Bipolar disorder is a devastating psychiatric condition that affects approximately 3 million persons in the US. It is characterized by mood disorders that range from episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, and intense cognition followed by transient depressive states. The disease usually manifests in late adolescence or early adulthood. The extreme manic phases of the disease can be accompanied by psychotic delusion and hallucinations.

In regions that traditionally support cereal crops, penetration of the viticulture industry has been difficult because of widespread use of 2,4-D broadleaf-weed killer on large industrial fields. Typical formulations of the ubiquitous herbicide are highly volatile and are prone to drifting long distances.

20alpha HSD constructs 20alpha HSD cDNA20alpha HSD GST fusion construct20alpha HSD promoter constructTruncated 20alpha HSD promoter construct

Semiconductor light emitting diodes (LEDs) and lasers using direct gap III-V materials, and electron-hole injection and recombination, have over the years led to numerous applications in display

Over nine million Americans living today have had a diagnosis of cancer, and a large percentage are undergoing active treatment for their disease, requiring life-long care to detect and treat recurrences, new cancers, treatment side effects, and to meet their supportive care needs. Though analysts at Merrill Lynch recently estimated that the market for cancer drugs would double to $50 billion a year in 2010, from $25 billion now, because of increased competition the sales potential for each drug is projected to fall 21 percent to 32 percent.

CASTp (http://cast.engr.uic.edu) is an online tool that locates and measures

Electrochemistry has been used to fabricate various metallic nanostructures, due to its versatility for plating and surface finishing of a wide range of materials, through two traditional methods.

Photolithography, a method for manufacturing grooves into surfaces of silicon primarily for the design and manufacture of electronics, has certain limitations when dealing with particular groove shapes and geometries as well as hard materials like metals. These limitations tend to hinder applications in other areas. Additionally, the complicated nature of using photolithography for prototypical product design is an issue that is of increasing importance as these designs become more complex.

Polymer nanocomposites are a new class of materials in which the filler substance is made up at least partially of nanoparticle elements such as carbon nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, nanoclays and other more exotic nano structures. These compounds can provide some very desirable properties for novel coating materials: mechanical strength, good electrical conductivity, and improved thermal and chemical resistance. These combinations of features have propelled these polymer compounds into one of the fastest growing plastic segments.

This technology is a method to eliminate voltage overshoot in cables used to connect AC electric motors and pulse width modulation (PWM) inverters.  As a function of cable length and voltage rise time, voltage overshoot occurs when high frequency currents reflect between the motor and source ends of a cable.  University of Illinois researchers have devised a compensator that shapes the output of the PWM inverter in order to eliminate these reflections; the method only requires knowledge of the transmission line characteristic impedance and propagation delay.  This technique e

This technology allows significant advances in the application of sensing technology. The invention is a method for more efficiently creating superior substrates that are flexible in three dimensions and can be worn, attached to moving objects, or used to produce truly flexible displays.

Integrated wireless communications systems require tunable capacitors that have a wide tuning range, low loss, and monolithic integration. This new MEMS tunable capacitor perfectly meets those needs.

This invention is a novel multifunctional probe array that allows for both dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) and scanning probe contact printing (SPCP) along with a dedicated imaging tip. Each probe can be independently lifted from the substrate surface, so that either a writing or imaging tip is engaged on the surface at all times. This eliminates the need to load a new probe, which causes time delays and the need for recalibration.

This technology is a process for killing tumor cells using the body's own immune system to selectively seek out and destroy cancer cells. Tumor cells are targeted for lysis using an anti-T-cell-receptor antibody that is conjugated to folate or a folate analogue. The antibody-folate conjugate targets and binds to the folate-receptor-positive (FR+) tumor cells, resulting in tumor cell death. This technology can also be adapted to use antibodies for other effector-cells such as natural killer cells, monocytes, and macrophages.

Working together, researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Sinaloa, Mexico, have developed a new method of nixtamalization, the process of treating corn in an alkaline solution, that yields a higher-quality masa dough and/or instant masa flour than traditional nixtamalization processes.

Antibiotic resistance is a global problem with increased prevalence and sometimes deadly outcomes which showcases the need for drugs designed to overcome this epidemic.  With increasing rates of bacterial drug resistance, the development of new antibiotics has become a crucial focus of the medical community.  However, despite this well-established need, the U.S. FDA still only approved 13 new antibiotics in 2010-2011.

In peripheral nerve stimulation and subcutaneous neurostimulation procedures, a neurosurgeon inserts a wire-type electrode into the body using a straight needle and stylet device.  Because this needle and stylet are straight, it is difficult to insert to match the natural curves of the human body.  To solve this problem, a surgeon often bends the device in the operating room, creating rough kinks and inconsistent bends in the needle and stylus.  These limitations make it difficult to remove and reinsert the stylus for electrode insertion. 

Our ability to follow verbal instructions is dependent on the proper functioning of the middle ear muscles. This is more difficult as the acoustical features in our modern environment becomes more complex and noisy. Currently, middle ear muscle function is monitored through clinical tympanometry and acoustic reflex (AR) testing. These clinical tools are sensitive to severe damage in the neural regulation of the muscles and growth deformations of the bone structure.

According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the US.  It is estimated that more than 200 thousand new cases are diagnosed every year and more than 30 thousand will die of this disease.

Proteins function by interacting with other molecules such as substrates and drugs, but the function

Cancer is recognized as the second leading cause of death worldwide. When the balance between cell proliferation and cell death is disrupted, the ensuing aberrant proliferation leads to tumor growth. Cancer treatment is still largely achieved through the use of chemo and radiotherapy, both of which cause various side-effects. Treatments which are tailored for specific tumors with minimum side- effects are the ultimate goal of cancer therapy. For certain types of tumors which express labile anti-apoptotic proteins, repression of cellular transcription could be useful.

The field of Glycobiology has grown tremendously over recent years and many different types of disea

Warfarin is the oral anticoagulant most frequently used to control and prevent thromboembolic disorders. It exerts its anticoagulant effects by inhibiting the synthesis of vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. Prescribing the dose that both avoids hemorrhagic complications and achieves sufficient suppression of thrombosis requires a thorough understanding of the drug's unique pharmacology. Warfarin has a complex dose-response relationship that makes safe and effective use a challenge.

There is no cure for herpes and current medications only treat the symptoms of the virus. UIC inventors have developed ZnO based micro‐nano particles that multivalently bind to HSV-1, rendering them un-infectable.

S100 proteins are small calcium-binding proteins that are found at high levels in the extracellular milieu during inflammatory conditions. The UIC inventor has discovered that these proteins possess significant anti-inflammatory and anti-hypoxic activity. It was also shown that S100 proteins inhibit the activation of peripheral neutrophils by activating a specific type of PKC known for its anti-inflammatory activity, and have a protective effect against hypoxia.

Interactive genetic algorithms (iGAs) depend on the evaluations or decisions provided by a user. The reliability of those evaluations is key for the successful application of iGAs. However, even moderately-sized problems my require thousands of evaluations that are sometimes between rather similar solutions which can lead to frustration and inconsistent evaluations. This invention provides a scheme for actively combating user fatigue and inconsistency in iGAs.

Cardiac hypertrophy occurs in response to increased stress on the heart.  The transition from cardiac hypertrophy to heart failure is primarily attributed to excessive cardiomyocyte growth which is similar in some ways to tumor growth.  UIC inventors have developed Pak1 knockout mice to assist in providing data for novel therapeutic strategies for cardiac hypertrophy.  The inventors have conducted experiments showing Pak1 may be an anti-hypertrophic player.  Ultimately, through experimentation, the inventors have identified several novel advances regarding Pak1 ac

This invention fabricates copper nanowires using thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at temperatures of about 200º to 400º C. The method can produce vertically aligned copper nanowires on various metallic, oxide, and plastic substrates without the need for pores, templates, catalysts, or lithography of the substrate surface. The CVD process does not use hydrogen and is compatible with standard silicon processing technologies.

Brk is an intracellular protein tyrosine kinase that is significantly over expressed in a majority of breast tumors, while being detected at appreciable levels in only a limited range of adult tissues that does not include the mammary gland. It has recently been demonstrated to have a role in promoting the proliferation of carcinoma cells, one that it is unlikely to perform in normal adult cells, and it therefore represents an exciting target for the development of novel cancer therapies based on specifically or selectively interfering with its functions.

Developing a more ethically acceptable alternative to embryonic stem (ES) cells will radically advance treatment of human dominant diseases. One potential therapeutic application of ES cells is to treat Type I Diabetes, which is characterized by the loss of insulin-producing pancreatic, or beta, cells. Recent studies suggest that, under the right conditions, ES cells can differentiate to insulin-producing cells that could be transplanted into the pancreas of Type I diabetic patients as a cure for this disease.

The controlled oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to aldehydes and ketones is one of the mo

For retinal cells to maintain normal metabolic function, they demand oxygen and nutrients . Various conditions, like acute retinal artery embolic disease, retinal vein occlusion and retinopathy of prematurity, are associated with  abnormalities in retinal oxygenation and are implicated in the development of glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.

Photovoltaic cells are a novel way of converting solar energy into some usable form of energy. Thi

This invention is method of pre-computing the optimal pairing of antennas to RF/ analog frontends in wireless MIMO systems without the need for computationally complex and power consuming searches. O

Sleep apnea is a potentially life-threatening disorder characterized by temporary breathing interruptions during sleep. Sleep apnea is usually accompanied by snoring and results in daytime fatigue and other disabling characteristics. According to the National Institute of Health, more than 15 million Americans are affected with sleep apnea including 25% of middle-aged men and 10% of middle-aged women.

In the last decade the incidence of thrombo-embolic diseases in which anti-platelet drugs may have been beneficial was estimated to be 2,500,000 patients affected by coronary artery diseases, 873,000 patients with cerebrovascular disease, i.e., stroke or transient ischemic attack, and 2,000,000 patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease.  However, even though G protein signaling pathways are known to be intimately involved in the genesis of thromboembolic events, it has not been possible to pharmacologically target G proteins as a means of decreasing blood platelet functi

In the last decade the incidence of thrombo-embolic diseases in which anti-platelet drugs may have been beneficial was estimated to be 2,500,000 patients affected by coronary artery diseases, 873,000 patients with cerebrovascular disease, i.e., stroke or transient ischemic attack, and 2,000,000 patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease.  Platelet integrin signaling pathways mediate cell adhesion and transduce critical signals in the dynamic regulation of cell adhesion, spreading, migration, and proliferation.  Integrin signaling is bidirectional as exemplified in the pro

Intracranial vasospams are often delayed complications that develop in patients with ruptured brain aneurysms. Current treatment involves either pharmacologic intervention or mechanical dilation using a specialized low-radial-pressure compliant balloon microcatheter. However, due to limitations in this mechanical balloon treatment, microcatheters cannot be maneuvered into smaller and more tortuous vessels and therefore only the larger, proximal vessels are treated. This poses a large health threat to those who need full vessel treatment to control the vasospasm.

Akt is an enzyme that plays a critical role in the regulation of cell survival and mediating effects of insulin on glucose metabolism. The Factors, which activate Akt, may provide important therapeutic tools in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. The mammalian transcription factors, FKHR, FKHRL1 and AFX, function as key regulators of insulin signaling, cell cycle progression and apoptosis downstream of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K). Forkhead proteins function as classical transcriptional activators and target genes encoding pro-apoptotic proteins (e.g.

There is an estimated 33 million individuals that are infected with the HIV worldwide. Currently, there are many anti-HIV therapeutic drugs in clinical use. Although these drugs have significantly extended the life span of HIV-positive people in wealthy countries, they are non-curative and suffer from diminishing effectiveness due to the development of viral resistance. In addition, many of the existing treatments have adverse side effects that erode patient quality of life.

Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adults (LADA) is a genetically‐linked, hereditary autoimmune disorder characterized by a delayed‐onset of Type 1 diabetes in adults. Patients with LADA are frequently misdiagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes based on age, not etiology. It is hypothesized that up to 20% of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes may actually have LADA.

The advent of electronic medical records (EMRs) with computerized physician order entry (CPOE) makes

These technologies provide biodegradable bone implants and artificial bone matrices for bony tissue repair.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that attacks a person’s own joints and surrounding tissue. The UIC inventors have identified ligands and receptors that are elevated in RA as targets for pharmacological treatments and clinical diagnostic assays.

Cancer remains one of the world’s most devastating diseases, accounting for over 500,000 deaths in the United States and nearly 8 million worldwide in 2007. Although recent advances in diagnostic and therapeutic methods to treat primary tumors have resulted in a decrease in mortality from the disease, cancer metastasis still poses a great risk to those who have undergone treatment. The detection of spontaneous circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and/or tumor microemboli (CTM) would give physicians an early heads-up on the spread of the disease.

Broadcasting is commonly used in ad hoc networking to build routes to unknown destinations. In static topologies, broadcasting is rarely used - a routing path between any two nodes must only be learned once. In dynamic topologies (typified by high mobility) learned routes can be ephemeral. Mobility effects are exacerbated by network traffic, which increases forwarding delays at each hop on a routing path. With increasing mobility and network traffic, routes must be built at shorter intervals.

Late diagnosis is considered a major cause of high incidence of oral cancer (OC).  OC is the 11th most common cancer in the world.  Almost all oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, since squamous cells line the oral cavity.  Biopsy can determine whether an abnormal area in the oral cavity is cancerous.  However, a method for early diagnosis is imperative to reduce incidence of the disease.  The inventor proposes that software based on fractal dimension (FD) patterning can be used to analyze oral cancer histological samples.  FD is a variable for m

Identification of genes as novel potential targets for the treatment of breast cancer remains a curr

Increasingly, the Nation’s computational science and engineering research communities work with international collaborators to tackle complex global problems.

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy is used to image transient protein-protein interactions in living cells. In FRET, a donor fluorophore is excited by incident light, and the excited state energy from the donor is transferred to a nearby (< 10 nm) acceptor fluorophore.

This invention comprises a series of 7 patents and patent applications with various European and Asi

Development of efficient chemical ligation methods for the attachment of small molecules to peptides and proteins, for joining two proteins, and for the attachment of oligosaccharides to peptides and proteins is an area of current research interest. Large glycopeptides or proteins are generally prepared from smaller fragments by convergent synthesis, and chemical ligation is a critical step in assembling large molecules from smaller building blocks. The efficiency of the chemical ligation depends on the permanency of the ligated bond.

As semiconductor device scaling extends into the deep sub-micron regime, the criteria for a salicide process become more stringent. Of particular concern is the junction leakage current, which is a strong function of silicided contact quality. The necessity for epitaxial metal-silicides has become apparent for future generation ultra-shallow junction devices in order to provide uniform silicide-Si interface and preserve the junction integrity.

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of cobalt requires a cobalt precursor that can be easily vaporized, leaving high-purity cobalt on a surface while causing no surface damage. This newly developed technology covers the composition of new cobalt precursors and a method for producing high-quality cobalt (or cobalt-containing) films and powders using those precursors.

This technology-plastic deformation magnetic assembly (PDMA)-is an innovative, proven, patent-pending method for vertically assembling inexpensive, high-performance coil inductors that take up a small area on the chip and reduce noise due to substrate loss. University researchers developed this novel assembly method for integrating coil inductors into radio frequency (RF) circuits. PDMA essentially stands the coil inductors vertically on end so that they take up far less space on the chip than planar inductors.

Alzheimer's disease(AD) has been identified as a protein misfolding disease (proteopathy), caused by accumulation of abnormally folded A-beta and tau proteins in the brain. Amyloid beta (Aβ or Abeta) is a peptide of 39–43 amino acids that appear to be the main constituent of amyloid plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. The pathological mechanism by which Aβ causes neuronal dysfunction and death remains largely unknown.

This invention is a technique that resolves current commutation challenges in various types of ac-ac switching power converters. It also applies to inverters and rectifiers with high-frequency links. Direct ac-ac converters such as matrix converters and cycloconverters benefit from the approach. This technology commutates load current without inserting dead-time into the switching sequence or using large inductors to limit shoot-through current. Both of these prior techniques intrinsically compromise a converter's performance and efficiency.

NMR spectroscopy is one of the principal techniques used to obtain physical, chemical, electronic and structural information about a molecule. It is the only technique that can provide detailed information on the exact three-dimensional structure of biological molecules in solution. Given the diversity of its applications, NMR spectroscopy has become, and will continue to remain, indispensable to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

This invention is a method for the continuous production of semiconductor nanoparticles (i.e. quantum dots), nanostrucutured catalysts, nanostructured metals and metal oxides, and ceramic oxide nanoparticles using ultrasonically generated aerosols of high boiling point solvents.

The trifluoromethyl group is found in many biologically active compounds and pharmaceuticals. The utility of these groups is well established, but the methods of incorporating them into aromatics compounds are limited. Traditionally, trifluoromethyl groups are introduced into aromatic compounds by the reaction of carboxylic acids with sulfur fluoride, or the fluorination of trichloromethyl group with a reagent, but these are toxic and difficult to handle.

A small electronic system, referred to as a quantum dot (QD), possesses discrete energy levels, whose energy spacing can be much larger than room temperature (Note that the term “quantum dot” is used in a very general way: it simply describes an electronic system that possesses discrete energy levels. As long as the electronic states of this quantum dot do not interact with the outside environment (for example, they are not located on a substrate), an electron located in one of these energy levels can in general not transition to another level.

University researchers have developed two separate methods for the design and fabrication of customizable microfluidic chips.

UIC Scientists have designed an automated chemical structure dereplication software capable of identifying the chemical structure of an unknown molecule from raw NMR data using dereplication and data mining principles. The dereplication tool provides information about chemical shifts of methyl groups within the triterpenoid family of molecules. This software provides a standardized model for naming the compounds based on the structure and variation to the methyl group location including members of the cycloartane triterpenes family.

UIC Scientists have designed an automated chemical structure dereplication software capable of identifying the chemical structure of an unknown molecule from raw NMR data using dereplication and data mining principles. The dereplication tool provides information about chemical shifts of methyl groups within the triterpenoid family of molecules. This software provides a standardized model for naming the compounds based on the structure and variation to the methyl group location including members of the cycloartane triterpenes family.

UIC Scientists have designed an automated chemical structure dereplication software capable of identifying the chemical structure of an unknown molecule from raw NMR data using dereplication and data mining principles. The dereplication tool provides information about chemical shifts of methyl groups within the triterpenoid family of molecules. This software provides a standardized model for naming the compounds based on the structure and variation to the methyl group location including members of the cycloartane triterpenes family.

The proposed invention is a secure web-based application using a

A generalized technique for simultaneously characterizing an MRI system delay and all eddy currents associated with a physical gradient axis is proposed.

A generalized technique for simultaneously characterizing an MRI system delay and all eddy currents associated with a physical gradient axis is proposed.

Currently, the most common and effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). This involves blowing air into the airway during sleep to maintain its patency. Existing auto-titrating CPAP systems rely only on early detection of disordered breathing events.

UIC researchers have found a novel technology, comprising of a method and a device, for the identifi

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, surpassing even cancer.  The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion estimates that approximately 950,000 Americans die of cardiovascular diseases every year, accounting for more than 40 percent of all deaths.  One form of cardiovascular disease, arrhythmia, is associated with very high levels of morbidity and mortality.  Sudden arrhythmic death claims more than 300,000 lives each year. Arrhythmia is defined as abnormal beating of the heart caused by various factors includ

Soybean aphid is an invasive insect pest that was first discovered in North America in 2000. Since then, these aphids have become a significant pest in the soybean producing regions of the northern USA and southern Canada. Currently, millions of acres of fields are sprayed with insecticide each year, which is both costly and has potential environmental implications. Researchers at the University of Illinois and USDA – Agricultural Research Service have identified a gene that can confer aphid resistance for soybeans.

This invention is a novel approach to performing DNA sequencing-by-synthesis methodology that is anticipated to make DNA sequencing routine, highly accurate and affordable.

H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, has become a new pandemic threat since it has rapid

The present UIC invention is a medical invention related to a new treatment modality for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease charac-terized by the presence of both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Oxidative stress in neuronal cells has also been implicated as a major contributory factor. Current therapeutic approaches towards Alzheimer’s are directed towards either targeting the prevention/ removal of amyloid plaques using PKC activators, or the management of oxidative stress using HDAC inhibitors.

This new, reliable diagnostic system performs real-time pump health assessments that can predict pump failures prior to their occurrence thereby minimizing downtime for maintenance, improving safety and reliability of hydraulic pump systems, and reducing costs. The technology can be easily integrated into new or existing hydraulic pumps without extensive modification.

TATP (triacetone triperoxide) has emerged as an explosive of choice for terrorists in recent years, because it is easy to produce, highly explosive, and hard to detect. Some recent examples of TATP use are the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 attempted bombing (2009), the London bombings (2005), and the American Airlines Flight 63 attempted bombing (2001).

This technology is a new non-photolithographic method for preparing polymer resists that can be used in microfabrication as polymer resist molding methods. The Adhesion Technique is an improvement on a previously known sealing method. The use of adhesion technique and the engineered release of the thin film form a support material using this novel design.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a major problem for hog farmers worldwide. PRRS is caused by a virus which leads to reproductive failure in sows and respiratory problems in piglets and growing pigs. The PRRS virus spreads rapidly, leading to large economic losses for farmers and overall lower health for pigs. Currently, PRRS is controlled by inoculating pigs with modified live virus which stimulates the immune system of pigs against the PRRS virus.

According to the CDC, heart disease and stroke are the first and third leading causes of death in the United States, respectively. Public health measures, such as encouraging healthier lifestyles and increasing early detection and intervention have been significant in preventing heart disease and stroke for those who are healthy and in improving the health of people who have experienced these conditions. 

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a downloadable digital application (App) that is designed to aid clinicians and dementia care professionals in behavioral management of dementia in older adults. This App is an evidence based treatment algorithm that is designed to be downloaded to iOS and Android devices as a portable aid to clinicians in determining appropriate treatment options for those affected by dementia. Specifically, the App takes the user through a series of questions based on the behavior of the patient in order to determine treatment options.

Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) are self-renewing, multi-potential cells mainly residing in bone marrow and are the progenitors of red blood cells, white blood cells and of the cells of the immune system. HSCs can also be isolated from umbilical cord blood and from the peripheral blood.  HSCs comprise only a small fraction of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood cells, but are the critical element in HSC transplantation due to their ability to colonize bone marrow and to differentiate into the full complement of hematopoietic cells.

Corneal transplantation is currently the most common form of organ transplant performed in the United States.

The proposed invention is novel system for monitoring flame properties using a fiber optic spectroscopic imaging sensor.

Osteoarthritis is one of the oldest and most common types of arthritis.  When cartilage breaks down in the joints, it causes bones to rub against each other, resulting in serious pain and a severe loss of movement for the patient.  The biological cause of the condition is unknown, but the incidence of osteoarthritis increases with age.  Osteoarthritis is estimated to affect over 20 million Americans, with most of those sufferers over the age of 45.  Women are more likely than men to develop osteoarthritis after reaching the age of 50.  Currently, there is no preve

This set of technologies take up the problems associated with ceramics in oxidizing environments. By strengthening materials and slowing the growth of cracks it is possible to produce flaw tolerant oxide ceramic composites.

Cell therapy technologies and methods have already started to play an important role in the practice of medicine. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is replacing the old fashioned bone marrow transplants. Cell therapy technologies overlap with those of gene therapy, cancer vaccines, drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The inventors have identified a way to use bone marrow derived endothelial progenitor cells for use in cell-based therapy ranging from reparative medicine to drug screening.

The Frequency Domain Dynamic Light Scattering (FD-DLS) is a new methodology that facilitates study of dynamics in arbitrarily scattering samples. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measures the intensity of light scattered by particles in the sample over a broad range of temporal scales. DLS instruments obtain a correlation factor from the intensity versus time profile for situations where light scatters no more than once in the medium.

This technology is both a new fuel cell separator plate made of robust composite materials and a method of manufacturing said separator plate.

Switches are possibly the most elementary devices in the field of electronics. A switch controls the flow of current in a circuit such that either the current flows at a value determined by the other components in series with it, or does not flow at all, as the case may be. A switch has it's own parameters that determine how fast it can switch from open to closed, or how rapidly it can interrupt the flow of current once it is has been opened.

Many manufacturing processes currently emit large quantities of gas effluent into the atmosphere or dispose of by techniques such as thermal oxidation or bio-filtration (which both consume auxiliary fuel and produce CO2). These are usually carrier gases that contain dilute concentrations of organic gas (contaminants). This invention discloses a new device process for separating dilute gas(es) (e.g. organic gases) from gas streams for reuse as a liquid or other useful purposes (e.g. auxiliary fuel or chemical manufacturing).

Phosphonic and phosphinic acids are bioreactive compounds that have been used as antibiotics, antifungal agents, antimalarial drugs, and herbicides.  Rhizocticins are naturally occurring phosphonates produced by Bacillus subtilus that have antifungal properties and interfere with the biosynthesis of the amino acid threonine.  By varying the N-terminal amino acid group in the rhizocticin compound, it i

Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are two major histological types of esophageal cancer.  Incidence of EAC has rapidly increased in America, with a nearly 5-fold increase in Caucasian males.  Factors that attribute to SCC prevalence appear to vary depending on geographic region.  SCC has higher prevalence in central Asia, southern Africa, and some areas of China; nutritional deficiencies, intake of pickled vegetables, nitrosamine-rich or mycotoxin-contaminated foods, and low socioeconomic status may be a factor.  In Europe and Nor

This inexpensive and user friendly heavy metal testing device will benefit environmental scientists and medical professionals.  The technology measures a change in energy resulting from aptamer folding in response to certain heavy metals.  This measurement occurs in a handheld testing device.  

Civil infrastructure is the foundation of our society and has a widespread impact on the quality of our daily lives.  Monitoring the safety and functionality of the world’s buildings, bridges, and lifeline systems, is critical to improving maintenance practices, minimizing the cost associated with repair and ultimately improving public safety.  Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems provide a way for engineers to determine the overall health of a given structure.  SHM systems have the ability to detect real-time damage or potential failure due to outside events,

Electrohydrodynamic jet printing has been largely ignored in the high resolution graphics and electronics fabrication industries because previous methods used broad and blunt nozzles that did not prov

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa have discovered a method to improve the thermoelectric properties of a Ca3Co4O9 thin film material by 50% at room-temperature.  An improvement in high temperature waste-heat conversion into electrical energy is valuable for industrial processes such as auxiliary power generation, solar cells, or power plants.

Results of the inventor’s study suggest that decreased histone acetylation due to decreased activity of histone acetyltransferases (HATs) in the amygdala during alcohol withdrawal may be associated with withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety.  Also, acute ethanol exposure may produce anxiolytic effects because of its capacity to increase histone acetylation via increasing the levels of CREB binding protein recruitment.  Increased CREB activity increases HATs activity or inhibits the histone deacetylases (HDACs) activity in the amygdala. Thus, HATs actvators or HDACs inhibitors

UIC inventor has created a questionnaire, gathered data and used it to generate a Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) index for patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) a debilitating autoi

HSD17B7 construct for the generation of HSD17B7 knockout mice.

Carboxypeptidase D (aka: CPD, Metallocarboxypeptidase D, gp180), the human homolog of duck gp180, is a member of the regulatory B-type carboxypeptidase family.  Carboxypeptidases perform a wide variety of roles, ranging from food digestion to the selective biosynthesis of hormones and neuropeptides.

Plasma-based electronic devices assumed a significant role in communications and d

Treatment and control of peptide and protein folding disorders like Alzheimer’s disease remains a perplexing medical problem due to a poor understanding of the disease pathogenesis. Biochemical and genetic studies have implicated extracellular neuritic plaques formed from an aggregated hydrophobic peptide, beta amyloid (Aβ) as a major factor involved in the pathogenesis of AD. Beta amyloids are formed by cleavage of APP (Amyloid precursor protein) by the action of the enzyme secretase in the transmembrane region of the cell bilayer.

Currently there are no vaccines or treatments that prevent Herpers Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1). The inventor has identified specific peptides to heparan sulfate that could possibly be a prophylactic or therapeutic agent against Herpes infection. The peptide blocks Herpes Simplex Virus –1 from entering cells.

In 2010, the market for anti-inflammatory therapeutics is projected to exceed $40 billion at an average annual growth rate of just over 10%.  The market for anti-inflammatory therapeutics for Rheumatoid Arthritis alone exceeds $12 billion per year.  Scientists at the university of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a novel therapeutic target for treatment of these conditions.

The technology is a software-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) that makes Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) effective and easy to use. The software is a front-end user interface that can work on any underlying CBIR system.

The invention improves the process of ion implantation and annealing, which is used to introduce dopants into a semiconductor to make pn junctions. The improvements control the motion of bulk semiconductor defects such as interstitial atoms through control of surface chemistry. This leads to a reduction of the depth and electrical resistance of the pn junction.

Grain breeders and dealers rely heavily on the compositional properties of many different types of grain, including: soybeans, corn, rice, and wheat etc.  The most common variables assessed for commercial and nutritive properties of grains are oil and protein content, both of which are highly variable, with values ranging from 20 – 60%.

This technology is an algorithm used for scheduling semiconductor wafer fabrication in multiproduct manufacturing plants.

This technology uses mathematical principles to correct for spectral distortions in concert with a novel device capable of holding an individual fiber in tension to thereby permit Infrared analysis of individual fibers.

This technology is a new method for measuring the thickness and integrity of thin films (nanometer to micron thickness), primarily those deposited on semiconductor substrates, although it is broadly applicable to many material systems. It provides direct measurements, is relatively inexpensive, and can be implemented inline with an existing process. An invaluable series of applications exist for determination of film uniformity, extent of film lamination, and defect detection.

An innovative, formic acid fuel mixture enhanced by a safer and more efficient catalyst yields higher currents and superior performance in portable fuel cells.

Below the knee muscle weakness, defined by weak dorsiflexor (shin) or plantarflexor (calf) muscle groups, can result from a variety of physical impairments or congenital abnormalities. Stroke, spinal cord injuries, polio and multiple sclerosis are among some of the physical injuries and congenital defects responsible for the condition. The largest complication from below the knee muscle weakness is abnormal gait, which when compensated for can lead to further complications in other muscles and joints.

Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 are two species of the herpes virus family that cause infections in humans. All viruses in the herpes family produce life-long infections. The proposed technology is a system that was created for developing vaccines and antiviral drugs for HSV-1 and HSV-2. Also, can be used to develop inhibitors of TBK1, a kinase required for proliferation and survival of cancers cells.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) can be manipulated to facilitate organ repair and regeneration and manipulate the individual’s immune system. Their ability to accomplish both of these tasks is dependent on their state of activation. The UIC inventors have discovered a new method to activate these stem cells and transform them so that they can provide more effective regeneration as well as more effective control of damaging immune system processes.

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) is increasingly being used for metabolic analysis due in part to its widespread availability and compatibility with biological samples. This invention provides ionizable, isotopic labeling reagents and labeling reaction products, answering the current need for relative quantification using mass spectrometry.

Many cancers can be attributed to alterations and mutations in tumor suppressor proteins. JARID1A (Jumonji, AT-rich interactive domain 1A) also recognized as RBP2 and RBBP2 is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein. JARID1A binds to the retinoblastoma protein (RB) variants that modulate cellular transcription and molecular proliferation/differentiation.  JARID1A has also been shown to interact with rhombotin-2, a protein implicated in T-cell mediated leukemia. JARID1B also recognized as PLU-1 has been shown to block terminal differentiation altering cell fate.

Many cancers can be attributed to alterations and mutations in tumor suppressor proteins. JARID1A (Jumonji, AT-rich interactive domain 1A) also recognized as RBP2 and RBBP2 is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein. JARID1A binds to the retinoblastoma protein (RB) variants that modulate cellular transcription and molecular proliferation/differentiation.  JARID1A has also been shown to interact with rhombotin-2, a protein implicated in T-cell mediated leukemia. JARID1B also recognized as PLU-1 has been shown to block terminal differentiation altering cell fate.

Many cancers can be attributed to alterations and mutations in tumor suppressor proteins. JARID1A (Jumonji, AT-rich interactive domain 1A) also recognized as RBP2 and RBBP2 is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein. JARID1A binds to the retinoblastoma protein variants that modulate cellular transcription and molecular proliferation/differentiation.  JARID1A has also been shown to interact with rhombotin-2, a protein implicated in T-cell mediated leukemia. JARID1B also recognized as PLU-1 has been shown to block terminal differentiation altering cell fate.

Many cancers can be attributed to alterations and mutations in tumor suppressor proteins. JARID1A (Jumonji, AT-rich interactive domain 1A) also recognized as RBP2 and RBBP2 is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein. JARID1A binds to the retinoblastoma protein variants that modulate cellular transcription and molecular proliferation/differentiation.  JARID1A has also been shown to interact with rhombotin-2, a protein implicated in T-cell mediated leukemia. JARID1B also recognized as PLU-1 has been shown to block terminal differentiation altering cell fate.

The phase contrast microscope is a vital instrument in biological and medical research; it facilitates the observation of living cells by using spatial light modulation to enhance the intrinsic contrast of transparent and colorless components in a cell. It can reveal cell structure without the need of contrast agents. However, the information obtained is only qualitative.

In the US, there is a growing interest in the adoption of green infrastructure for stormwater management. This trend emerges from the increasing awareness that the growing area of paved surfaces due to urbanization has put increasing pressure on stormwater management facilities. As a result, there is a higher frequency of combined sewer outflows, floods and the exposure of residents and habitat to polluted water.

Over the last decade, every state and many counties, cities, school districts, and other legislative and quasi-legislative bodies have published websites providing up-to-date information on the debates, drafts, and motions of their legislative processes.  It is essential for an organization trying to monitor legislation to keep current on the bills and motions moving through these legislative processes.

This invention is the world's first light emitting transistor.

This technology is a suite of four inventions relating to microelectronic logic circuits and the reduction of power and/or time requirements. The suite comprises: (1) parallel dynamic logic (PDL) and speed-enhanced skewed static logic (SSS); (2) skewed static logic (S2L) with topology-dependent dual threshold voltage (Vt); (3) reduced swing-clock double-edge triggered flip-flop; and, (4) low-power, small-area, small jitter, delayed lock-loop (DLL)-based clock generator. Collectively, these technologies serve to reduce power consumption and/or enhance performance.

This new pump-probe fluorescence microscope provides efficient, high-resolution, lifetime imaging of ultrafast fluorescence phenomena. It provides an economical alternative to existing confocal and fluorescence microscopes. This microscope provides superior resolution to standard fluorescence and two-photon microscopes and comparable resolution to confocal microscopes. In addition, it eliminates the problem of precision alignment that must be maintained with confocal microscopes.

Nearly one quarter of men worldwide are homozygous for a mutation in a gene that encodes a key sperm surface protein that is critical for normal sperm functioning in the female reproductive tract. Methods of detection of the genetic mutation, or the deficit of the protein on sperm, are predictive of reduced male fertility. Supplementation of sperm with the purified protein restores sperm function.

Periodontal disease is one of the major reasons for tooth loss in the United States and may be associated with systemic effects, including heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Although tooth retention has greatly improved over the past few decades, a significant percentage of older Americans do not have functional dentitions and only 42.4% of the U.S.

UIC researchers have developed a mechanical device that will perform jaw‐thrust and chin-tilt (instead of chin-lift) in patients with suspected neck/cervical spinal injury, thus freeing the rescuer to attend to other aspects of stabilization of critically ill patients.

UIC researchers have developed a next generation laser cautery tool and scalpel using today’s fiber laser technology. This compact, turn-key, and alignment free device will provide the field paramedic or warfighter with a unique, portable, and battery-operated laser for coagulation or hemostatic control of bleeding vessels, closing wounds while minimizing risk of infection, and quickly cutting soft or hard bodily tissues.  

Metapectra is an online database of spectral peaks and associated software that allows for easy searching by wave number, tissue, bond type and other characteristics, thereby enabling quick retrieval of information. All peaks in the database have biographical information - the scientific paper it is found in and the author of the paper - allowing for easy citation. In spectroscopy, one common issue is determining the meaning of a peak on a spectrum of a tissue sample.

This invention is a novel method for depositing multi-element complex structures by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), or a combined alternating mode using a single deposition system.  The technology can be easily adapted to add more precursors or oxidizing reagents and can be used in continuous or cyclic modes to deposit simple or multi-metal films, or more complex structures such as multilayered stacks or nano-laminates. Working prototype exists

Endometriosis is one of the most common gynecological disorders, affecting up to 10-15% of women of reproductive age, more than 5.5 million women in North America alone. The two most common symptoms of endometriosis are pain and infertility and about 30 percent to 40 percent of women with endometriosis are infertile, making it one of the top three causes for female infertility. With an estimated symptomatic population of six million women and serious problems resulting in low fertility, there is a significant latent potential.

Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this new fiber optic technology suppresses stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in fiber laser technologies,

The proteasome is a protein complex that targets ubiquitin-tagged proteins for degradation in an ATP-dependent manner. Proteasomes are prone to hyperactivity in cancer cells.  Recent studies show that proteasome inhibitors, such as thiostrepton,are effective anticancer therapeutics via inhibition of FoxM1 expression and transcriptional activity.  FoxM1 is an oncogenic transcription factor that is one of the most overexpressed genes in cancer.

Thermal sensitivity in piezoresistive sensors used in silicon microcantilevers makes them susceptible to unwanted signals such as temperature drift. In addition, when used in chemical sensing, current microcantilevers have difficulty testing femtogram (10-15) scale samples due to the effect of temperature variations on the mechanical signal. This invention is a microcantilever hotplate with both a resistive heater and temperature-compensated piezoresistive strain gauges that correct for the effect of temperature variations on the mechanical strain signal.

Designed to eliminate the time-consuming dipping required for inking the dip pen nanolithography (DPN) array used for nanoscale patterning, this invention provides a method for providing fluids "inks" to a large array of scanning probe microscope tips.

In stroke research, the hippocampal acute brain slice preparation is a model for studying how neuronal tissue responds to a hypoxic insult.  Additionally, in diabetes research, pancreatic islets preparation and dynamic loading of oxygen and glucose is critical to understand how hypoxia alters the glucose-insulin response of the pancreas.  However, standard techniques using commercial perfusion chambers cannot accurately provide oxygen delivery and control to model hypoxic conditions.

Conductivity of a liquid solution provides valuable information about the solution, but commercially available conductivity probes are costly and have diameters greater than 1cm, limiting their potent

This invention is a 3-axis machine for micro-milling and drilling. It is built through the compilation of new uses for existing technology, improvements of existing products, and novel solutions to the design challenges of a miniature machine tool. This machine solves several of the problems that have been associated with creating a miniature micro-machining platform and takes miniature machine tools from the laboratory stage of development to a product that can be easily commercialized.

Angiotensin II activation and associated elevation in reactive oxygen species have been implicated in pathogenesis of many cardiovascular disorders including arrhythmia.  Nevertheless commonly-used antioxidants have been shown to be ineffective in clinical trials. 

MobiusTM is a software tool for modeling the behavior of complex systems. Originally developed for studying the reliability, availability, and performance of computer and network systems, its use has expanded to include a broad range of discrete-event systems from biochemical reactions within genes to the effects of malicious attacks on secure computer systems. The flexibility and power found in MobiusTM come from its support of multiple high-level modeling formalisms and solution techniques.

Cardiovascular disease continues to be a leading cause of death in the Western hemisphere.  Cardiac arrhythmias affect more than 5 million people annually in the United States, resulting in more than 1.2 million hospitalizations and 400,000 deaths each year.  Heart failure affects 4.7 million Americans, 1.5% of the total population.

This technology describes a fabrication method for multi-channel, multi-layered microfluidic devices, with numerous functional characteristics capable of integration into a lab-on-a-chip platform. The chip allows broader analytical capabilities in point-of-use microfluidic technology than previously possible, and it does so with exceeding strength and stability.

The invention is a general design for a simultaneously emitting, dual wavelength diode laser for electronically simpler and more efficient remote sensing (e.g., water vapor on Mars, wind/weather analy

This technology is a process for preparing biodegradable resins comprised of corn zein and fatty acids and forming the resins into sheets, thin films, and similar products useful in a broad range of food packaging and agricultural applications. Corn zein-based Biodegradable Resins present an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic.

The development of drug resistance in tumor cells is a major obstacle to clinical response in cancer

The ability to print a polarized electrical charge onto a medium, or charge patterning, is currently in the early stages of development.  A similar technology commonly used in office printers, Xerography, thrives in large size regimes.  There exist only a few competitive technologies capable of printing at the nanometer scale.    Current technologies use processes that provide only low resolutions and relatively poor control over the printed charges.  For example, current atomic force microscopy probes can provide suitable charges, but are only able f

NatOx is a well-known, proven, and patented technology that enables the formation of high-quality oxide layers on compound semiconductors, leading to improved performance and lower costs for optoelectronic and microelectronic devices. Oxides provide crucial functions in semiconductors, including masking, passivation, isolation, and other more active functions. Although long available for silicon-based devices, a native (as opposed to deposited) oxide was not available for Group III-V semiconductors.

Using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), a technology for near-infrared (NIR) optical sensors has been developed.

Respiratory failure is not an uncommon phenomenon and may occur due to failure or malfunctioning of organs in the respiratory tract. In the case of this event, normal respiration is restored using a mechanical device called ventilator that delivers air to the patient with appropriate oxygen composition, at an appropriate rate. Air is delivered from the ventilator to the lungs through a specially designed tube, termed endotracheal tube. Endotracheal is inserted through the patient’s mouth or nose and passes through the throat and vocal cords.

Group III-V semiconductor devices have many advantages over silicon-based semiconductors, including speed and the ability to produce optical emissions. For this reason, they are being widely used in optoelectric devices. This technology offers a new method for producing low-resistance electrical contacts on Group III-V materials used in electrical and optical devices. The new method produces the lowest known resistivity PdGe contacts on gallium arsenide (GaAs).

The University's proven, patent-pending filtration system offers an improved method for purifying industrial process fluids-such as parts washing cleaning solution and metalworking coolant-extending fluid lifetime and thus minimizing costs associated with chemical purchase and waste disposal. This efficient and cost-effective technology consists of an integrated membrane filtration system that separates emulsified oils and contaminants from detergents, solvents, and metalworking coolant while using the machine's existing pumping system.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in women in the US and the second most common cause of death in women in the US.  Treatment for breast cancer often involves a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormone therapy.   Chemotherapy focuses on inhibiting estrogen binding to receptors, blocking estrogen production, targeting DNA replication, or preventing the division of cancer cells.  Though clearly beneficial, the use of these drugs is severely limited due to serious adverse effects. 

These technologies provide greater control over the interactions of microscopic particles suspended within a liquid (i.e., colloids).

NCSA has developed a software suite that allows novices to edit and manage content directly on a website and corporations to maximize the efficiency of both the users in their organization and of thei

Nonequilibrium Chemovoltaics Hydrogen Fuel Cells has potentially of having a massive impact on the alternative energy systems market, and thus help-ing this nation to cope with the approaching energy

Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a parasite which multiplies in the intestine of a cat and is shed in cat feces.  It is passed onto humans through contact with the feces, mainly from litter boxes and garden soil.  Healthy adults rarely suffer harmful effects from Toxoplasma infection and are predominantly asymptomatic. Primary infection in immunocompromised people causes a mild illness resembling mononucleosis.  However, the real danger lies with infected pregnant women; up to 60% of infections are passed on to the fetus, which has been shown in severe cases t

Breast cancer is the most common noncutaneous malignancy in women and second only to lung carcinoma in mortality. Approximately 75% of breast cancers express estrogen receptor (ER) and are further classified as luminal A and B. Five year survival rate of luminal B is ~50% compared to ~95% for luminal A, making luminal B a target for improved therapies.Inflammation is linked clinically and epidemiologically to cancer. In addition, activation of its downstream nuclear transcription factor NFκB appears to be of central importance in tumorigenesis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin sheath of nerve axons, which impacts the neural communication signaling.  In Alzheimer's disease (AD), healthy brain tissue degenerates, causing a steady decline in memory and mental abilities. 

According to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated 850,000-950,000 people in the United States are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which can cause Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV has evolved from a death sentence for all patients to a chronic condition for most. While this is true, HIV can mutate in a way that allows it to become resistant to existing drugs, even when they are given in combination. As a result, people with multi-drug resistant HIV may find themselves without an effective treatment option.

Hepatitis B or C is the most important cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), particularly in patients with chronic active hepatitis.  It has been reported that cancer chemotherapeutic agents can reactivate type B hepatitis in asymptomatic carriers and HIV-infected patients are at increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma caused by the hepatitis B virus.  Chronic hepatitis B virus infections can be treated with various antiviral agents or interferon alpha therapy that inhibits viral replication.  However, the reason these treatments fail is due to the exis

This technology is a new experimental method and device for the on-chip, uni-axial tensile testing of freestanding thin films, with virtually no restriction on film thickness (nanometers to micrometers). The method obviates the use of separate gripping mechanisms, ensures virtually perfect specimen alignment, and accurately calibrates loading of the specimen with required force resolution.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and long-term disability in the United States and Europe every year.  Statistics provided by the American Heart Association indicate that about 140,000 individuals die each year in the United States, or one every four minutes.  According to the World Health Organization, about 650,000 Europeans die each year due to stroke.  In total every year approximately 785,00 people in the United States have a stroke, with over 600,000 of these being first or new strokes.  While increased age is a risk factor for stroke incidence, near

A laminectomy is a surgery that removes a portion of the vertebral bone to relieve back pain.  It is performed when more conservative medical treatments have failed.  Frequently performed on patients who suffer severe pain due to herniated disks, the procedure requires that surgeons insert a paddle type electrode onto the spinal cord for stimulation.  Currently, surgeons use straight or bayonet-type forceps and must firmly grip the edges of the electrode to ensure its stability.  However, this tends to bend the electrode in a “U” shape resulting in increased press

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have the unique ability to undergo self-renewal and to differentiate into cells belonging to multiple hematopoietic lineages. The ability of stem cells to self renew allows them to maintain hematopoiesis throughout the life span of an organism. The knowledge of the behavior of HSCs is limited due to their rarity, difficulty of efficient isolation, and sensitivity to manipulation.

Cell motility is a central feature of a range of normal and pathological processes, including embryo

Blood transfusions provide important medical benefits primarily centered on the replacement of lost blood in trauma and surgical patients.

The capability for in vitro expansion of human neural stem cells (HNSCs) provides a well characterized and unlimited source alternative to using primary fetal tissue for neuronal replacement therapies. The HNSCs injected into the lateral ventricle of 24-month-old rats after in vitro expansion, displayed extensive and positional incorporation into the aged host brain with improvement of cognitive score assessed by the Morris water maze after 4 weeks of the transplantation.

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago propose a novel method for microfluidic cell encapsulation. The invention allows for the encapsulation of pancreatic cells, which can then be implanted into patients to take on the insulin-producing function in type-1 diabetes patients without the risk of rejection by the immune system.

These innovative organic materials offer many of the optical performance characteristics of inorganic materials. However, these organic materials have few of the drawbacks inherent in the processing of comparable inorganic materials. Unlike inorganic materials capable of similar performance, this technology is exceptionally easy and considerably less expensive to process.

This invention is a novel, out-of-plane, hot-wire anemometer and a microfabrication method for producing it. Its composition and innovative production process enable the sensing element to be raised out of the plane of the substrate and thus arrays of sensors can be easily formed. Out-of-plane sensors provide greater sensitivity by virtue of higher thermal isolation and out-of-plane sensor arrays enable true three-dimensional representations of the flow.

UIC researchers have developed a novel phospholipid micellar and liposomal formulation of antibiotics and antitoxins. The use of Polymyxin B (PxB) Sterically Stabilized Micelles (SSM) was tested. The formulation can be applied in pharmaceutical products incorporating antibiotics, including those to which resistance develops, and drug delivery. Delivering the antibiotics in the phospholipid construct will provide solubility, stability, and avoid resistance.

Dr. Schwartz, the UIC inventor, hypothesizes that an oral bacterial flora profile reflects not only proximal oral infections such as periodontal disease but correlates to the presence of distant cancers such as lung cancer.  Given the prevalence of lung cancer, the development of lung cancer diagnostic tools based on the inventor’s hypothesis may have significant commercialization potential.  Lung cancer causes 1 in 3 cancer deaths.   Every year in the United States., 99,000 men and 78,000 women develop lung cancer.  

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are enzymes that remove acetyl groups from histones, increasing their positive charge and encouraging high-affinity binding between histones and the DNA backbone. The increased DNA binding condenses DNA structure, preventing transcription.

The proteasome is a protein complex that targets ubiquitin-tagged proteins for degradation in an ATP-dependent manner. Recent advances in the understanding of the mechanisms of proteasome activity led to the development of proteasome inhibitors as effective drugs against human cancer. However the precise mechanisms of the anticancer activity of proteasome inhibitors were not well understood.

Breast cancer is projected to be diagnosed in one out of every eight females born today in the United States. As highly-visible public awareness campaigns, like the pink ribbon and various Susan G. Komen sponsored activities, have educated the public about breast cancer, the market has become increasingly anxious for therapeutics solutions to the disease. Therapeutics for fighting and preventing breast cancer are not currently available on the market and researchers are looking for new pathways to explore. 

Hepatitis C is a blood‐borne infectious disease that is caused by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), affecting the liver. The infection is often asymptomatic, but once established, chronic infection can cause inflammation of the liver (chronic hepatitis). This condition can progress to scarring of the liver (fibrosis), and advanced scarring (cirrhosis). In some cases, those with cirrhosis will go on to develop liver failure or other complications of cirrhosis, including liver cancer. An estimated 150‐200 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C.

This vector is a six element vector antenna (SEVA).

Ohmic contact degradation and gate-sinking are two major degradation mechanisms that cause semiconductor devices, such as high electron mobility transistors, or HEMTs, to fail. In general, the rapid diffusion of contact metals into the indium phosphide substrates has restricted processing temperatures to 300ºC and reliable operating temperatures have been limited to 200ºC to 250ºC. This set of technologies embodies two similar methods for improving reliability and performance of contacts in indium phosphide-based semiconductors.

Nanoprecipitation has emerged as an attractive strategy for preparing polymer nanoparticles used in drug delivery.

A novel organic ink comprised of a mixture of anionic and cationic polyelectrolyte species in water has been developed for the robotic deposition of 2-D and 3-D patterned structures with micron-scale features. This invention offers a new approach for fabricating complex structures on micron length scales with potential applications as templates for photonic band gap materials, as well as scaffolds for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and nanoparticle assembly.

Aß is found in high levels in pathological conditions such as dementia, vascular diseases, and traumatic brain injury. Currently, there is no antibody that is specific for Aß that does not bind to its precursor protein APP. The most widely used antibody today is 6E10. This antibody is priced at $905 for a half milliliter. The UIC inventors have developed an antibody that only binds to Aß and is pan specific in which it detects all forms of Aß (unaggregated, oligomeric and fibrillar forms).

This parallel-kinematics flexure stage (PKFS) generates a motion range larger than, or at least comparable to, current commercial designs while simultaneously eliminating the undesired secondary motion associated with them. As opposed to traditional positioning systems, parallel kinematics systems, because of their truss-like structures, are structurally stiffer and lighter and allow for high-bandwidth operations. In addition, errors associated with fabrication tend to cancel rather than compound each other.

This technology is a short fragment of a naturally occurring peptide that can be used to regulate the density of calcium current in mammalian cells. Modulation of calcium current across cell membrane

Dental training involving patients is not practical for the novice student. The advent of virtual reality based techniques opens up new avenues in medical education. Virtual reality (VR) based training methods are highly cost effective, can be carried out a number of times and have the additional benefits of being able to record and evaluate performance with real-time feedback. With over 8000 students needing training annually in the US alone there is a need for an educational aid that addresses these goals.

Incremental serotonin withdrawal during the wake to sleep transition has been postulated as a key mechanism that renders the pharyngeal airway collapsible.  While serotonin promotion with reuptake inhibitors have demonstrated modest beneficial effects during NREM sleep on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), animal studies suggest a potential therapeutic role for selective serotonin receptor antagonists (5-HT3) in REM sleep. 

Domestic soybean cultivars used in the U.S. are highlysusceptible to soybean rust disease caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi. The rapid spread of the disease and its abilityto cause significant yield losses (ranging from 13 to 80% of total yield) canresult in major economic losses for soybean producers. Synthetic fungicides areheavily used (~74 million acres in US in 2007) to prevent rust disease buttheir effect on human health and the ecosystem is unknown.

Polyclonal antibodies for HSD17B7 [17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 7 enzyme, formerly prolactin receptor-associated protein].

This proven, patent-pending material that enables a wide variety of composite products to "self-heal" is available for licensing by or joint development with commercial companies, universities, or government laboratories. Structural polymers are susceptible to cracks that form deep within the structure where detection is difficult, and repair is often impossible.

This technology is a novel, untethered, powered, ankle-foot-orthosis (AFO) design that controls and assists ankle motion using plantarflexor and dorsiflexor torque at the ankle joint. This device is called a Portable-Powered-Ankle-Foot-Orthosis (PPAFO), and utilizes fluid-powered actuators to provide active ankle torque assistance during gait. The system is self-contained and uses a portable pneumatic and/or hydraulic power source and embedded electronics to power and control the actuation of the foot.

Although there are already a few existing compounds for use in the treatment of bone diseases, these new compounds may have efficacy exceeding that of current commercial species.

Professor M. Cristina White has developed iron-based small molecule catalysts which, in conjunction with hydrogen peroxide, can selectively oxidize aliphatic C-H bonds in complex natural products. 

Display devices represent ubiquitous, central components of nearly all consumer electronics technologies.

This technology simplifies manufacturing processes for plastics while also improving melt flow characteristics of polymers.

Transgenic mice which express only PRLR-L, ubiquitously (Tg-RL)  Transgenic mice which express only PRLR-L, in a CL-specific manner (CL-RL)

A cancer diagnosis is conventionally confirmed through histological examination of cell or tissue samples removed from a patient. Clinical pathologists need to be able to accurately determine whether such samples are benign or malignant and to classify the aggressiveness of tumor samples deemed to be malignant, because these determinations often form the basis for selecting a suitable course of patient treatment.

The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) market was worth $858.2 million in 2008.  MRI is critical for medical diagnosis of in a number of disorders.  MRI uses magnetism, radio waves, and computer to produce images of body structures.  A magnetic field aligns the protons of hydrogen atoms, which are then exposed to a beam of radio waves.  As radio waves spin various protons in the body, the protons emit a signal that is detected by the receiver of the MRI scanner.  Received information is processed by a computer to produce an image.  Dr.

Rat decidual (GG-AD) and Rat luteal (GG-CL) cell lines

This software makes possible real-time, remote, dynamic transmission of fluoroscopic medical imaging sessions. Using standard MPEG video compression, a patient's medical images are transmitted in real time using a broadband Internet connection in a best-effort format. The transmitting computer, equipped with a video-encoding card and custom developed software is located in a remote hospital x-ray suite and is connected to a fluoroscope.

University inventors have suggested a novel method to delay or reverse the aging process of cells and delay age-related diseases by using repeated electromagnetic fields shock (REMFS).  The scientists have also identified the cellular mechanism by which this technique works.

Model predictive control (MPC) is the method of choice for controlling multivariable processes. However, as processes become more and more complex or as measurements and responses are needed on a rapid-fire basis, MPC's ability to handle constraints well and avoid instability is diminished. The University's robust ellipsoid algorithm was developed to improve MPC performance in processes with a high rate of measurement or extremely complex calculations. This patented algorithm finds solutions to control problems very quickly orders of magnitude faster than previously possible.

It is a critical for police officers to place their fingers above the trigger along the frame of the gun when they are not ready to shoot. However, during training, it is difficult for instructors to tell if the trainee's finger is positioned correctly. This device can be added to an inert firearm to show whether the trainee is placing his or her finger at the correct position.

Current sarcoidosis diagnosis procedures can be time consuming, including a medical history evaluation, physical exam, chest x ray, lung function test, and biopsy.  A more efficient proceedure would include diagnostic tools and biomarkers that identify patients likely to develop progressive declines in lung function or extra pulmonary manifestations such as cardiac or neurologic sarcoidosis.  Experimental data indicates that the proposed PBMC expression profile can be used in diagnosing complicated sarcoidosisin human subjects.  

This DNA-based technology provides a novel, selectable marker gene and promoter for producing transgenic plants with heightened levels of tryptophan (Trp).

In 2010, heart disease will cost the United States $316.4 billion.  This total includes the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity.  In 2006, heart disease caused more than one in every four deaths in the United States.  Heart failure alone affects 4.7 million Americans, 1.5% of the total population.  Sudden cardiac death is the largest cause of natural death in the United States, causing about 325,000 adult deaths in the United States each year.

One of the most challenging problems in biochemical science are studies that involve membranes, including small molecules and proteins which are associated with these cellular structures.

This technology maximizes a semiconductor laser's optical mode overlap and injected carriers. The semiconductor laser's optical mode overlap is optimized with the gain to produce lasers with lower threshold currents than standard ridge waveguide (RW) lasers. A separate lateral confinement (SLC) structure creates a clear reduction in lasing threshold that is possible because of confinement of the injected carriers.

ShadowLight-Mirage is a software application that lets users create and explore fully immersive worlds in virtual reality. Space itself becomes the design medium, encouraging artistic innovation and accelerating the design process. Rather than restricting users to traditional systems - fixed set of artistic or construction-centric tools, ShadowLight provides a novel degree of flexibility by supporting a plug-in architecture that allows the designer to utilize high-level components as the design media.

Currently Gαs proteins are labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) at either the C- or N-t

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a new technology capable of effectively detecting and quantifying metal ions in a sample by color changes. Accurate, versatile, and inexpensive, this technology uses the catalytic DNA-directed assembly of gold nanoparticles and its associated color changes to determine the presence and concentration of a particular metal ion. The sensor works like a pH paper and yet can detect a diverse range of analytes.

This technology is a powerful new route to the manufacturing of high performance thin film transistors on plastic substrates. Free standing micro and nanoscale objects of single crystal silicon can be fabricated from bulk silicon or silicon on insulator wafers by lithographic patterning of resist, etching of the exposed top silicon, and removing the underlying SiO2 to liftoff the remaining silicon. This form of "top down" microtechnology represents an attractive route to high performance flexible electronic systems.

siRNAare involved in the silencing of select genes, or RNA interference (RNAi).  There are issues with delivering the siRNA to the targeted sites in vivo, and once the delivery problem is resolved, the siRNA is also problematic in that the knock-down does not always occur or the efficiency of the knock-down is not as high as needed.  TNF-α or Tumor Necrosis Factor-α is a cytokine that is involved in systemic inflammation and the degradation of cartilage.  UIC investigators have designed a cationic peptide conjugated hydrogel as a vehicle to deliver a T

This new technology employs a mesoflap that dynamically optimizes performance and operation as flight operational conditions change.

Nano patterning, the ability to create nanometer scale features on a solid surface, has great potential as an energy-efficient approach in manufacturing. Solid state ionic conductors offer this possibility by exploiting highly localized electrochemical reactions at the point of contact between the conductor and a metal substrate. Metal ions migrate through the bulk of the ionic conductor toward the counter electrode under the influence of an electrical bias between an ionic conductor (stamp) and a metal surface (anode).

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) have discovered a gene for soybean aphid resistance in the soybean cultivars Dowling and Jackson. The soybean aphid was identified in the Midwestern United States as a significant infestation in July of 2000 and has since expanded to twenty-one states and other parts of North America.

Membrane lipids control diverse cellular processes, including cell proliferation, metabolism and apoptosis.  Perturbation of the complex signaling networks formed by lipids and their targets can contribute to diseases, like cancer, diabetes and inflammation.  Determination of lipid spatiotemporal fluctuation and dynamics is a key step towards greater understanding of lipid-mediated processes.  Unfortunately, current methods are neither quantitative nor highly specific.

UIC inventors have proposed a new splice site prediction method using inhomogeneous Markov chain model, combined with three-layer feed forward Neural Networks.

In this discovery, UIC inventors detail molecular mechanisms underlying the immune modulation: 1) Blood stem cells express autoimmune regulator (a transcription factor related to the induction of immune tolerance) contributing the immune modulation; 2) Blood stem cells display a certain peptidase contributing the immune modulation; 3) Expression of the transcription factor in blood stem cells contribute to the peptidase gene modulation, as demonstrated by siRNA knock-down experiments.  

Drug delivery systems are a key to the efficacy of any treatment. In recent times several mechanisms

Nitrile rubber (NBR) is a hydrophobic, solution processable rubber, and it is used extensively in the automotive industry (seals, fuel, oil hoses, etc.) for its low production costs, excellent thermal stability and chemical resistance. The use of NBR in nanocomposites as a matrix for ceramic and CB nanofillers has also been studied at length.

For extremely complex heterogeneous diseases, such as cancer, delivery of a single therapeutic agent or a simple combination of multiple therapeutic agents is not an efficient method of treatment. The limitation of many single-target therapies can be overcome by attacking the disease system on multiple fronts. Indeed, the combination of multiple component drugs is now standard for the treatment of complex diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and infectious diseases.

Researchers and practitioners in university, industrial and national labs increasingly rely on low temperatures in the development and study of products.

This technology provides an accurate means for determining whether a cow is resistant to or susceptible to persistent lymphocytosis (PL).

The Geochemist's Workbench (GWB) is a robust module-based software program that provides fast graphical solutions for manipulating chemical reaction calculations, calculating stability diagrams and equilibrium states of natural waters, tracing reaction processes, and plotting the results of these calculations. Considered the industry standard, this program is easier to use and faster than other programs of its type and saves significant time and steps for those in the geochemistry field.

The University of Illinois is actively seeking corporate partners to commercialize research tools and reagents developed in the laboratories of university faculty. Many of these reagents have been validated in the laboratory and highlighted in a journal publication.

Periodically Rotated Overlapping ParallEL Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction (PROPELLER) MRI is a widely used method to correct for patient motion.  Although echo planar imaging (EPI) based PROPELLER is a more robust technique compared to fast spin echo (FSE) based PROPELLER, EPI-PROPELLER suffers from Nyquist ghosts which necessitates phase correction.

Understanding complex immunological processes at the molecular level will give investigators and cli

The application of mobile wireless communication technology to provide traffic information can help answer questions, such as whether to take the next exit off an interstate highway or to continue driving.  There has been a growing interest of consumer demand for applications that can present a driver with real-time, dynamic traffic and navigation information.

The number of Americans with disabling eye disease is increasing due to an aging population. Blindness or low vision affects 3.3 million Americans age 40 and over. This figure is projected to increase to 5.5 million by the year 2020. This invention is implantable telescopic lens used for individuals requiring visual aid. The transcorneal telescopic lens allows for up to 6X magnification of images to the retina with the advantage of having a stable scaffold for long term retention and the benefit of not depending on endothelial cell health.

Numerous types of stresses (heat, cold, drought, insects, high salinity in soils, UV radiation) decrease the yield of important commercial food crops.  UIC researchers have found a critical, early stage of the phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway that can enhance a crop’s tolerance to plant stresses. Phenylalanine is an aromatic amino acid and essential for cellular function. Administration of additional phenylalanine at an appropriate time has been shown in both a model organism and in soybean to significantly affect resistance to stress and can improve seed yield.

Heart failure is the leading cause of hospital stays for those over the age of 65.  The need for therapeutic and diagnostic methods for this condition will only increase as the elderly population continues to grow.  Diastolic dysfunction with preserved left ventricular function is a condition where abnormal stiffening of the heart ventricles leads to abnormal filling of the ventricles during their relaxation period.  As the condition advances, fluid extravasates into the lungs, and the situation is elevated to diastolic heart failure (DHF).   DHF is associa

Affecting 50 million Americans and over 500 million people worldwide, hypertension is the most commo

This treatment method and pharmaceutical composition could be significantly more effective at lowering the risk of hyperhomocysteinemia-related cardiovascular disease than traditional betaine treatmen

Cell signaling is part of a complex system of communication that governs basic cellular activities and coordinates cell actions. The ability of cells to perceive and correctly respond to their microenvironment is the basis of development, tissue repair, and immunity as well as normal tissue homeostasis. Errors in cellular information processing are responsible for diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity, and diabetes. By understanding cell signaling, diseases can be treated effectively and, theoretically, artificial tissues could be built.

Researchers at UIC have developed a low-power physical synthesis (PS) tool DNF-PS for chip design.  This tool simultaneously applies a set of very effective power/timing optimizing transforms (in particular, multiple Vdd, multiple Vth, cell sizing, buffer insertion, cell replication and global re-placement), and does so simultaneously across the entire circuit while satisfying multiple constraints (e.g., on timing, voltage islands, area, congestion).

This technology is a method of fabricating an oxide layer on the surface of a high-temperature (high Tc) superconductor. The oxide layer passivates the superconductor, preventing degradation via air and moisture and eliminating the need to store materials at low temperatures in controlled atmospheres. The oxide coating also permits higher resolution measurements of the electronic structure at the superconductor surface than was previously possible. The technology is useful in forming improved tunnel junctions and potentially Josephson tunnel junctions.

This invention is a new form of no-contact dust separation technology designed to clean very dusty or polluted air with little maintenance and low energy costs, removing most of the harmful respirable particles smaller than 10 μm.

Current main memory system designs are severely limited by the traditional synchronous DRAM architecture. This architecture requires the memory controller to track the internal status of memory devices (chips) and schedule the timing of device operations. This rigidity has become an obstacle for integrating emerging memory technologies such as PCM into existing memory systems--PCM requirements are vastly different.

A protein with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory functions was identified and isolated from the

The invention describes a molecular mechanism that leads to neurodegeneration in people with certain forms of Parkinson’s disease.

The polyglutamine expansion diseases include Kennedy’s Disease (Spinobulbar muscular atrophy), Hunti

This technology is a method for forming micro-scale gaps, such as those required between a suspended microstructure and an opposing surface in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication, using dendritic material as a dry-releasable, sacrificial layer. The sacrificial layer can be applied to a surface by spin coating a solution of dissolved, dendritic material. After patterning and forming the desired microstructures, the sacrificial layer can be removed by heating the dendritic material past the point of decomposition, such that it vaporizes.

The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) market was worth $858.2 million in 2008.  MRI is critical for medical diagnosis of in a number of disorders.  MRI uses magnetism, radio waves, and computational processing to produce images of body structures.  A magnetic field aligns the protons of hydrogen atoms, which are then exposed to a pulse of radio waves.  As radio waves spin various protons in the body, the protons emit a signal that is detected by the receiver of the MRI scanner.  Received information is processed by a computer to produce an image.  Dr.

Currently, there is no medication guaranteed to prevent malaria.  Thus, it is important to combine personal protective measures with drug prophylaxis to achieve maximum protection. 

Hydrocephalus is a condition marked by abnormal and excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (C

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is offering a suite of microdischarge technologies for license and/or joint development by qualified companies. Microdischarge device technology involve

The biologically active form of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) incorporated into sterically sta

The major limitation to the use of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) and other amphipathic molecules as a therapeutic agent under normal physiological conditions is that the peptide is cleaved rapidly by enzymes and its effects are usually weak and very brief, which requires administration of large amounts over extended periods. Water insoluble drugs, exemplified by testosterone and the anti-cancer drug, Taxol may precipitate after intravenous administration. These agents might require larger doses which increases the risk of possible deleterious side effects.

Compared to currently available oxidative processes, this reductive water treatment process dramatically improves the efficiency of treatment for nitro-containing compounds (e.g., ordnance and energetic compounds); halogenated compounds (such as CCl4); and others containing electron-withdrawing substituents such as sulfonate, nitrile, and carboxylate. It is a cost-effective treatment that can be added to existing oxidative water treatment processes.

The construction of nanoporous metal-organic frameworks (MOF) by copolymerization of organic molecules with metal ions has received widespread attention in recent years.

As consumers increasingly turn to online sources for news and information, news portals play an important role in aggregating, analyzing and selecting news to publish.  To maintain relevance amid the growing influence of social media and “open web” sources, these news portals must extend their reach to include content from blogs, vlogs, tweets, and other new media.