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While cellular phone networks are not designed for navigation, they are abundant in urban environments which are known to challenge GPS signals.  University of California, Riverside researchers integrated signals-of-opportunity from mobile phone networks to provide autonomous vehicles with precise navigational information.

The invention is about an extremely efficient photodiode and solar cell using a novel nanoneedle structure to create a large internal field for electron-hole amplification and collection, and a plasmonic antenna for optical field enhancement.  Both of which work together to result in an extremely high efficiency. Investigators at UCB have demonstrated one version of this detector in the format of an avalanche photodetector (APD) based upon a crystalline GaAs nanostructure in the shape of a very sharp nanoneedle (NN) and incorporating a core-shell p-n junction for light detection. The tapered NN shape, high NN aspect ratio, and small NN dimension together allow a low bias voltage to produce a high electric field sufficient for current multiplication for high sensitivity. NN APDs also have an extremely high operation speed due to the reduced capacitance comimg from the small NN dimensions. The catalyst-free, low-temperature growth mode of the GaAs NNs also enables the integration to the as-fabricated Si CMOS devices as well as other crystalline or amorphous substrates.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a process to localize anticoagulation drugs for treatment of inflammation and atrial fibrillations.

Certain pesticides can be harmful, and there is a need for effective antidotes that can reverse accidental over-exposure by farm workers. UC San Diego researchers have recently developed a therapeutic modality that is a combination of compositions that may be effective as an antidote.

The FUS gene encodes a multifunctional protein component of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) complex. The hnRNP complex is involved in pre-mRNA splicing and the export of fully processed mRNA to the cytoplasm. This protein belongs to the FET family of RNA-binding proteins (FUS, EWSR1 and TAF15, constitute the FET protein family) which have been implicated in cellular processes that include regulation of gene expression, maintenance of genomic integrity and mRNA/microRNA processing. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. Defects in this gene result in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis type 6. Stress granules are transient protein-RNA complexes that are formed and dismantled inside the cytosol as a result of external stress or injury to neurons. Several genes whose mutation causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multisystem proteinopathies are RNA binding proteins. Currently, there are no known techniques that have demonstrated reducing or removing these genes will increase the lifespan of disease neurons that model ALS.

Stress granules are transient protein-RNA complexes that are formed and dismantled inside the cytosol as a result of external stress or injury to neurons. Several genes whose mutation causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multisystem proteinopathies are RNA binding proteins. Currently, there are no known techniques that have demonstrated reducing or removing these genes will increase the lifespan of disease neurons that model ALS.   The Ataxin 2 gene belongs to a group of genes associated with microsatellite-expansion diseases, a class of neurological and neuromuscular disorders caused by expansion of short stretches of repetitive DNA, that include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinocerebellar ataxia-2, and may be associated with susceptibility to type I diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed a nanofabrication method for improving the thermal properties of polycrystalline diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition.