Abstract: Provided herein are systems and methods to measure the intraocular pressure, ocular tissue geometry and the biomechanical properties of an ocular tissue, such as an eye-globe or cornea, in one instrument. The system is an optical coherence tomography subsystem and an applanation tonometer subsystem housed as one instrument and interfaced with a computer for at least data processing and image display. The system utilizes an air-puff and a focused micro air-pulse to induce deformation and applanation and displacement in the ocular tissue. Pressure profiles of the air puff with applanation times are utilized to measure intraocular pressure. Temporal profiles of displacement and/or spatio-temporal profiles of a displacement-generated elastic wave are analyzed to calculate biomechanical properties.
Type:
Application
Filed:
December 1, 2022
Publication date:
July 6, 2023
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Kirill V. Larin, Manmohan Singh, Jiasong Li, Zhaolong Han, Michael D. Twa
Abstract: The adjuvanted conjugate opioid vaccine described herein is a conjugate of a protein carrier and at least one opioid backbone component or hapten conjugated thereto, admixed with at least one adjuvant. Anti-opioid effects are demonstrated after administration of a vaccine made up of the CRM197 protein carrier linked to a FEN backbone, combined with adjuvants such as dmLT or LTA1.
Type:
Application
Filed:
May 25, 2021
Publication date:
June 15, 2023
Applicants:
University of Houston System, Tulane University
Inventors:
Colin N. Haile, Gregory Cuny, Elizabeth B. Norton, Therese Kosten
Abstract: Described herein are pharmaceutical compositions containing peptoids of general formula (I), (II), or (III) capable of reducing proliferation of cancer stem cells in a subject and methods of treatment or prophylactic administration of these pharmaceutical compositions to treat cancer. Also provided herein are method of detecting and treating cancerous cell masses by use of peptoids of general formula (I), (II), or (III).
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 19, 2017
Date of Patent:
May 30, 2023
Assignees:
University of Houston System, The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System
Inventors:
Damith Gomika Udugamasooriya, Aaron Raymond, John Minna
Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of utilizing force-modulated hybridization to determine the length of an analyte strand, to determine an unknown nucleic acid sequence, or to determine the binding of a nucleotide to an active agent. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to sample holder devices and methods of utilizing such devices. Further embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to detection devices.
Abstract: The systems and methods described herein are for remaining useful life prediction in electronics and include measuring a plurality of circuit parameters for each of a plurality of circuit components at a plurality of different temperatures, determining a probability density function of failure as a function of time for each of the plurality of circuit components and combining the probability density functions for each of the plurality of circuit components as a function of a circuit that contains the plurality of circuit components.
Type:
Application
Filed:
October 7, 2022
Publication date:
May 25, 2023
Applicants:
University of Houston System, NSWC Crane
Abstract: The present disclosure addresses IBD from the standpoint of inhibiting or ablating pathogenic mucosal stem cells cloned from defined regions of disease in the gastrointestinal tract. In the case of Crohn's disease, for example, isolation of those stem cells according to the methods of the present disclosure reveals a pattern of inflammatory gene expression in stem cells from the terminal ileum and colon that is epigenetically maintained despite months of continuous cultivation in the absence of immune or stromal cells, or of intestinal microbes. Superimposed on this distributed inflammatory phenotype is a differentiation defect that profoundly and specifically alters the mucosal barrier properties of the terminal ileum. The co-existence of diseased and normal stem cells within the same endoscopic biopsies of Crohn's disease patients implicates an epigenetically enforced heterogeneity among mucosal stem cells in the dynamics of this condition.
Type:
Application
Filed:
March 9, 2021
Publication date:
May 18, 2023
Applicants:
University of Houston System, The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System, Tract Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Inventors:
Frank McKEON, Rahul NEUPANE, Jingzhong XIE, Wa XIAN, Matthew VINCENT, Shan WANG
Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a micropatterned substrate that combines Si and TiB2, promoting preferential and selective cell growth behavior via substrate-mediated protein adsorption. The combination of Si and TiB2, differing in material stiffness, hardness, roughness, wettability and surface charges, is amenable to microfabrication processes and supports extended 2D and 3D cell culture. While versatile in the variety of customizable geometric patterns, the micropatterned substrate is a particularly appropriate platform for viable tissue culture.
Type:
Application
Filed:
February 26, 2021
Publication date:
May 4, 2023
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Fatima MERCHANT, Wanda WOSIK, Jefferson FRIGUGLIGETTI
Abstract: A method of polymerizing a first, and a second class of monomers to form product polymer. The first class of monomers polymerize via a radical pathway in the presence of light, and the second class of monomers polymerize via an insertion pathway in the absence of light.
Type:
Application
Filed:
May 10, 2019
Publication date:
April 20, 2023
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Eva M. Harth, Dain B. Beezer, Anthony Keyes, Glen Richard Jones
Abstract: A system for monitoring a circuit, comprising a device under test, such as a power field effect transistor or capacitor, coupled to a power source and a signal source and configured to generate a power output using the signal source, a current output, a voltage output and an end of life detector coupled to the current output and the voltage output and configured to generate a first impedance as a function of the current output and the voltage output, to compare the first impedance to a second impedance and to generate an indicator if the first impedance exceeds the second impedance.
Type:
Application
Filed:
October 7, 2022
Publication date:
April 13, 2023
Applicants:
University of Houston System, NSWC Crane
Abstract: An improved rechargeable battery may utilize materials that are entirely solid-state. The battery may utilize at least one organic active material for an electrode. The battery may utilize a cathode that comprises quinone(s). An electrolyte of the battery may be an ion-conducting inorganic compound. An anode of the battery may comprise an alkali metal. Further, a carbonyl group of the quinone(s) of the cathode may be reduced into a phenolate and coordinated to an alkali metal ion during discharge and vice versa during charging.
Abstract: The present disclosure describes a new resin which can be fabricated into conductive and bioactive microstructures via two-photon polymerization. The direct incorporation of conductive poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and/or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA)-based blend remarkably enhances the electrical conductivity of microstructures over 10 orders of magnitude. Including biomaterials in the resin can promote cellular adhesion and create functional biosensors made of hybrid non-conductive and conductive structures for sensitive detection. Applications include development cost effective microelectronics in a broad range of biomedical research, electronics and sensors.
Type:
Application
Filed:
September 16, 2022
Publication date:
March 23, 2023
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Mohammad Reza ABIDIAN, Omid DADRAS-TOUSSI, Milad KHORRAMI, Sheereen MAJD
Abstract: A secondary growth procedure described herein is used to prepare finned zeolites. The finned zeolites possess properties that are distinctly unique compared to crystals of similar size lacking fins. The procedure is amenable to a wide range of zeolite crystal structures.
Type:
Application
Filed:
February 9, 2021
Publication date:
March 9, 2023
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Jeffrey D. Rimer, Yufeng Shen, Heng Dai
Abstract: Provided herein are phosphors of the general molecular formula: A3-2xEuxMP3O9N, wherein the variables are as defined herein. Methods of producing the phosphors are also provided. In some aspects, the present disclosure provides light-emitting devices comprising these phosphors.
Abstract: Viscoelastic icephobic surfaces of the present disclosure include organogel particle beads dispersed in an elastomer matrix. The surfaces are highly repellant to ice formation, easy and cost efficient to apply, and have long term durability for harsh outdoor applications.
Type:
Application
Filed:
October 12, 2022
Publication date:
February 23, 2023
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Hadi Ghasemi, Peyman Irajizad, Abdullah Al-Bayati
Abstract: Analogues of citrate, namely hydroxycitrate (HCA) and isocitrate (ICA), have dual roles as nucleation inhibitors and growth suppressors in the formation of mineral scale. Their potency is comparable to commercial phosphorous-based inhibitors, but they are more environmentally friendly, which has practical advantages for use in a broad range of commercial applications.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 1, 2022
Publication date:
February 2, 2023
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Jeffrey D. Rimer, Xi Geng, Ricardo Sosa
Abstract: In one aspect, the present disclosure provides organic semiconductors (OSNTs) as well as high-performance electrochemical devices based on the present OSNTs for the production of micro and nano-scale actuators. The present OSNTs may be used in several applications, including movable and implantable interface devices, such as flexible neural microelectrodes.
Type:
Application
Filed:
July 15, 2022
Publication date:
January 26, 2023
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Mohammad Reza ABIDIAN, Mohammadjavad ESLAMIAN, Sheereen MAJD
Abstract: A method for ambient-temperature synthesis of a catalyst for water electrolysis by dissolving an amount of an Fe2+ source and optionally an amount of a salt of another divalent cation in deionized water at ambient temperature to form a solution, placing nickel (Ni) foam into the solution, whereby the Ni foam serves as a substrate and/or a Ni source for growth of the catalyst, leaving the Ni foam in the solution at ambient temperature for a time duration in a range of from about 0.5 hour to about 4 hours to provide a treated foam, during which time duration, the catalyst is grown on the substrate, and removing the treated foam from the solution after the time duration, wherein the treated foam comprises the catalyst grown thereon.
Abstract: Provided herein are fluorinated compounds having chemical structures: (I) where n is 0 or greater, or (II) where m and n are 0 or greater, or an amino acid, a soluble polymer, an oligo(ethylene glycol), a poly(ethylene glycol), or a carbohydrate each fluorinated with perfluorocarbons having the chemical structure (III) where n is 0 or greater. These fluorinated compounds are utilized in contact lenses to impart lipid-resistant, protein-resistant and biofouling-resistant properties, thus reducing discomfort and infection caused by contact lens wear without changing its transmission characteristics. Also provided is an ophthalmic drug delivery system comprising at least one of the compounds described above embedded in the contact lens and a kit to incorporate the ophthalmic into a contact lens. Methods for incorporating these compounds onto a contact lens without affecting transparency and for use in treating an ophthalmologic-associated condition are provided.
Abstract: A method of capturing CO2 and converting the captured CO2 into useful byproducts includes providing a material including a material matrix holding an ionic liquid, exposing the material to a source of thermal energy to capture CO2 within the material, removing the material from exposure to the source of thermal energy, and washing the material with a solution to convert the captured CO2 and wash the converted, captured CO2 from the material as filtrate. Materials and systems for capturing CO2 and converting the captured CO2 into useful byproducts are also provided.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
January 31, 2019
Date of Patent:
January 3, 2023
Assignee:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Hadi Ghasemi, Varun Kashyap, T. Randall Lee, Riddhiman Medhi
Abstract: A system and method for measuring biomechanical properties of tissues without external excitation are capable of measuring and quantifying these parameters of tissues in situ and in vivo. The system and method preferably utilize a phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT) system for measuring the displacement caused by the intrinsic heartbeat. The method allows noninvasive and nondestructive quantification of tissue mechanical properties. Preferably, the method is used to detect tissue stiffness and to evaluate its stiffness due to intrinsic pulsatile motion from the heartbeat. This noninvasive method can evaluate the biomechanical properties of the tissues in vivo for detecting the onset and progression of degenerative or other diseases and evaluating the efficacy of therapies.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 8, 2022
Publication date:
December 8, 2022
Applicant:
University of Houston System
Inventors:
Kirill V. Larin, Achuth Nair, Manmohan Singh, Salavat Aglyamov