OBJECTIVES/GOALS: In young women, there is significant symptomatic overlap among lower urinary tract conditions, including bladder and pelvic pain, leading to misdiagnosis and delayed care. The epidemiology of pelvic pain suggests a microbial involvement, but previous studies have not definitively identified specific bacteria associated with pain diagnoses. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We examined urinary bacterial associations with specific symptom clusters, not diagnoses. Catheterized urinary samples were obtained from 78 pre-menopausal controls and cases with bladder and pelvic pain. 16S next-generation sequencing (NGS) characterized urinary microbial populations; validated questionnaires quantified symptom type and severity. K means unsupervised clustering analysis of NGS data assigned subjects to urotypes based on the urinary bacterial community state types. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) confirmed the NGS results and provided objective concentrations for critical taxa. Linear regression analysis confirmed the associations of bacterial concentrations and specific symptoms. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In a pilot study of 35 reproductive-age women with a variety of complaints NGS revealed four urotypes that correlated with symptomatology. Isolated urgency incontinence was rare; the majority of subjects with symptoms complained of genitourinary pain. Bladder-specific pain (worse with filling, relieved by voiding) was associated with Lactobacillus iners. Asymptomatic patients almost universally had a non-iners, Lactobacillus-predominant microbiota. Vaginal and urethral pain unrelated to voiding correlated with increasing Enterobacteriaceae, primarily Escherichia coli. Detection of these species by qPCR in a validation population (n = 43) was highly predictive of each phenotype (P < 0.00001). Pathologic bacteria were associated with the severity of specific pain symptoms. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Our results implicate a microbial role in genitourinary pain. We describe clinically-useful bacterial biomarkers for specific pelvic and bladder pain phenotypes. This objective, rapid, and inexpensive testing to classify bladder and pelvic pain would allow more accurate diagnosis and improve treatment. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DESCRIPTION: Dr. Anger is an expert witness for Boston Scientific. Dr. Eilber is an investigator and expert witness for Boston Scientific, an investigator for Aquinox, and a consultant for Boston Scientific and Allergan. Dr. Ackerman is an expert witness for Cynosure.

Studies using carbon isotopes to understand the global carbon cycle are critical to identify and quantify sources, sinks, and processes and how humans may impact them. 13C and 14C are routinely measured individually; however, there is a need to develop instrumentation that can perform concurrent online analyses that can generate rich data sets conveniently and efficiently. To satisfy these requirements, we coupled an elemental analyzer to a stable isotope mass spectrometer and an accelerator mass spectrometer system fitted with a gas ion source. We first tested the system with standard materials and then reanalyzed a sediment core from the Bay of Bengal that had been analyzed for 14C by conventional methods. The system was able to produce %C, 13C, and 14C data that were accurate and precise, and suitable for the purposes of our biogeochemistry group. The system was compact and convenient and is appropriate for use in a range of fields of research.

Zn-Al layered double hydroxides (LDH), before and after calcination, were tested for the removal of indigo carmine (IC) dye from solution. These LDH photocatalysts were characterized by powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetry/differential thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), nitrogen physisorption at −196°C, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry (DRS). The different photocatalysts were supported on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibres, so that filtration was unnecessary.

The PXRD and FTIR analyses showed that the IC adsorption on c-Zn-Al-3-500 (LDH calcined at 500°C) was enhanced by construction of the hydrotalcite matrix intercalated with the dye. The intercalation was clearly evidenced by the appearance of a peak at low °2θ values. All of the materials prepared exhibited photocatalytic activity, which for the c-Zn-Al-3-500 was comparable to that of commercial PAN-supported ZnO nanoparticles (100% degradation after 180 min). Kinetic studies showed that the degradation of the IC followed a pseudo-first order rate. The high activity and the ease of both synthesis and separation processes rendered this photocatalyst a promising candidate for environmental remediation.

Thermoelectric (TE) materials have been studied during past decades since they can generate electricity directly from waste heat. Antimony chalcogenides (Sb2M3, M = S, Se, Te) are well known as one of the promising candidates among the inorganic TE materials. We report on the synthesis of Sb2Te3 nanoparticle via thermolysis method. A systematic study was done to investigate the effect of reaction time and ratio between the precursors as well as the method of cooling on the morphology and composition of obtained nanoparticles. The ratio between precursors was varied to study the effect on the morphology. Furthermore, the high purity phase Sb2Te3 was obtained by a rapid cooling process.

The present work investigates the fabrication, thermal conductivity (TC) and rheological properties of water based carbon nanotubes (CNTs) nanofluids (NFs) prepared using a two-step method. As-received (AR) CNTs heated and the effect of heat treatment was studied using X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. The AR-CNTs and heat-treated CNTs (HT-CNTs) were dispersed with varying concentration of surface modifiers Gum Arabic (GA) and TritonX-100 (TX) respectively. It was found that heat treatment of CNTs effectively improved the TC and influenced rheological properties of NFs. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed TX modified NFs showed better dispersion ability compared to GA. Surface modification of the CNTs was confirmed by Fourier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) analysis. Zeta potential measurement showed the stability region for GA modified NFs in the pH range of 5-11, whereas pH was between 9.5-10 for TX NFs. The concentration of surface modifier plays an extensive role on both TC and rheological behavior of NFs. A maximum TC enhancement of 10% with increases in viscosity around 2% for TX based HT-CNTs NFs was measured. Finally comparison of experimental TC results with the predicted values obtained from a model demonstrated inadequacy of the predictive model for CNT NFs system.

We report on the development and capabilities of two new measurement systems developed at Fraunhofer-IPM. The first measurement system is based on an extension of the Van der Pauw method and is suitable for cube-shaped samples. A mapping of the electrical conductivity tensor of a Skutterudite-SPS samples produced at the Instituto de Microelectrónica de Madrid is presented. The second measurement system is a ZTmeter also developed at the Fraunhofer-IPM. It enables the simultaneous measurement of the electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity up to 900 K of cubes at least 5x5x5 mm3 in size. The capacity of this measurement system for measuring the anisotropy of the transport properties of a (Bi,Sb)2Te3SPS sample produced by KTH is demonstrated by simply rotating the samples.

Skutterudites are known to be efficient thermoelectric (TE) materials in the temperature range from 600 K to 900 K. Dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) for filled skutterudite TE materials have been reported as ca. 1 at 800 K. Novel nano- engineering approaches and filling of the skutterudites crystal can further improve the transport properties and ultimately the ZT. Although classified among the promising TE materials, research on their large-scale production via bottom up synthetic routes is rather limited. In this work, large quantity of cobalt antimonide (CoSb3) based skutterudites nanopowder (NP) was fabricated through a room temperature co-precipitation precursor method. Dried precipitates were process by thermo-chemical treatment steps including calcination (in air) and reduction (in hydrogen). CoSb3 NPs were then mixed with silver (Ag) nanoparticles at different weight percentages (1%, 5% and 10% by wt) to form nanocomposites. Skutterudite NP was then consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) technique to produce highly dense compacts while maintaining the nanostructure. Temperature dependent TE characteristics of SPS’d CoSb3 and Ag containing nanocomposite samples were evaluated for transport properties, including thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient over the temperature range of 300 - 900 K. Physicochemical, structural and microstructural evaluation results are presented in detail.

1,8-Diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec-7-ene (DBU) was neutralized by a range of Brønsted acids with a wide variation in the ΔpK a values of their constituent acids and base. The salts exhibited properties characteristic of an ionic liquid, such as high thermal stability and liquidity near ambient temperature. Analyses of thermal behaviors and temperature dependencies of density, viscosity (η), and ionic conductivity were made to correlate the physicochemical properties with the ΔpK a value of the obtained protic ionic liquids (PILs). Differential thermal analyses (DTA) revealed that PILs with high ΔpK a values underwent thermal decomposition resembling their aprotic counterparts; however, PILs with a low ΔpK a exhibited the evaporation of neutral species progressively generated from the shifting of the equilibrium toward neutral components during the weight loss process. The ionicity of the PILs, determined from Walden plots utilizing density, conductivity, and viscosity data, was found to decrease as temperature increased, and this effect was more pronounced for low ΔpK a values, possibly because of the shifting of the equilibrium and the imbalance between strong hydrogen bonds and Coulombic interactions. Fragility, estimated from plots of log(η) versus the scaled temperature T g /T was found to be lower for PILs than for DBU owing to neutralization. [DBU]-based PILs exhibit intermediate fragility in nature, but this fragility becomes more prominent for PILs with low ΔpK a values

We present a study of the influence on Young's modulus, stress and electrical conductivity of poly-dimethylsiloxane membranes implanted with titanium ions at energies from 5 to 35 keV, with doses up to 8×1016 ions/cm2. The motivation for this study was to find the optimum implantation conditions to create electrodes for microfabricated dielectric electroactive polymer actuators, which must combine low resistivity with low stiffness. Two implantation techniques are used, Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc (FCVA) and the more conventional Low Energy broad beam Implanter (LEI). Of the two, it is found that the FCVA implanter is much better suited to create compliant electrodes.

Polymer-inorganic hybrid materials composed of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and zinc compounds were prepared by sol-gel in-situ transition polymerization of zinc complex in PMMA matrix. Zinc acetate dihydrate dissolved in ethanol was used as the inorganic precursor. Monoethanolamine (MEA) acted as a complexing agent to control the hydrolysis of zinc acetate to produce a zinc compound network, and then PMMA, formed in-situ through a radical polymerization, were chemically bonded to the forming zinc compound network to realize a hybrid material. Transparent homogenous hybrid materials with slight colours from pink to yellow were fabricated by varying the composition. TEM, FT-IR were employed to investigate structural and physical properties. The UV-shielding effect was evaluated by UV-VIS. The low content of zinc (around 0.02 wt%) and the fine particle size rendered it visibly transparent and capable of greatly attenuating UV radiation in the full UV range.

Nanoparticles, as building blocks, are important for the development of advanced, functional composite materials. Recent developments have shown that self-assembly of nanoparticles is a promising technique for the fabrication of complicate nanostructured materials. Self assembly of the nanoparticles into ordered structures on a substrate can be achieved through chemical treatment of the particle and/or substrate surface. The assembled nanoparticles can have a dramatic effect on the physical properties of the composite. A μCP technique has been employed to form a SAM of bifunctional silane (APTMS) in the region of contact. The stamps for the μCP are prepared by polymerization of polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) on a flat surface. Glass substrates have been used for optical absorption measurements. Oxide or metallic particles have been assembled on the patterned surface after a surface treatment. The self-assembled layer was subsequently treated with bifunctional molecules and multilayers of the same material or composites have been thus obtained.

Au nanowires and sequential metal nanostripes were prepared by AC pulse electrodeposition in anodic alumina membrane (AAM). Due to the high toxicity of cyanide-based electrolytes, which commonly used for electrodeposition of noble metals, new types of Au electroplating solution has been introduced. Electroplating solutions of noble metals Au, Ag and Pt were alternately used for nanostripes fabrication. The AAM was prepared by a two-step electrochemical anodization process in oxalic acid. The pore size was controlled by varying anodizing voltage and current density. The AAM was investigated by SEM and AFM. The results show hexagonally ordered channels with a pore diameter 50 nm. The morphology and composition of nanowires and nanostripes were examined by TEM and optical microscopes, which show uniformly, ordered Au nanowires with a length about 250 nm and a diameter about 50 nm. Au-Ag-Au-Pt-Au sequential nanostripes have a length about 3.5 μm and diameter 50 nm has been successfully prepared.

Entrapment of proteins in biodegradable nanospheres has been widely investigated as a technique to produce sustained release formulations for protein or anti-cancer drugs administration. Amphiphilic PLLA-mPEG diblock copolymer was prepared by ring opening polymerization (ROP) to form polymeric nanoparticles with a core-shell structure. The main encapsulation technique done is a water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) solvent evaporation technique. Here, protein was encapsulated using a newly developed water-in-oil emulsion-solvent diffusion technique. This technique leads to the formation of an emulsion combined with the immediate precipitation of the PLLA-mPEG. This phenomenon is caused by the diffusion of the polymer solvent to an external organic phase.

Nano-particles can become one of the best materials for forming thin and fine pitch films at low temperature, if particles are individually dispersed densely in a solvent. Individually dispersed metal(gold, silver, copper) nano-particle(d-nano particle) are formed at a state of suspension in an organic solvent by the modified gas evaporation method where formed particles are covered with an organic surfactant just after their formation. The particle formed by the gas evaporation method are metal impurity free and have a narrow size distribution. This suspension is condensed and used as a formed of solution or paste. D-nano particle solution or paste can be baked at 200-300C to form metal thin films. These has been applied to PDP electrode repairing, coloring of car window glass, a filler of electric conductive resin paste and ULSI interconnection formation.

Electrochemical deposition of metals and alloys onto metallic substrates plays an important role in many modern technologies. Usually, a photolithographic patterning process is used to produce the desired feature on the substrate surface. An alternative method to patterned metal deposition on semiconductors is presented here: it is based on changing the electrochemical properties of the semiconductor by controlled surface defect creation. A focused ion beam (FIB) was used to introduce defects into p-Si, followed by a selective electrochemical reaction to produce metal structures in the sub-micrometer range.

In this work we study the selective deposition behavior of Cu on FIB sensitized surface locations and show that crystallite growth follows a three- dimensional growth law. Crystallites grow very rapidly in a first phase and reach a size of roughly 200nm after 5s. Factors determining nucleation, growth, and coalescence of metal clusters are identified and investigated.