stabilized; detecting the reaction product of the activated Gibbs reagent and the antibiotic in said eluent; and determining the concentration of the antibiotic in the complex sample matrix from the

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods of assessing whether a subject has or is likely to develop a neurodegenerative disease comprising determining whether the subject has a mutation in the C9orf72 gene wherein said mutation prevents or disrupts C9orf72 expression relative to expression in a reference from subjects without the mutation.

Abstract: Provided herein is a probe for ultrasound imaging of tissue. The probe comprises an optical relay having an optically absorbing coating at the distal end of the probe for generating ultrasound from excitation light via the photoacoustic effect, wherein the generated ultrasound propagates as an ultrasound beam into the tissue; and an ultrasound receiver separate from the optical relay. The optical relay is configured to receive as input a time-varying spatial pattern of excitation light at the proximal end of the probe and to transmit the excitation light to the distal end of the probe to illuminate the optically absorbing coating in accordance with said time-varying spatial pattern, thereby generating ultrasound from the excitation light via the photoacoustic effect to propagate as a scanning ultrasound beam into the tissue. The ultrasound receiver is configured to receive reflections of the ultrasound from tissue. Such an ultrasound probe may be incorporated, for example, into a transseptal puncture needle.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to methods for obtaining angiogenic factors, as well as to methods of treating cardiovascular disease and methods for stimulating angiogenesis.

Abstract: The invention provides an antibody or fragment thereof that specifically binds to human Lrg1.

Abstract: A blood filter device having an iron-chelating molecule, a haem-binding molecule and a haemoglobin-binding molecule bound to a support. Use of the device in a vessel containing blood, for example a blood bag or a flow line, removes haemolysis-derived components from the blood.

Abstract: One embodiment of the invention provides a method for performing a supra-threshold test of sensitivity across a visual field of a subject. The method includes presenting a stimulus at each location of a set of locations spread across the visual field and obtaining for each stimulus a result indicating whether or not the stimulus was seen by the subject. The method further includes determining for each location whether or not to re-present a stimulus at that location, wherein for a given location, the determining involves combining results obtained from multiple locations. These multiple locations are defined by a cluster associated with the given location, with the cluster being determined based on the paths of optic nerve fibre bundles across the visual field.

Abstract: The invention provides porous carbon particles for use in the treatment or prevention of liver disease, wherein at least 20% of the total pore volume is made up of pores having a mean diameter of from 2 to 200 nm and/or wherein the particles comprise micropores of diameter 2 nm or less and small macropores of diameter 50 nm to 500 nm, but substantially no mesopores of diameter greater than 2 nm and less than 50 nm, and substantially no large macropores of diameter greater than 500 nm.

Abstract: The present invention provides a chimeric protein having the formula: Casp-Ht1-Ht2 wherein Casp is a caspase domain; Ht1 is a first heterodimerization domain; and Ht2 is a second heterodimerization domain and wherein, in the presence of a chemical inducer of dimerization (CID), an identical pair of the chimeric proteins interact such that Ht1 from one chimeric protein heterodimerizes with Ht2 from the other chimeric protein, causing homodimerization of the two caspase domains. The invention also provides a cell comprising such a protein and its use in adoptive cell therapy.

Abstract: Lentiviral packaging cells and methods for producing the same are provided herein. Specifically, lentiviral packaging cells capable of producing lentiviral vector suitable for use in clinical trials are provided. Methods for producing lentiviral packaging cells capable of producing lentiviral vector suitable for use in clinical trials are described.

Abstract: The present invention provides an audio-visual dialogue system that allows a user to create an ‘avatar’ which may be customised to look and sound a particular way. The avatar may be created to resemble, for example, a person, animal or mythical creature, and generated to have a variable voice which may be female or male. The system then employs a real-time voice conversion in order to transform any audio input, for example, spoken word, into a target voice that is selected and customised by the user. The system is arranged to facially animate the avatar using a real-time lip-synching algorithm such that the generated avatar and the target voice are synchronised.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus are provided for determining the location of a mobile device using multiple wireless access points, each wireless access point comprising multiple antennas. The apparatus and method are particularly suited to location of a mobile device in an indoor environment, such as a building. The method includes receiving a communication signal from the mobile device at each of multiple antennas of said multiple wireless access points; for each wireless access point, determining angle-of-arrival information of the received communication signal at the wireless access point, based on a difference in phase of the received signal between different antennas; collecting, from each of the multiple wireless access points, the determined angle-of-arrival information for the received communication signal from the mobile device; and estimating the location of the mobile device from the collected angle-of-arrival information.

Abstract: A semiconductor device comprising a silicon substrate on which is grown a <100 nm thick epilayer of AlAs or related compound, followed by a compound semiconductor other than GaN buffer layer. Further III-V compound semiconductor structures can be epitaxially grown on top. The AlAs epilayer reduces the formation and propagation of defects from the interface with the silicon, and so can improve the performance of an active structure grown on top.

Abstract: An optimized coding sequence of human blood clotting factor eight (VIII) and a promoter may be used in vectors, such as rAAV, for introduction of factor VIII, and/or other blood clotting factors and transgenes. Exemplary of these factors and transgenes are alpha-1-antitrypsin, as well as those involved in the coagulation cascade, hepatocye biology, lysosomal storage, urea cycle disorders, and lipid storage diseases. Cells, vectors, proteins, and glycoproteins produced by cells transformed by the vectors and sequence, may be used in treatment.