Harvard College

The Procter Gamble Company

Cornell University

Societe Des Produits Nestle S.a.

Alireza Abbaspourrad

David A Weitz

Marco Caggioni

Taotao Zhu

Gerhard Ufheil

John Christopher Wesner

Chang-Hyung Choi

Soon Hon Cheong

Meisam Zaferani

Michael Jedwab

Nancy Stevenson

Jing Fan

Mohammad Yaghoobi

Morteza Azizi

Javad Amani

Shin-Hyn Kim

Weixia Zhang

Leila Khazdooz

Amin Zarei

Sara Madarshahian

Mojtaba Enayatinook

A thickener is disclosed, as well as a nutritional product including the thickener, uses thereof, methods for the manufacture thereof, methods for improving the cohesiveness of a nutritional product, and related systems. The nutritional products have improved cohesiveness for promoting safer and more efficient swallowing of food boluses for individuals having swallowing difficulties such as dysphagia. In a preferred embodiment, the nutritional product includes a thickener comprising a beta-glucan and an additive. Preferably, the nutritional product has a relaxation time, determined by a Capillary Breakup Extensional Rheometry (CaBER) experiment, of from 10 ms to 2000 ms at a temperature of 20° C.

Thickeners and nutritional products to promote safe swallowing for individuals with dysphagia and methods of making and using same

The present technology relates to a systems for quantifying rheotaxis in a sperm-containing sample. The system includes a microfluidic system having an inlet for charging fluids into a passage. One or more probes defining a confinement region suitable for retaining motile sperm are within the passage. The system further comprises an image processing computing device for obtaining a sequence of images of the confinement region of at least one of the one or more probes having motile sperm retained therein. The sequence of images of the confinement region is processed to determine a signal intensity value for said sequence of images, wherein said signal intensity value is based on a concentration of the motile sperm located in the confinement region at the flow rate. A rheotaxis quality value is determined for said sperm-containing sample based on the signal intensity value. Methods for quantifying rheotaxis in a sperm-containing sample are also disclosed.

Methods for evaluating rheotaxis quality in a sperm-containing sample and systems therefor

The present application relates to a microfluidic system and its method for use for the separation of motile sperm from immotile sperm or motile bacteria from immotile bacteria. The system includes a housing having a first end, and a second end, with a passage connecting the first and second ends. There is an inlet at the first end of the housing for charging fluids into the passage and an outlet at the second end of said housing for discharging fluids from the passage. There are one or more corrals within the passage, each of the corrals including a closed side and a partially open side. The closed side of the corrals is closer to the first end than the partially open side, with the closed side and partially open side defining between them a confinement region suitable for retaining motile sperm or motile bacteria.

Rheotaxis-based separation of motile sperm and bacteria using a microfluidic corral system

The present invention generally relates to microfluidic droplets and, in particular, to multiple emulsion microfluidic droplets. In certain aspects, particles such as gel particles can be prepared in an aqueous carrier from aqueous droplets (or a non-aqueous carrier from non-aqueous droplets). For example, in some embodiments, double-emulsion droplets of a first fluid, surrounded by a second fluid, contained in a carrier fluid may be prepared, where the first fluid forms a gel and the second fluid is removed. For instance, the second fluid may be dissolved in the carrier fluid, or the second fluid may be hardened, then removed, for example, due to a change in pH. Other embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to kits containing such microfluidic droplets, microfluidic devices for making such microfluidic droplets, or the like.

Systems and methods for making and using gel microspheres

The present invention generally relates to microparticles and, in particular, to systems and methods for encapsulation within microparticles. In one aspect, the present invention is generally directed to microparticles containing entities therein, where the entities contain an agent that can be released from the microparticles, e.g., via diffusion. In some cases, the agent may be released from the microparticles without disruption of the microparticles. The entities may be, for instance, polymeric particles, hydrogel particles, droplets of fluid, etc. The entities may be contained within a fluid that is, in turn, encapsulated within the microparticle. The agent may be released from the entity into the fluid, and then from the fluid through the microparticle. In such fashion, the release of agent from the microparticle may be controlled, e.g., over relatively long time scales. Other embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to methods of making such microparticles, methods of using such microparticles, microfluidic devices for making such microparticles, and the like.

Compositions comprising encapsulated actives within droplets and other compartments

Multiple emulsions and techniques for the formation of multiple emulsions are generally described. A multiple emulsion, as used herein, describes larger droplets that contain one or more smaller droplets therein. In some embodiments, the larger droplet or droplets may be suspended in a carrying fluid containing the larger droplets that, in turn, contain the smaller droplets. As described below, multiple emulsions can be formed in one step in certain embodiments, with generally precise repeatability, and can be tailored in some embodiments to include a relatively thin layer of fluid separating two other fluids.

Multiple emulsions and techniques for the formation of multiple emulsions

Methods for encapsulation of actives within droplets and other compartments

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Ithaca, NY, United States of America

Alireza Abbaspourrad