Abstract: Provided are backbone cyclized peptides that interfere with signaling of the intracellular adaptor protein MyD88. Pharmaceutical compositions including these backbone cyclized peptides as well as their use in treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other diseases associated with MyD88 signaling are also disclosed.

Abstract: A low-noise directional amplifier includes a first port, a second port, a first coupler and a second coupler. The first port is coupled to a first coupler. The low-noise directional amplifier also includes at least two phase preserving amplifiers, a first phase preserving amplifier connected to the first coupler and a second coupler, and the second phase preserving amplifier connected to the first coupler and the second coupler.

Abstract: Systems and method are provided for educational content and learning management systems. A system can include a computer-readable storage medium, a graphical user interface, an application programming interface, a communication link for connecting the computer-readable to at least one computing device. The medium can have instructions stored thereon and including learning objects, course materials, educational tutorials, virtual problem-based environments, and gamification elements.

Abstract: A dialog method carried out by a dialog system includes an agent that performs a dialog with a user. The dialog method carried out by the dialog system includes a speech receiving step in which the dialog system receives input of a user speech which is a speech of the user, a first presentation step in which when the dialog system cannot obtain any recognition result of a desired level corresponding to the user speech, the dialog system presents a speech which does not include any content words as a first agent speech which is a speech of the agent uttered immediately after the user speech and a second speech step in which the dialog system presents a speech generated or selected not based on the user speech as a second agent speech which is a speech of an agent uttered after uttering the first agent speech.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a resistive random access memory device and a preparing method thereof.

Abstract: An annealing process for treatment of an aluminum alloy of AA5XXX series which comprises steps of annealing the aluminum alloy at a first temperature of from about 350° C. to about 450° C. by a rate of temperature increase from about 0.1° C./s to about 0.5° C./s; and cooling down the annealed aluminum alloy to a temperature below 50° C. Aluminum alloys of the AA5XXX series treated by the annealing process of the present invention are also provided.

Abstract: Provided are a method of ex-vivo culture of natural killer (NK) cells by treating the cells with a reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitor and/or a p53 protein inhibitor; and a composition comprising the cultured NK cells. By reducing the activity of ROS and p53 proteins during ex-vivo culture, NK cells may have achieved greater expansion efficiency without altering their anti-tumor cytotoxicity.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide for novel compositions and methods for making and using a thermally stable human papilloma virus (HPV) formulation or other stabilized multimeric virus formulation. Certain embodiments concern lyophilizing HPV formulations in the presence or absence of adjuvants. Other embodiments concern lypophilizing HPV capsomere vaccines in order to increase stability of an immunogenic composition against HPV infection for storage, delivery and use. In yet other embodiments, a single immunogenic composition can include a thermally stable formulation of multiple virus serotypes.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of differentiating neural stem cells or neural precursor cells into dopamine neurons and more particularly, a method of differentiating into dopamine neurons, in which chromosomal stability is maintained by transfecting neural stem cells or neural precursor cells with mRNA of a dopamine neuron-inducing transcription factor under time-based control. The method of differentiating into dopamine neurons, according to the present invention, may enable preparation of mature and functional dopamine neurons having chromosomal stability by synthesizing a dopamine neuron-inducing transcription factor into a mRNA form, which has no risk of genetic modification, and transfecting the synthetic mRNA, unlike existing methods using retroviral vectors, and thus may be usefully used in the clinical field for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer readable media for taking measurements of a material, including determining material anisotropy, are provided. According to one aspect, a method for determining tissue anisotropy comprises: applying, to a tissue sample, a first force having a direction and having a coronal plane normal to the direction of the force, the first force having an oval or other profile with long and short axes within the coronal plane, the long axis being oriented in a first direction within the coronal plane, and measuring a first displacement of the tissue; applying, to the tissue sample, a second force, and measuring a second displacement of the tissue; and calculating a tissue elasticity anisotropy based on the measured first and second displacements. Furthermore, by applying the first and second forces multiple times, tissue viscosity, elasticity, or other anisotropy may be calculated from the multiple displacement measurements.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides methods for accurately predicting the dynamics of symptom response to drugs or other interventions for the treatment of major depressive disorder or other psychological conditions. These methods can allow for a shortening of the time period necessary for the evaluation of a drug or other therapeutic intervention. These predictive methods are based on measured and/or self-reported symptom severity measures at two or more points in time. These measures are then discretized into symptom classes (e.g., low, moderate, severe) and the symptom classes are then applied to the predictive model to predict the progression of symptoms and/or the effectiveness of a drug or other therapeutic intervention.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a vertical tunneling random access memory comprising: a first electrode disposed on a base substrate; a second electrode vertically spaced from the first electrode; a floating gate disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode and configured to charge or discharge charges; a tunneling insulating layer disposed between the first electrode and the floating gate; a barrier insulating layer disposed between the floating gate and the second electrode; a contact hole passing through the tunneling insulating layer and the barrier insulating layer for partially exposing the first electrode; a semiconductor pattern extending from the second electrode, along and on a portion of a side wall face defining the contact hole, to the first electrode such that one end of the semiconductor pattern is in contact with the first electrode and the other end of the pattern is in contact with the second electrode.

Abstract: A portable laser height measuring system including an upper assembly including an elongated top flat plate attached to an upper back plate, wherein the elongated top flat plate includes a top side and an underside is disclosed herein. A separate lower assembly including a base is attached to a bottom backplate. A laser measurement device is affixed to the elongated top flat surface. A leveling device is mounted at one end of the elongated top flat plate proximate the laser measurement device; and a data collection device is electronically coupled to receive signals from the laser measurement device.

Abstract: Disclosed is a trajectory data processing method and system. The trajectory data processing method includes, in response to a smoothing instruction related to a trajectory of a moving object being generated by a web application server, identifying trajectory data associated with the trajectory, smoothing the trajectory by applying a selected algorithm to the trajectory data, and providing the web application server with a smoothed trajectory generated by the smoothing.

Abstract: The invention provides methods for treating fibrosis and/or cancer in a subject in need thereof. The methods include providing a composition comprising an inhibitor of IL-4/IL-13 receptor function and administering an effective amount of the composition to the subject to treat fibrosis and/or cancer.

Abstract: A micro-grid energy management system is provided which can operate and regulate power, voltage, frequency and phase to a load in both grid-connected and islanded mode, obviating the need for switching between control paradigms.

Abstract: An energy efficient rapid single flux quantum (ERSFQ) logic register wheel includes a circular shift register having a plurality of destructive read out (DRO) cells. Each entry of the circular shift register includes a data block, a tag, and a valid bit. A compare and control logic is coupled to the circular shift register to compare a source specifier or a destination register specifier against a register tag stored in the wheel following each cycle of the register wheel. At least one or more read ports and at least one or more write ports are coupled to the circular shift register to write to or to read from a different entry each in the register wheel following each cycle of the register wheel. A RSFQ clearable FIFO with flushing and a crosspoint memory topology for integrating MRAM devices with ERSFQ circuits are also described.

Abstract: An improved DC circuit breaker is provided for automatically detecting and isolating a fault between a source and a ground. The DC circuit breaker comprises at least one switch, in electrical series with a first inductor between the source and a load, and a second inductor magnetically coupled to the first inductor wherein a first side of the second inductor is electrically connected to the load and a second side of the second inductor is grounded through a capacitor.

Abstract: The disclosure provides seed, tissue cultures, essential oil extracts, and plants of catnip hybrid ‘CR3’, as well as methods for producing a catnip plants by crossing ‘CR3’ plants with themselves or with another catnip plant, such as a plant of another genotype, variety, or cultivar. The disclosure further provides seed, tissue cultures, essential oil extracts, and plants produced by such crossing. Methods of using the plants and extracts as insect repellents and in pet toys, are also provided.

Abstract: Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to routing stability in a hybrid software-defined networking (“SDN”) network in which control plane functionality is shared between a centralized SDN controller and a plurality of local routers. The controller can collect data plane messages from the plurality of local routers, extract information corresponding to source nodes and edges of a graph representative of the hybrid SDN network, and store the information as entries in a table. The controller can identify any outdated entries and remove any outdated entries from the table. The controller can obtain recovered information missing from the information collected from the data plane messages. The controller also can calculate an effective capacity of the edges. The controller can then generate a stable routing pattern based upon the recovered information and the effective capacity. The controller can deploy the stable routing pattern in the hybrid SDN network.