Abstract: The present invention is related to compositions and methods for expanding cell populations suitable for use as cardiac or skeletal muscle grafts. In particular, the present invention provides methods for regulation of cell cycle withdrawal and myoblast fusion during myogenesis.

Abstract: This invention relates to peptide ligand discovery and is particularly directed to a method for the discovery of agonists for membrane bound receptors. The inventive detection system involves the use of a "tethered" ligand for probing receptor binding. The general detection system includes a membrane, a membrane bound receptor, and a chimeric ligand presenting molecule. This chimeric protein forms the tethered ligand and in turn includes a membrane domain, a linker domain, a ligand domain, and a cleavable terminal domain. The "ligands" of the system are exposed by the addition of a specific peptidase that cleaves at the designated sequence. The sequence of the ligand that produces signal as a result of the interaction between the agonist and receptor can be then be isolated using sib selection.

Abstract: There is disclosed an apparatus and a technique for shunt calibration of a Wheatstone bridge array independent of temperature. The structure involves a side completion half bridge array which has two temperature sensitive resistors as semiconductor strain gages forming one arm of the bridge and two temperature insensitive resistors forming the other arm of the bridge. An input voltage is applied to two opposite terminals of the bridge via equal span resistors and an output is taken between the common terminals of each of the bridge arms. A calibration resistor is positioned to shunt a span resistor and a temperature insensitive resistor to provide a calibrated output voltage of a magnitude independent of temperature.

Abstract: A glass or other dielectric backed transducer structure is formed by utilizing a series of processes including at least one electrostatic bond. The processes enable one to bond a semiconductor wafer to a dielectric as a glass wafer. Then by selectively removing certain conductively semiconductor, one obtains a "thin ribbon" piezoresistive bridge secured to a thin glass wafer. The resultant structure is entirely unanticipated by the prior art.A glass part is also formed by electrostatically bonding a glass wafer to a semiconductor wafer, polishing the glass to a desired depth, masking the polished glass layer according to a desired pattern representative of the glass part, etching away all the glass except the desired pattern, and thence removing all the semiconductor.