Abstract: Conventional block ciphers that traffic in 128-bit block sizes are ill-suited for operating in small domains like credit card numbers. Some embodiments relate to techniques for constructing and speeding up practical and provably secure schemes for deterministically enciphering data from a small domain like credit card numbers using a conventional block cipher or other pseudorandom function.

Abstract: The present invention relates to optimized aptamers and methods of using these aptamers.

Abstract: A handcuff comprising a bolt and a bolt spring which work to double lock the handcuff. The bolt comprises an underside having teeth which are engagable with the teeth of a jaw. The underside of the bolt comprises a groove through which a stud disposed on a cheek head of the handcuff is positioned to thereby further secure the bolt in position when the handcuff is locked. The bolt further comprises an upper side comprising a groove, a spring stop, and a detent. The bolt spring comprises a body bent to form a side wall which bridges a first spring leg portion to a second spring leg portion, wherein the first and second spring leg portions engage with the upper side of the bolt to hold the bolt spring in a first position. The spring stop prevents the bolt spring from over-rotation, and therefore, prevents breakage of the bolt spring.

Abstract: Provided is a method for enhancing the production of polyhydroxyalkanoic acid (PHA) from microorganism strains by disrupting a gene associated with the production of an exobiopolymer (EBP) in the Pseudomonas strain to redirect the carbon flux toward the production of the polyhydroxyalkanoic acid, thereby enhancing the production of the polyhydroxyalkanoic acid.

Abstract: A slot machine includes a display device, reels, a bet unit, motors, a memory, and a controller. The controller is configured to: (a) execute a lottery in response to an accepted bet; (b) send a signal indicating an instruction for rotating each reel to each motor; (c) determine an amount of credits to be awarded to a player in accordance with the lottery result; (d) determine an image to be displayed on the display device in accordance with a proportion of the amount of credits to the accepted bet; (e) cause the display device to display the image determined in (d); (f) send a signal indicating an instruction for causing each reel to come to a stop to each motor in accordance with the lottery result; and (g) when each reel comes to a stop, award the amount of credits determined in (c) to the player.

Abstract: A polymer is characterized by a repeat unit represented by Structural Formula (I): or a copolymer thereof. A crosslinked polymer characterized by a repeat unit represented by Structural Formula (II), (III), (IV) or (V): or a copolymer thereof, wherein at least one such repeat unit of a first polymer strand is crosslinked with at least one repeat unit of a second polymer strand by at least one bridging unit, the first and second polymer strands and the repeat unit being components of the crosslinked polymer.

Abstract: A controller of a gaming machine executes a normal round of a game to spin reels of a first display, and triggers a chance round of the game when a result of the normal round satisfies a predetermined condition. The controller displays a wheel and a plurality of touch areas on a second display, and the wheel includes a plurality of areas, each of the plurality of areas corresponding to a number of free rounds. When any one of the touch areas is touched and slid by a player, the controller spinning the wheel in a direction corresponding to the slid touch area, and randomly determines a number of free rounds. The controller stops the wheel at a position of an area that corresponds to the determined number of free rounds among the plurality of areas, and provides free rounds having the determined number.

Abstract: In some embodiments, the present invention pertains to carbon nanotube fibers that include one or more fiber threads. In some embodiments, the fiber threads include doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes, such as doped double-walled carbon nanotubes. In some embodiments, the carbon nanotubes are functionalized with one or more functional groups. In some embodiments, the carbon nanotube fibers are doped with various dopants, such as iodine and antimony pentafluoride. In various embodiments, the carbon nanotube fibers of the present invention can include a plurality of intertwined fiber threads that are twisted in a parallel configuration with one another. In some embodiments, the carbon nanotube fibers include a plurality of fiber threads that are tied to one another in a serial configuration. In some embodiments, the carbon nanotube fibers of the present invention are also coated with one or more polymers.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are UV-resistant gelatin/silica coated viral particles, methods for producing the same, and methods for controlling agricultural insect pests using the UV-resistant gelatin/silica coated viral particles.

Abstract: An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a method for non-invasively determining the functional severity of coronary artery stenosis. The method includes gathering patient-specific data related to concentration of a contrast agent within a coronary artery of a patient using a coronary computed tomography angiography scan (CCTA). The patient-specific data is used to calculate a patient-specific transluminal attenuation gradient for the coronary artery of the patient. The patient specific transluminal attenuation gradient is used to determine an estimate of a coronary flow velocity, pressure gradient, loss coefficient, coronary flow reserve, and/or fractional flow reserve for the patient. Coronary flow velocity, pressure gradient, loss coefficient, coronary flow reserve, and fractional flow reserve can then be used to estimate the functional severity of coronary artery stenosis.

Abstract: A method is provided for producing, in a substrate, an enclosed channel or enclosed cavity comprising at least one functional nanofiber, the method comprising the steps of providing a first substrate and a second substrate; forming a channel or cavity on the first substrate or the second substrate; electrospinning at least one functional nanofiber on the first substrate; assembling the first and second substrates, wherein the first substrate is placed over the second substrate, or the second substrate is placed over the first substrate; and bonding the first substrate and the second substrate to form the substrate, thereby forming an enclosed channel or enclosed cavity comprising the at least one functional nanofiber in the substrate. An enclosed channel or cavity comprising at least one functional electrospun nanofiber is also provided. A microfluidic device is also provided comprising an enclosed channel or cavity comprising at least one functional electrospun nanofiber.

Abstract: The present invention relates to various methods to produce a variety of omega-3 fatty acids from various species of alga using crude glycerol as a substrate for algal growth. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to various methods to produced docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from a Schizochytrium, Phaeodactylum, Thraustochytrid, Ulkenia, and/or Labyrinthulea species of alga. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to various methods to produced eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) from a Schizochytrium, Phaeodactylum, Thraustochytrid, Ulkenia, and/or Labyrinthulea species of alga. In one instance, the methods of the present invention utilize crude glycerol as at least a portion of the culture medium for the various micro-organisms disclosed herein to enable the production of one or more omega-3 fatty acids.

Abstract: A catalytic article for decomposition of a volatile organic compound includes a porous support body, a plurality of active centers formed on the support body and adapted for catalytic decomposition of the volatile organic compound, and a plurality of capture centers bound to the support body. Each of the active centers is composed of one of a noble metal, a transition metal oxide, and the combination thereof. Each of the capture centers includes at least one functional group that is adapted for attracting or binding the volatile organic compound. A method for preparing the catalytic article is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for authenticating location-based services without compromising location privacy, which comprises a comprehensive solution that preserves unconditional location privacy when authenticating either range queries using three authentication schemes for R-tree and grid-file index, together with two optimization techniques, or k-nearest neighbor queries using two authentication schemes for R-tree and Voronoi Diagram index.

Abstract: The invention provides methods of regulating smooth muscle tone in a subject, comprising the introduction, into smooth muscle cells of the subject, of a DNA sequence encoding a potassium channel protein involved in the regulation of smooth muscle tone, and expression of the DNA sequence in a sufficient number of smooth muscle cells of the subject to regulate smooth muscle tone in the subject. The invention provides methods of gene transfer for treating erectile dysfunction, bladder dysfunction, and other smooth muscle disorders.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a compound of formula 1, a pharmaceutical composition containing the compound, a method for its preparation as well as the use of the compound as hypnotic agent or anesthetic agent.

Abstract: The present invention aims to elucidate a miRNA involved in cellular senescence and to provide a method of use thereof. The senescence marker of the present invention comprises a gene transcript of miR-22. Further, the method for evaluating a senescence inhibitor of the present invention comprises the step of measuring the expression level of a gene transcript of miR-22 in a sample in the presence of a test compound and in the absence of the test compound; and the step of comparing the expression level of the gene transcript of miR-22 in the sample in the presence of the test compound with the expression level of the gene transcript of miR-22 in the sample in the absence of the test compound. Further, the cancer inhibitor of the present invention comprises as an effective component a gene transcript of miR-22, which cancer inhibitor promotes cellular senescence and inhibits invasion and/or metastasis of cancer.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods for treating TTK positive breast cancers or soft-tissue sarcomas in a mammalian subject by administering a therapeutically effective amount of a TTK antagonist. The invention also provides compositions comprising a TTK antagonist and a HER-2 antagonist, as well as methods of diagnosing a basal-like breast cancer and methods of determining the prognosis of a subject having a cancer by assessing expression of TTK in a tumor sample from a subject.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the discovery that, in human cancer, an 11q deletion of ATM together with an increase in ATR and CHEK1 expression correlates with resistance to ionizing radiation which could be overcome by inhibition of the ATR/CHEK1 pathway. It provides for methods of identifying patients unlikely to exhibit an adequate response to radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy who may benefit from ATR/CHEK1 pathway inhibition, as well as methods of treating said patients.

Abstract: A system and method for transferring agricultural material from a transferring vehicle to a storage portion of a receiving vehicle, and detecting and filling void areas of the agricultural material is disclosed. A transferring vehicle having a spout transfers agricultural material to a storage portion of a receiving vehicle. An imaging device associated with the transferring vehicle and facing towards the storage portion of the receiving vehicle collects imaging data. An image processing module is operable to, based on the imaging data, estimate fill levels of agricultural material within the storage portion; identify an area of the storage portion as targeted to fill; and identify a first void within the targeted area. A controller in communication with the image processing module is configured to command the spout to a position to direct agricultural material to the first void.