Heat protection apparatus Patent

Development of thermal insulation system for wing and control surfaces of hypersonic aircraft and reentry vehicle

Effects of Solute-Solute Interactions on Protein Stability Studied Using Various Counterions and Dendrimers

Much work has been performed on understanding the effects of additives on protein thermodynamics and degradation kinetics, in particular addressing the Hofmeister series and other broad empirical phenomena. Little attention, however, has been paid to the effect of additive-additive interactions on proteins. Our group and others have recently shown that such interactions can actually govern protein events, such as aggregation. Here we use dendrimers, which have the advantage that both size and surface chemical groups can be changed and therein studied independently. Dendrimers are a relatively new and broad class of materials which have been demonstrated useful in biological and therapeutic applications, such as drug delivery, perturbing amyloid formation, etc. Guanidinium modified dendrimers pose an interesting case given that guanidinium can form multiple attractive hydrogen bonds with either a protein surface or other components in solution, such as hydrogen bond accepting counterions. Here we present a study which shows that the behavior of such macromolecule species (modified PAMAM dendrimers) is governed by intra-solvent interactions. Attractive guanidinium-anion interactions seem to cause clustering in solution, which inhibits cooperative binding to the protein surface but at the same time, significantly suppresses nonnative aggregation.Singapore-MIT Allianc

On the Maximum Expected Electric Field in Electrically Small, Undermoded Enclosures

This paper reports the experimental validation of an improved statistical model for the prediction of maximum expected electric field in electrically small and under-moded enclosures. The aerospace community is interested in application of Hills statistical models to design of avionics boxes for shielding effectiveness and for tailoring EMC test requirements for critical applications. However, it is observed that the probability distribution for mean-squared electric field (|E(sub x)|(exp 2)) in an electrically small enclosure differs from the exponential distribution which is widely used in reverberation chamber testing. It is postulated here that the difference is attributable to the under-moded character of the small enclosure. We will define under-moded as the condition where a single excitation frequency does not excite enough closely spaced resonant modes to achieve Hills assumption of an isotropic (or fully diffuse) plane wave field in the enclosure

Legal Mapping Analysis of State Telehealth Reimbursement Policies

Background: There exists rapid growth and inconsistency in the telehealth policy environment, which makes it difficult to quantitatively evaluate the impact of telehealth reimbursement and other policies without the availability of a legal mapping database. Introduction: We describe the creation of a legal mapping database of state-level policies related to telehealth reimbursement of healthcare services. Trends and characteristics of these policies are presented. Materials and Methods: Information provided by the Center for Connected Health Policy was used to identify state-wide laws and regulations regarding telehealth reimbursement. Other information was retrieved using: (1) LexisNexis database, (2) Westlaw database, and (3) retrieval from legislative websites, historical documents, and contacting state officials. We examined policies for live video, store and forward, and remote patient monitoring (RPM). Results: In the United States, there are 24 states with policies regarding reimbursement for live video transmission. Fourteen states have store and forward policies and 6 states have RPM related policies. Mississippi is the only state that requires reimbursement for all three types of telehealth transmission modes. Most states (47 states) have Medicaid policies regarding live video transmission, followed by 37 states for store and forward and 20 states for RPM. Only thirteen states require that live video will be reimbursed “consistent with” or at the “same rate” as in-person services in their Medicaid program. Discussion: There are no widely accepted telehealth reimbursement policies across states. They contain diverse restrictions and requirements that present complexities in policy evaluation and determining policy effectiveness across states

Quantum Entanglement of Moving Bodies

We study the properties of quantum information and quantum entanglement in moving frames. We show that the entanglement between the spins and the momenta of two particles can be interchanged under a Lorentz transformation, so that a pair of particles that is entangled in spin but not momentum in one reference frame, may, in another frame, be entangled in momentum at the expense of spin-entanglement. Similarly, entanglement between momenta may be transferred to spin under a Lorentz transformation. While spin and momentum entanglement each is not Lorentz invariant, the joint entanglement of the wave function is.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. An error was corrected in the numerical data and hence the discussion of the data was changed. Also, references were added. Another example was added to the pape

An Examination of Private Payer Reimbursements to Primary Care Providers for Healthcare Services Using Telehealth, United States 2009–2013

Half of telehealth-related state policies were implemented in the last five years. Although many states permit reimbursements for telehealth services, only seven states have passed statutes mandating parity with reimbursements for non-telehealth services. Despite an increasing number of telehealth policies, claims for telehealth services to private insurers are rare. Lower average reimbursements for telehealth billings may discourage adoption of telehealth technologies. Surveillance of claims data will help identify whether telehealth policies are having their intended impact on the healthcare system.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/coph_policy_reports/1026/thumbnail.jp

Core-shell composite hydrogels for the controlled formation and release of nanocrystals of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredient

Although roughly 40% of pharmaceuticals being developed are poorly water-soluble, this major class of drugs still lacks a formulation strategy capable of producing high loads, fast release kinetics, and low energy input. The development of such innovative biocompatible materials has been a major focus of pharmaceutical materials research. In this work, we develop a novel bottom-up approach for producing and formulating nanocrystals of poorly water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) using core-shell composite hydrogel beads. We show that the API dissolution profile can be modulated by accurately controlling crystal size and loading and shell thickness. Organic phase nanoemulsions stabilized by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and containing a model hydrophobic API (fenofibrate) are embedded in the alginate hydrogel matrix and subsequently act as crystallization reactors. Controlled evaporation of this composite material produces core-shell structured alginate-PVA hydrogels with drug nanocrystals ranging from 500 nm to 650 nm embedded within the core. Adjustable loading of API nanocrystals up to 83% by weight is achieved. Our drug nanocrystal-formulated hydrogels exhibit improved solubility and dissolution rates comparable to commercial dissolution. We also demonstrate that the drug release patterns of the fenofibrate nanocrystals contained in the core can be modulated by altering the thickness of PVA shell of the composite hydrogels. The thickness of the polymer shell of the composite hydrogels can be engineered either by varying the volume fraction of organic phase or by changing the overall core-shell particle size. Thus, these composite materials offer a ‘designer’ drug delivery system by offering a controlled dissolution rate and lag time. Overall, our approach enables a novel means of simultaneous controlled crystallization and formulation of poorly soluble drugs that circumvents energy intensive top-down processes in traditional manufacturing. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

GeneLink: a database to facilitate genetic studies of complex traits

BACKGROUND: In contrast to gene-mapping studies of simple Mendelian disorders, genetic analyses of complex traits are far more challenging, and high quality data management systems are often critical to the success of these projects. To minimize the difficulties inherent in complex trait studies, we have developed GeneLink, a Web-accessible, password-protected Sybase database. RESULTS: GeneLink is a powerful tool for complex trait mapping, enabling genotypic data to be easily merged with pedigree and extensive phenotypic data. Specifically designed to facilitate large-scale (multi-center) genetic linkage or association studies, GeneLink securely and efficiently handles large amounts of data and provides additional features to facilitate data analysis by existing software packages and quality control. These include the ability to download chromosome-specific data files containing marker data in map order in various formats appropriate for downstream analyses (e.g., GAS and LINKAGE). Furthermore, an unlimited number of phenotypes (either qualitative or quantitative) can be stored and analyzed. Finally, GeneLink generates several quality assurance reports, including genotyping success rates of specified DNA samples or success and heterozygosity rates for specified markers. CONCLUSIONS: GeneLink has already proven an invaluable tool for complex trait mapping studies and is discussed primarily in the context of our large, multi-center study of hereditary prostate cancer (HPC). GeneLink is freely available at