Airknife with Remotely Controllable Bow Effect and Outflow Angle

A method and apparatus for controlling local flow along a slot jet with applications to airknives is disclosed. The airknife provides improved options for on-line control over coating thickness and edge build-up prevention. The gap of the slot nozzle of the airknife can remain constant while the outflow pattern is controlled by a series of preset throttle valves in combination with a single moving component, the multi-port aero-valve. This valve can be actuated locally or remotely, in rotation or translation, thereby changing gradually from a conventional uniform outflow to one which increases in velocity and mass flow rate along the airknife span to produce a bow effect. The valve can also change gradually from a conventional uniform outflow to one which increases in velocity, mass flow rate and outflow angle along the span to simulate bow effect in combination with fan-like outflow.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 384. Patent Pending

Inventors
John L. Loth

Architecture and Technologies for Automated Dental Indentification System

A computer-implemented method to automat the process of post-mortem identification containing the ability to search subject dental records from the DIR to find a minimum set of candidate records that have high similarities to the subject based on image comparison. The ADIS is comprised of a search and retrieval stage based on potential similarities and a verification stage where these stages are a collection of numerous components.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 371. Patent Pending

Inventors
Hany Ammar, Diaa Nassar, Ayman Abaza, Eyad Hajsaid

Bioactive Implants for Prophylaxis and Treatment of Biomedical Device Related Infections

The present invention is a method for coating medical and orthopaedic devices with novel coating(s) that may provide beneficial characteristics. This method provides the ability to coat a medical device wherein one or more bioactive agents are impregnated in the coating. A further aspect of the present invention is the ability to impregnate low molecular weight (MW) ionic bioactive molecules by post-treatment of a multilayer on a biomedical device. Additionally, high MW bioactive agents may be incorporated using a carrier such as a protein that may facilitate the incorporation while also protecting the bioactivity of the agent. High MW bioactive agents can be more easily incorporated into a coating that is ultrathin compared to currently available techniques. An additional aspect of the present invention is the means to control the release rate of impregnated bioactive agent(s) through control of the multilayer coating(s). The invention also enables the creation of an extra-cellular-matrix (ECM)-like fibrillar network structure made of non-ECM components and the incorporation of IL-12 at the implant/tissue interface.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 368. Patent Pending

Inventors
Bingyun Li, Bingbing Jiang, Brock Lindsey, Sanford Emery

Cervical Drug Delivery System: Design for Isolating the Cervix and Providing Accomodation for Differences in Patient Cervical Anatomy (Cerviprep)

An cervical drug delivery apparatus having an absorbent cylindrical structure with a cervical cap attached to one end. One or more therapeutic agents are applied to the internal surface of the cervical cap. The cervical drug delivery apparatus is housed within an applicator and inserted into a patient's vagina. Upon deployment of the cervical drug delivery apparatus, the cervical cap is automatically positioned over the patient's cervix providing for the direct application of the therapeutic agents on the patient's cervix. Alternative features of the cervical drug delivery apparatus include, a break-away cylindrical structure, a collapsible support structure for the cervical cap, an inflatable means for supporting the cervical cap, and the ability of the cylindrical structure and/or the cervical cap to contain one or more therapeutic agents that can be delivered by outside means.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 141. US Patent #6,526,980 issued 3/4/2003 from application 09/649,170 filed 8/25/2000.

Inventors
Timothy S. Tracy, Douglas D. Glover, Patrick Callery, James E. Smith, Gary L. Mengeu

Cervical Drug Delivery System: Use as a Diagnostic Aid for Cervical Maladies (Cerviprep)

A cervical isolation and delivery apparatus having a cervical cap removably connected to a syringe such that a bottom opening of the cervical cap is in communication with an internal chamber of the syringe. The syringe is an elongated hollow tube with an elongated rod slidable disposed within an internal chamber of the elongated hollow tube. The cervical cap is removably connected to an application end of the elongated hollow tube such that upon insertion of the apparatus into a patient's vagina, the cervical cap covers the patient's cervix while protecting the tissue surrounding the cervix. The patient's cervix is treated by placing medication, e.g., one or more therapeutic agents, in the elongated hollow tube such that the elongated rod is in an extended position, inserting the apparatus into a patient's vagina, positioning the cervical cap over the patient's cervix, and pushing the elongated rod through the internal chamber of the elongated hollow tube until it is in a retracted position, thereby expelling the medication from the internal chamber into and through the cervical cap and into contact with the patient's cervix. The cervical cap covers and isolates the cervix thereby preventing the medication from leaking from the cervical area and irritating surrounding tissue.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 142. US Patent #7,165,550 issued 1/23/2007 from application 10/379,078 filed 3/3/2000.

Inventors
James E. Smith, Patrick Callery, Douglas D. Glover, Timothy Tracy, Andrew P. Soisson

Compression Ignition by Air Injection (CIBAI) Cycle and Engine

The internal combustion engine relies on air injection for ignition instead of Otto cycle spark or Diesel cycle fuel injection. Cylinder pairs are connected by a cylinder-connecting valve, which opens near top-dead-center on the compression stroke injecting high-pressure air from one cylinder into a second cylinder containing an air-fuel mixture thereby inducing detonation ignition at top-dead-center. During the expansion stroke, the cylinder-connecting valve remains open and provides equal pressure on both cylinders, which is substantially higher than possible in an Otto cycle. Constant volume heat addition makes this engine more efficient than the Diesel cycle. Compared to conventional engines, the absence of spark ignition or high pressure fuel injectors makes this engine more economical, more reliable, and scalable down to small sizes where fuel metering limitations of Diesel fuel injectors become problematic. The engine can serve as a reactor for generating high temperature hydrogen to power high temperature fuel cells.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 402. US Patent #6,994,057 issued 2/7/2006 from application 10/793,583 filed 3/4/2004. US Patent #6,899,061 issued 5/31/2005 from application 10/755,134 filed 1/9/2004.

Inventors
John L. Loth, Gary Morris

Conjuctival Scans for Personal Identification

Conjunctival vascular images are obtained from individual's eye for purposes of creating a multi-dimension, non-iris based biometric. The biometric can be used for indentification or authentication purposes. Multi-dimensional correlation processing can be used to evaluate pairs of biometrics.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 348. US Utility Patent #7,327,860 issued 2/5/2008 from Application 11/416,052 filed 5/2/2006. PCT US06/017145 filed 5/3/2006.

Inventors
Reza Derakhshani, Arun Ross

Detection of Communities- Algorithm for Clustering and Network Partition

A computer based method is provided for clustering related data representing objects of interest and information about levels of relatedness between objects. A weighted graph G is established on the computer. The graph has vertices and weighted edges joining pairs of vertices. Using the computer, the method finds all possible subgraphs H of G satisfying the following dynamic "edge-to-vertex" ratio (I): where the minimum is taken over all possible partitions P of the vertex set of H, and E(H/P) is the set of edges crossing between parts of P. The subgraphs H found are identified as a level-k community if they are maximal, which means that there are no larger subgraphs containing it that satisfy the dynamic "edge-to-vertex" ratio for the same k. All level-k communities are output.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 263. Patent Pending

Inventors
Cun-Quan Zhang, Yongbin Ou

Discovery of Anti-Cancer Peptides, Indentification of Cancer Therapeutic Target and Design and Chemical Synthesis of Novel Compounds

The present invention relates to the inhibition of the function of SHP2 by both anti-SHP2 peptides and the chemical compound 4-(2-sulfaminoethyl) benzoic acid, SEBA, and SEBA derivatives binding to the phosphotyrosyl phosphatase domain of SHP2 thereby inhibiting the function of SHP2 both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the inhibition of SHP2 may be useful as a treatment for human disease, and it has been shown that interfering with SHP2 function using the anti-SHP2 peptides and SEBA compounds reverses cell transformation and induces remission of preformed tumors in vivo demonsrating a possible treatment for cancer.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 338. Patent Pending

Inventors
Peter M. Gannett, Yehenew Agazie

Economical U-shaped Plastic Raceway Fish Tanks

The invention described herein further facilitates waste removal from U-shaped raceways by providing a waste removal section at the downstream end of the raceways whereby the waste removal section is separated from the rest of the raceway by a vertical or near vertical screen. The mesh size of the screen is sufficient for the waste to pass through but not allow the aquatic animals to pass through. The natural flow of water through the raceway carries the waste material downstream within the raceway. A perforated pipe in the bottom of the waste removal section provides the outlet for the waste removal. A waste control valve connected to the perforated pipe controls the flow of the waste out of the waste removal section.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 349. Patent Pending

Inventors
Daniel Miller

Environmentally Clean Process for Removing Mercury from Coal and Coal Burning Plant Flue Gas and Solutions

The present invention provides for the removal of mercury from aqueous solutions utilizing a mer protein. After the mer protein has been expressed and isolated, or alternatively using the native mer protein complex, either can be used as a chelating agent to remove mercury from any aqueous mercury containing environment. The mer protein may be used in a solution to bind mercury where the solution is suspended within a removable apparatus or the mer protein may be reversibly attached to a removal apparatus as a mer ligand. The mer ligand is attached to a removal apparatus by any conventional ligand attachment method. The advantage of the mer protein is that the mercury binding is exclusive in regards to other metals.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 351. Patent Pending

Inventors
Richard Squire, Ranjith Munasinghe, Milson Luce, Jay W. Wiedemann

Fractal Analysis of Fingerprints

The approach to be developed is based on a global analysis of the fingerprints as opposed to the analysis minutiae. The global analysis, which is based on graphical method, yields a quantitative characterization of the fingerprint. Fractal-like patterns are representations of the global structure of the fingerprints and as each fingerprint has a different global structure, we expect each fingerprint to produce a unique fractal-like pattern. These studies have demonstrated that this approach is viable.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 184. Patent Pending

Inventors
Alfred H. Stiller, Charles Jaffe

FRP Composite Structural Module with 3-D Stitch and Snap-fit Joints (or Lightweight Fiber Polymer Composite Modular Panel)

A modular fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) module that interlocks with other similarly designed modules. Specifically, each FRP module has a female, receiver, end and a male, inserter, end such that the inserter of a first FRP module interlocks with, or "snaps into" or "slids into," a receiver of an adjacent second FRP module. Once interlocked, the two connected FRP modules are further secured by either adhesive and/or thermal connections. An FRP module is made of multiple layers of multi-axial fiber reinforcement and a resin matrix, the layers being continuous throughout the entire shape of the module. An overlay may be placed over the top face of one or more FRP modules joined together to provide a uniform surface. In addition, one or more exterior FRP composite laminates, grids, plates or fabrics may be bonded continuously to the top face. In certain embodiments, one or more of the internal spaces of a FRP module may be filled with a filler for thermal insulation, noise reduction insulation, or a strength and stability enhancement of the FRP module.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 161. US Patent #6,591,567 issued 7/15/2003 from application 10/013,768 filed 12/10/2001. Canadian application #2,365,143 filed 12/10/2001. Patent Cooperation Treaty PCT/US02/29559 filed 9/18/2002.

Inventors
GangaRao Hota, Siva V.R. Hota

Industrial Scale Modular Bio-Reactor System for Continuous Protein and Lipid Recovery from Food Animal Processing by Products using Isoelectric Solublization Precipitation

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 329. Patent Pending

Inventors
Jacek Jaczynski

Innovative Mechanism for Wheelchair Propulsion

A wheelchair propulsion system provides a wheelchair user with a continuous input drive path of linear or elliptical shape. The propulsion system includes a Cardan gear system defining a linear reciprocating or elliptical input path over which propulsive force may be continuously applied to the wheelchair wheels. Because the input path is continuous, efficiency is increased and impact on the user's body is reduced thereby reducing discomfort and physical demands on the user's body. The angle of the input path may be altered to suit the particular needs of a user by rearrangement of the relative angular orientations of the gears in the propulsive system. The present propulsive mechanism may be integrated into a wheelchair or retrofitted to existing wheelchairs.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 167. US Patent #6,910,701 issued 6/28/2005 from application 10/607,867 filed 6/27/2003.

Inventors
Alfred H. Stiller, Tom Long, Wayne Scott

Intravaginal Drug Delivery System

A cervical isolation and delivery apparatus having a cervical cap removably connected to a syringe such that a bottom opening of the cervical cap is in communication with an internal chamber of the syringe. The syringe is an elongated hollow tube with an elongated rod slidable disposed within an internal chamber of the elongated hollow tube. The cervical cap is removably connected to an application end of the elongated hollow tube such that upon insertion of the apparatus into a patient's vagina, the cervical cap covers the patient's cervix while protecting the tissue surrounding the cervix. The patient's cervix is treated by placing medication, e.g., one or more therapeutic agents, in the elongated hollow tube such that the elongated rod is in an extended position, inserting the apparatus into a patient's vagina, positioning the cervical cap over the patient's cervix, and pushing the elongated rod through the internal chamber of the elongated hollow tube until it is in a retracted position, thereby expelling the medication from the internal chamber into and through the cervical cap and into contact with the patient's cervix. The cervical cap covers and isolates the cervix thereby preventing the medication from leaking from the cervical area and irritating surrounding tissue.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 056. US Patent #7,165,550 issued 1/23/2007 from application 10/379,078 filed 3/3/2000.

Inventors
Timothy S. Tracy, Douglas D. Glover, Patrick Callery, Barbara L. McFarlin, James E. Smith

Method for the Clinical Assessment of HPV Positivity in Vaginal/Cervical Fluids (Method for Detecting Pathogenic Agents)

The invention provides methods and kits for collection of cervical/vaginal specimen. The specimen collected for the purpose of detecting the presence or absence of etiological agents, e.g., bacterial or viral agents, including but not limited to human papilloma virus (HPV). The endocervical cells is not required for HPV testing or Pap smear. The methods and kits allow the self-sampling without the aid of a trained medical professional.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 181. Patent Pending

Inventors
Eddie Reed, Andrew P. Soisson, Barbara Ducatman, Timothy S. Tracy, Pamela Brown

Method of Making Carbon Foam Material and Resultant Product/Carbon and Graphite Foams Made from Coal

Ultra-clean isotropic coke is obtained from bituminous coal by extracting such coal following the extraction procedure described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,346, issued Jun. 9, 1981, to Stiller et al., using, for example, N-Methyl Pyrrolidone as the extraction solvent, and subjecting the extracted solids after separation of the solvent to a conventional coking heat treatment. The isotropic coke thus obtained can be ground, mixed with conventional binder pitch and shaped into carbon products which can be used directly, e.g. as carbon electrodes, or can be subjected to a graphitizing heat treatment under the usual conditions to produce isotropic graphite structures of high purity and high quality. The graphitization can be a multi-stage procedure and the porous intermediate stage products can be impregnated with a conventional impregnating pitch for increased density, the impregnating pitch being graphitized in the subsequent stage.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 165. Patent Pending

Inventors
Alfred H. Stiller, John W. Zondlo, Peter G. Stansberry

Multi-Membership Clustering

A computer based method is provided for clustering related data representing objects of interest and information about levels of relatedness between objects. A weighted graph G is established on the computer. The graph has vertices and weighted edges joining pairs of vertices. Using the computer, the method finds all possible subgraphs H of G satisfying the following dynamic "edge-to-vertex" ratio: .times. min .A-inverted. .times. P .times. E .function. (H/P) P-1>k where the minimum is taken over all possible partitions P of the vertex set of H, and E (H/P) is the set of edges crossing between parts of P. The subgraphs H found are identified as a level-k community if they are maximal, which means that there are no larger subgraphs containing it that satisfy the dynamic "edge-to-vertex" ration for the same k. All level-k communities are output.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 300. Patent Pending

Inventors
Cun-Quan Zhang, Yongbin Ou

Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Prognosis by Transcriptional Profiling

The invention is a biomarker test for the accurate prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma. A 37-gene survival signature has been discovered that has a predictive accuracy of .96 as measured by the area under the time-dependent receiver operating curves. The gene signature is able to place a patient into one of three indicative groups for individual treatment. Additionally, a 12-gene signature correctly predicts the stage of 94.2% of patients.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 388. Patent Pending

Inventors
Lan Guo

Novel Absorbents for Trace Extraction Heavy Metals from Water

The present invention discloses the use of ligand modified sorbents which are effective for removal of heavy metals from water that are easy to prepare and are easy to regenerate and recycled at low cost with minimum production of chemical waste byproducts. Such low cost sorbents can find use in applications of metals removal from acid mine water streams from different mining industries, and coal-burning power plants as well as metal-containing waste streams from electroplating and rare metals industries. The present invention includes an apparatus to remove heavy metals from water comprising a heavy metal binding ligand non-chemically attached to a sorbent wherein said heavy metal binding ligand has a first end and a second end and wherein said first end contains a heavy metal binder and wherein said second end contains chemical and structural features for non-chemical binding to said sorbent.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 301. Patent Pending

Inventors
Anthony George Abatjoglou

Population-based Breast Cancer Prognosis by Transcriptionial Profiling

The invention is a biomarker marker test for breast cancer prognosis the identification of specific patients with the high risk of recurrence. The biomarkers have been designed based on population studies and the result is a 28-gene signature that is a highly accurate predictor of disease-free survival and overall survival. The studies also idenftified a 14-gene predictor of nodal status and a 9-gene predictor of tumor grade.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 387. Patent Pending

Inventors
Jame Abraham, Lan Guo

Production of Coal Derivation Products Utilizing NMP-type Solvent Extraction

A graphite of anisotrophy selected between substantially isotropic to highly anisotropic, or calcined coke graphitizable to such a graphite, or a pitch convertible into such a coke or graphite, is derived from bituminous coal. A first coal is extracted in NMP or like solvent to give a first extract that when carbonized alone produces a substantially isotropic coke. A second coal (the same or different as the first coal) is hydrogenated and similarly extracted to give a second extract. The extent of hydrogenation is controlled so that the second extract when carbonized alone produces a highly anisotropic coke. Test samples are prepared by combining the two extracts in differing ratios including one sample in a ratio at each range end of the range. The solids of each sample are recovered, carbonized into coke, and then optionally converted into graphite, and its degree of anisotrophy analyzed. Comparison of the analyzed degrees for the different coke or graphite samples gives an correlation (e. g. a curve), that is characteristic for the coal treated. From this correlation, the two fractions can be solution blended in correct proportion to give a pitch yielding a coke or graphite of a selected anisotrophy or the coke or graphite can be produced therefrom. Alternatives are disclosed for combining the coals as such for extraction or variably hydrogenating a single coal to correspond in either case to a selected degree of anisotrophy.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 055. US Patent #5,955,375 issued 9/21/1999 from application 08/429,143 filed 4/26/1995. Patent Cooperation Treaty PCT/US00/01185 filed on 1/18/2000.

Inventors
Alfred H. Stiller, John W. Zondlo, Peter G. Stansberry

A Sensitive, Spin-Line Type Extensional Viscometer for Mobile Liquids Employing Very Small Liquid Volumes

A method for making fluid elasticity measurements using an extensional viscometer is disclosed, where stress is not directly measured but is inferred from an accurate measurement of the change in the rate of flow of a liquid during passage through a vertical capillary. The flow rate changes when the liquid jet, also called the liquid filament, leaving a first capillary, is stretched by the application of vacuum forces. Steady flow is established almost instantly by using a constant liquid head above the capillary, and the flow rate is determined by timing the interval for liquid to drain between two marks on the liquid reservoir surface. Extensional viscosity can be calculated as a ratio of the tensile stress and stretch rate of the liquid at different axial positions.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 115. US Patent #7,114,374 issued 10/3/2006 from application 10/482,232 filed 6/10/2004. Nationalized Patent Cooperation Treaty PCT/US02/19745 filed 6/21/2002. European Patent Office application 02744521.2-2209 filed 9/17/2003.

Inventors
Rakesh K. Gupta, Sushant Agarwal

Thermoelectric Liquid Crystal Flow Control in Microfluidic Devices: Componentless Switching and Preconcentration

Fluidic flow is directed in a capillary or channel in a miniaturized separation or microfluidic device by the addition of liquid crystals to the fluid filling the channel. The liquid crystal medium undergoes changes in morphology upon the addition of external stimuli (magnetic and/or electric fields and temparature). Under appropriate conditions this externally triggered change in liquid crystal produces a change in viscosity. This triggered change in viscosity. This triggered change in viscosity directs fluid flow in multiple path channels and/or capillaries and therefore serves as a means of directing and controlling fluid flow within a capillary or channel in a miniaturized separation or microfluidic device.

Intellectual Property Status
Disclosure 310. Patent Pending

Inventors
Staffan Nilsson, John L. West, Lisa Holland, Theron J. Pappas