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Treatment Significantly Increases Conversion of Homocysteine to Methionine for Reducing Human Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Risk and Use of Animal Feed Additives This treatment method and pharmaceutical composition could be significantly more effective at lowering the risk of hyperhomocysteinemia-related cardiovascular... Read More This treatment method and pharmaceutical composition could be significantly more effective at lowering the risk of hyperhomocysteinemia-related cardiovascular disease than traditional betaine treatment. The treatment uses thetins, which are sulfonium analogs of betaine, to lower plasma homocysteine levels in humans and animals that have hyperhomocysteinemia, a condition that increases the risk of CVD. Thetins can confer a 700% faster methylation rate to the betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase catalyzed reaction when compared to equimolar concentrations of betaine. This method also might provide an effective alternative to methionine, choline, and betaine animal feed supplements, resulting in a lower cost feed that still maintains optimal animal performance. This technology provides a novel product for highly effective conversion of homocysteine to methionine, with two applications: treatment of human/animal CVD associated with hyperhomocysteinemia and replacement of existing animal feed supplements. CVD is a major cause of death in the United States. Of the almost 25% of Americans who will be diagnosed with the disease, 50% will die from it. The causes of CVD include hypertension, smoking, high blood cholesterol, genetic predisposition, and diet. Homocysteine is an amino acid synthesized naturally in the body, although more often it exists as a byproduct of metabolism of another amino acid, methionine, obtained from eating meat. Elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood (blood levels of homocysteine over 15M, a condition called hyperhomocysteinemia) may be linked to an elevated risk of CVD in a manner similar to blood cholesterol levels. Existing treatments for hyperhomocysteinemia include oral administration of pharmacological doses of a compound called betaine, either alone or with vitamin supplements. Betaine, a metabolite of choline oxidation, is a substrate for an enzyme called betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase, which adds a methyl group to homocysteine to create methionine. This treatment reduces plasma homocysteine by increasing the conversion of homocysteine to methionine; however it does not effectively lower plasma homocysteine to normal levels, still leaving considerable risk for CVD. Betaine treatment also yields increased plasma and urine concentrations of betaine and an inhibitor of methionine production, dimethylglycine, a phenomenon which may explain the low efficacy of betaine. In the animal feed industry, routine supplementation of feeds with various nutrients helps improve animal growth, gestation, or lactation. Methionine often is added because it provides an essential amino acid, while addition of choline reduces the dietary requirements of the animals for methionine. Betaine is added to reduce both the dietary requirement for methionine and any choline requirement. This novel treatment relies on compounds called thetins to decrease or inhibit physiological homocysteine levels. Thetins are more effective plasma homocysteine-lowering agents than betaine because they produce a greater flux through the betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase reaction in vivo, resulting in greater reductions in plasma homocysteine. This treatment has a 700% faster methylation rate than equimolar concentrations of betaine. In addition, thetins have no toxicity and are completely oxidized in mammals. Administration of specific thetins, such as dimethylacetothetin or dimethylpropriothetin along with vitamin supplements and possibly betaine, might yield significantly lower CVD risk than previous methods. For treatment of CVD, a thetin is administered at a dose from 1 mg/kg to about 50 mg/kg. For animal feed supplements, a dose of up to approximately 0.75% of the diet, on a dry-weight basis, is used. Use of thetins as human therapeutics or animal feed supplements has many advantages over existing, analogous treatments. Existing betaine treatments reduce plasma homocysteine in humans and animals that have hyperhomocysteinemia but not to normal levels. In vitro laboratory analyses indicate that thetins could increase homocysteine methylation up to 700% over equimolar betaine treatments, thus detoxifying homocysteine. Thetins (dimethylacetothetin and/or dimethylpropriothetin) also are more specific substrates for the betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase enzyme than betaine, and they produce byproducts with lower affinities for the enzyme. These properties are in contrast to the betaine-related production of dimethylglycine, a known inhibitor of methionine production. Existing animal feed additives include expensive methionine, choline, and betaine to maximize animal performance. With its highly effective conversion of homocysteine to methionine, this treatment could eliminate the need for three expensive feed additives, thereby substantially lowering costs in maintaining optimal animal performance. Applications Clinical therapeutics: CVD pharmaceuticals Animal husbandry: Feed additives Benefits This new treatment might significantly reduce the risk of CVD. It also might reduce the costs of animal feed by replacing current additives while still promoting optimal animal health More effective at lowering plasma homocysteine: This alternative to betaine treatments could provide a significantly more effective method for reducing risks for CVD due to hyperhomocysteinemia. It increases the rate of methylation of homocysteine by 700% over that of equimolar betaine treatments Lower animal feed costs: By eliminating the need for supplementing animal feeds with costly methionine, choline, and betaine, this feed additive could lower the feed costs for animals while still maintaining their optimal performance Health care savings: This new treatment for hyperhomocysteinemia in humans could decrease morbidity and mortality rates from CVD and significantly lower health care costs No toxic effects: Thetins, the compounds comprising the pharmaceutical/nutritional component of the treatment, could replace betaine or dietary choline with no toxicity
Improving Bonding Properties of Surgical Glues for Cartilage Repair Using Liquid Crystal Matrices This technology offers an improved approach to repairing damaged articular cartilage using traditional bonding adhesives or surgical glues. The technique removes... Read More This technology offers an improved approach to repairing damaged articular cartilage using traditional bonding adhesives or surgical glues. The technique removes synovial fluid, which inhibits the bonding of surgical glues, from the cartilage surface. A poly(hydroxy substituted amino acid) composite is mixed with the synovial fluid, forming a liquid crystalline matrix on the cartilage surface. This matrix can be easily removed, taking the synovial fluid with it and leaving behind a clean surface so that surgical glue can bond properly. By allowing surgical glues to bond properly to cartilage surfaces, this technology greatly improves the techniques used to repair articular cartilage damaged due to trauma or congenital abnormalities. Effective cartilage repair can relieve joint pain, restore joint function, and postpone or even eliminate the development of osteoarthritis. This technology is a new method for enhancing the performance of surgical glue/adhesive during repair of articular cartilage. Found in joints throughout the human body, articular cartilage is essential for proper joint function. Once damaged (through trauma or congenital abnormalities), articular cartilage has a limited capacity to repair itself. Proper repair usually requires reconstructive orthopedic surgery. Surgical methods can include transplantation or allografts, implantation of artificial prosthetic devices, and neocartilage formation utilizing isolated chondrocytes in an organic support matrix or scaffold. However, these surgical methods have a key limitation: the adhesive or glue used in bonding and stabilizing the transplant, implant, or scaffold on the cartilage surface is negatively affected by the synovial fluid that provides lubrication and nutrition to joint tissues. This technology creates a liquid crystalline matrix that can be easily removed, taking the synovial fluid with it and leaving behind a clean (i.e., fluid free) cartilage surface. Thus, the efficacy of the surgical adhesives/glues is enhanced rather than inhibited. A solid or aqueous composition of poly(hydroxy substituted amino acid) is mixed with synovial fluid in the joint. This mixture forms a liquid crystalline (or mesomorphic) matrix on the surface of the cartilage. For example, when aqueous polythreonine comes in contact with the synovial fluid in the joint, a gelatinous matrix forms that is birefringent (i.e., a liquid crystalline matrix). Other suitable polymers include polyserine, polytyrosine, poly(hydroxyproline), and poly-5-hydroxy lysine. Polymers of L-amino acids are preferred. The polymer-synovial matrix can be easily removed from the cartilage surface, taking the synovial fluid with it and leaving behind a clean cartilage surface so that the surgical glue/adhesive can bond properly. Although developed specifically for cartilage surfaces, it is expected that the technology also could be used to modify the surfaces of other joint-associated tissues, including bones, ligaments, and tendons. Applications Repair of articular cartilage in diarthrodial joints (e.g., knee, hip, shoulder, ankle, wrist, finger) Modification of the surfaces of other joint-associated tissues (e.g., bones, ligaments, tendons) Benefits Using standard polymeric composites, this technology enables surgical glues/adhesives to bond properly during cartilage repair procedures Enhances surgical glue performance: This technology removes synovial fluid from the cartilage surface, allowing surgical glues/adhesives to bond properly Improves cartilage repair: By enhancing glue performance, this technology provides an overall improvement to the articular cartilage repair process Simple: This technology is easy to implement during standard reconstructive orthopedic surgery Low cost: The poly(hydroxy substituted amino acid) needed to create the liquid crystalline matrix on the cartilage surface is inexpensive
A Method to Produce Janus Particles in Large Quantity This innovation provides a simple and generalizeable method to synthesize Janus colloidal particles in large quantity. Janus particles offer unique opportunities in... Read More This innovation provides a simple and generalizeable method to synthesize Janus colloidal particles in large quantity. Janus particles offer unique opportunities in particle engineering for building particular structures; offering insight into the movement of particles and serving as a basis for new materials and sensors. Earlier methods to produce Janus particles of colloidal size (=1m in dimension) have been severely limited in the amount of product, but this method has overcome limitations on yield. At the liquid-liquid interface of emulsified molten wax and water, untreated particles adsorb and are frozen in place when the wax solidifies. The exposed surfaces of the immobilized particles are modified chemically. The wax is then dissolved and the inner surfaces are modified chemically. Janus particles, which have different chemical properties at different locations, could be used as potential building blocks for new 3D self-assembled structures. However, this purpose in particular requires a method to produce large quantities of material. This invention offers tremendous control over the Janus Balance, the ratio of the two treated areas on each particle. The invention includes a number of ways to control this Janus Balance, giving the developer one more parameter to use in optimizing the end product. Applications Drug delivery: within the context of functional, biologically active molecules with polar moieties Coatings: improved stability, color development, and viscosity control by choosing the right particle treatments and "Janus Balance" of the treatments Nanoencapsulation: a wider range of functions in which the behavior of the particles can be determined by the surface composition Stabilization of emulsions and foams Cosmetic formulations Benefits High yield: The process is solution-based with an approximate 50% yield, allowing hundreds of grams of particles to be made per batch. This is several orders of magnitude larger than with traditional methods Manufacturability: The process uses mature, readily available technologies to synthesize the particles Low cost: Mechanical mixing and large quantities make the process inexpensive Versatility: The process and particles can be applied to a wide variety of applications To learn more about an application for this method, click here.
Janus Particle Application A printable product including a substrate including fibers. The substrate has a first side and a second side. At least one of the first side and the second side of the... Read More A printable product including a substrate including fibers. The substrate has a first side and a second side. At least one of the first side and the second side of the substrate includes a surface layer that does not substantially contain inorganic particles and forms an outermost surface layer of the substrate, which surface layer includes hemicellulose. A method for manufacturing a printable product and to a surface treating agent for treating a substrate including fibers. This is a potential application for the method to synthesize Janus particles. To learn more about this method, click here.
Self-Assessing Mechanochromic Materials Polymer materials are ubiquitous in everyday life and are used in various applications (medical, automobile, electronics, structural, etc.). These materials... Read More Polymer materials are ubiquitous in everyday life and are used in various applications (medical, automobile, electronics, structural, etc.). These materials experience stress through normal use, which can lead to damage and failure of the product. Having the ability to detect damage and locate areas under high stress in situ is essential to eliminating failure of the material. Our invention incorporates a chemical into the polymer backbone that signals an area under stress by causing a visible color change in the material. This invention will allow for damage detection via a color change of the material and thus early repair before failure, ultimately extending the lifetime of the product. For this invention, the chemical incorporated into the polymer backbone is a stress-responsive spiropyran mechanophore. One spiropyran molecule is placed in the center of the polymer backbone and undergoes a structural change in response to stress. This change causes a visible color change of the polymer material. There are several advantages to this method of stress/damage detection. The damage sensing mechanophore is chemically incorporated into the polymer backbone and hence is distributed evenly throughout the material. Since the spiropyran is chemically incorporated, no extra processing steps are required post-polymerization and the mechanophore cannot be eliminated by everyday wear. Finally, damage can be detected visually without removing parts or using expensive detection equipment such as UV of x-ray monitors.
Visual Indication of Mechanical Damage Using Microcapsule Systems A self-indicating material system may include a solid polymer matrix having a first color, a first plurality of capsules in the matrix, and a plurality of... Read More A self-indicating material system may include a solid polymer matrix having a first color, a first plurality of capsules in the matrix, and a plurality of particles in the matrix. The first plurality of capsules includes a first reactant, and the plurality of particles includes a second reactant, which forms a product when in contact with the first reactant. When a crack forms in the polymer matrix, at least a portion of the first plurality of capsules is ruptured, the first and second reactants form the product in the matrix, and the portion of the polymer matrix containing the product has a second color different from the first color. A self-indicating material system may include a solid polymer matrix, a plurality of capsules in the matrix, and an activator in the matrix, where the polymer matrix includes a first polymer and has a first color, the plurality of capsules includes a polymerizer, and the activator is an activator for the polymerizer. When a crack forms in the polymer matrix, at least a portion of the plurality of capsules is ruptured, the polymerizer and the activator form a second polymer in the crack, and the second polymer has a second color different from the first color.
Multiple-use Corn zein-based Biodegradable Resins, Sheets, and Films are an attractive alternative to plastic 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... Read More 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. Zein resins are new products derived from corn zein. Zein, a family of proteins found in corn, is solvent extracted, mixed with long chain fatty acids, chilled, washed and kneaded to form a moldable biodegradable plastic which can be extruded immediately to form products or pellitized for later use. Pellets can be stored or shipped to plastic mills to be formed into highly useable, edible, biodegradable, environmentally friendly products. Applications Consumer Replacement for plastic packaging materials such as trash and grocery bags; shrink films used to protect palletized products; food wraps used to prevent spoilage; or disposable food service ware such as plates, bowls, and cups. Agricultural Weed Control: Rolled films produced from zein resin can be applied to planting beds or placed between row crops to prevent weeds. Since the product is fully biodegradable, there's no need to remove the preventative layer at the end of the growing season; saving time and money. Cover for Round Hay Bales: Zein-based resin films can be used to protect hay bales from spoiling. Zein-based resins are completely edible; therefore, films do not need to be removed prior to their use. Horticulture Containers manufactured from zein-based resins go directly from the green-house to a consumer's garden or planting bed, saving disposal of traditional plastic pots. Benefits Multiple End-Use Products: Products manufactured from zein-based resins can be extruded, blown, or injection molded into a wide variety of forms. Examples include trays, bowls, clamshells, films which can be used for wraps and/or laminated, and edible hay bale wrappers. Desirable Production Characteristics: Zein bioplastics are flexible, tough, heat sealable, able to accept color pigmentation, and producible in varying degrees of oxygen and carbon dioxide permeability. Fully Biodegradable: Unlike commodity plastics that do not degrade, products manufactured from zein-based resins are completely biodegradable by native soil microflora; leaving no residual materials to dispose of or fear of ingestion by wildlife or production animals. Abundance of Raw Material: Zein resins are derived from corn. Zein-based resins are categorized by the FDA as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS): Products manufactured from zein-based resins can be used to package and/or protect food stuffs.
Generation of Cheap, Environmentally Friendly Fire Suppression Foam and Fluid Janus particles for fire suppresion. Read More Janus particles for fire suppresion.
Transpiration Cooling for Structural Polymer Materials Researchers from the Beckman institute at the University of Illinois are developing a system for cooling structural materials inspired on nature's transpiration.... Read More Researchers from the Beckman institute at the University of Illinois are developing a system for cooling structural materials inspired on nature's transpiration. Using porous materials and leveraging capillary forces, Scott White's lab created a transpiration system to cool down a surface. The system is autonomous, self powered, and inexpensive. In addition, the principle of transpiration make this cooling solution self regulated requiring minimum user input after the system is installed. The new system will enable the use of polymer materials for applications where high temperatures would degrade non-cooled polymers.
Process for Producing Polymers with Improved Melt Flow Characteristics This technology simplifies manufacturing processes for plastics while also improving melt flow characteristics of polymers. It is a method for inexpensive... Read More This technology simplifies manufacturing processes for plastics while also improving melt flow characteristics of polymers. It is a method for inexpensive synthesis of monomers for production of hyperbranched polymers (HBP). These polymers maintain desirable properties of linear polymers, such as thermal and chemical stability, while also maintaining high solubility and low viscosity. This technology offers the plastics additives industry a way to produce an optimal melt flow product while simplifying and reducing costs of the manufacturing process. It can be used to produce coatings, additives, or stand-alone polymers as well as other materials. It is thermally stable and can conform to any architecture needed. The technology includes methods for producing AmBn monomers and for producing high molecular weight (MW) star, linear, hyperbranched, and dendritic polyethermides (PEIs) from those monomers and their various combinations. Careful control of the chemistry of the monomers can selectively target production of processible, highly branched (hyperbranched) polymers that are mechanically, thermally, and hydrolytically stable as well as resistant to oxidative degradation. The process typically takes an aromatic monomer containing silylated phenols and fluorphthalimed reactive groups (ABn) types monomer and reacts it with a catalytic amount of cesium fluoride in high boiling, polar, aprotic solvents to produce a high-MW polymer This technique produces polymers that are highly amorphous and easily isolated from crystalline monomers that are easily synthesized and purified in three steps from inexpensive commercial starting materials. Further modifications produce a polymer with physical properties that are dominated by the endgroup functionalities and not by the repeat unit. The process controls the degree of branching and the polymer's structure, thereby targeting and controlling physical properties that lie between those of a linear and a "perfect" dendritic structure. The degree of branching (DB) of a polymer is defined on a scale from 0 to 1, with linear polymers approaching 0 and dendritic (maximally branched) polymers approaching 1. Those in between are termed branched or hyperbranched. This technology can produce polymers exhibiting the entire range of branching. Physical properties of dendritic macromolecules, such as crystallinity, viscosity and solubility, are determined by their unique globular shape and the endgroups that occupy their periphery. Techniques for producing high MW, "perfect" dendrimers require many synthetic steps that increase the cost and limit the scale of production. This method has few synthetic steps and provides macromolecules with properties very similar to dendrimers with a fraction of the time and cost. The physical properties of linear polymers are determined by intermolecular interactions and the structure of the repeat itself. Linear polymers increase in viscosity and decrease in solubility as their MW increases. For uses such as coatings or films, this quality makes the processing difficult. This technology can create highly branched, high-MW polymers with characteristics of linear polymers but much lower viscosities and much higher solubilities. This makes it ideal for use as an additive to commercially available polymers for reducing the melt and/or solution viscosity without compromising the physical properties of the parts or composites (e.g., injection molded) being created. Since the materials are high molecular weight, they are ideal candidates as viscosity reducers for coatings to reduce VOC content. The synthesis of hyperbranched monomers, historically costly and difficult, yields only small quantities of material. Techniques for improving the scaleability of hyperbranched monomers have not produced polymers that can withstand severe chemical, mechanical, thermal, or oxidative conditions. This new technology produces hyperbranched polymers that are amorphous solids with excellent chemical stability: they can withstand temperatures above 500 C in air and nitrogen, their chemical solubility profile can be easily modified, and they can be produced in bulk quantities while still maintaining their preferred characteristics. Lastly, the technology can effectively eliminate separation of polymer phases within blended products. It can camouflage hyperbranched polymers by selecting endgroups or linear polymer chains that make the particle compatible or homogenous within the matrix. Applications Specialty chemicals (e.g., plastics, fibers, adhesives, appliances, carpeting, furniture) Automobiles (e.g., plastic components, rubber tires and hoses, fibers, paint, lubricants, adhesives and sealants, electronic components) Electronics (e.g., chemicals, photo resists, polymers, specialty gases) Construction (e.g., plastics used in pipes and siding) Benefits This technology lowers the costs associated with synthesizing monomers used in producing hyperbranched polymers that maintain advantageous stability, solubility, and viscosity characteristics. Possesses Ideal Characteristics: In addition to maintaining the thermal and chemical stability characteristics of linear polymers, this technology also provides high solubility and low viscosity. Scalable: This polymer can be produced in bulk quantities. Stable in Production: Even when mass produced, the polymer maintains the preferred characteristics. Versatile: This technology can be used as a coating, an additive, a stand-alone polymer, or in other ways. Easy to Incorporate: This technology's high solubility and low viscosity characteristics simplify the manufacturing process when used as an additive.

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