A Godfrey

The goal of this work is to create a Family Planning National Training Center for Service Delivery Improvement (FPNTC-SDI) through a cooperative agreement. The overarching goal of the Office of Population Affairs is to improve reproductive health outcomes for men, women and adolescents by reducing teen and unplanned pregnancies, supporting optimal birth spacing, lowering the rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and improving birth outcomes. The FPNTC-SDI will contribute to these goals by supporting the sustained delivery of quality family planning services. Quality family planning services were defined in U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and OPA clinical recommendations entitled Providing Quality Family Planning Services (QFP). QFP defines family planning services as those that help individuals and/or couples achieve their desired number and spacing of healthy children, which include: contraceptive services, pregnancy testing and counseling, services to help clients achieve pregnancy, basic infertility services, STD and other preconception health services.

The goal of this work is to create a Family Planning National Training Center for Service Delivery Improvement (FPNTC-SDI) through a cooperative agreement. The overarching goal of the Office of Population Affairs is to improve reproductive health outcomes for men, women and adolescents by reducing teen and unplanned pregnancies, supporting optimal birth spacing, lowering the rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and improving birth outcomes. The FPNTC-SDI will contribute to these goals by supporting the sustained delivery of quality family planning services. Quality family planning services were defined in U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and OPA clinical recommendations entitled Providing Quality Family Planning Services (QFP). QFP defines family planning services as those that help individuals and/or couples achieve their desired number and spacing of healthy children, which include: contraceptive services, pregnancy testing and counseling, services to help clients achieve pregnancy, basic infertility services, STD and other preconception health services.

Whereas, ITT and the University formed the Consortium inorder to maintain a mechanism whereby the University environment can be used to continue the research and innovations of ITT, the parties hereto can develop a better understanding of new innovations in textiles and materials, stimulate industrial innovation, and the University is given strengthened educational capability in these fields.

The project focuses on building an updated database of active textile manufacturers in the United States. The information is to be used for internal planning purposes and will therefore be generated exclusively for the sponsor's use. The eight week project will require extensive desk research including data collection, entry, editing and descriptive analyses.

ITT proposals are submitted for industrial research institutes, non-profit organizations, and faculty members of senior colleges and universities for grants under the ITT/NCSU Textile and Materials Research Consortium's Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Program. This includes funds for any ITT Fellows that may participate in MS Thesis Research at North Carolina State University.

ITT proposals are submitted for industrial research institutes, non-profit organizations, and faculty members of senior colleges and universities for grants under the ITT/NCSU Textile and Materials Research Consortium's Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Program. This includes funds for any ITT Fellows that may participate in MS Thesis Research at North Carolina State University.

ITT proposals are submitted fro industrial research institutes, non-profit organizations, and faculty members of senior colleges and universities for grants under the ITT/NCSU Textile and Materials Research Consortium's Fiscal Year 2007-2008 Program. This includes funds for any ITT Fellows that may participate in MS Thesis Research at North Carolina State University.

Influenza and other enveloped viruses are responsible for 100s of thousands of deaths worldwide each year and cost the US economy over $70 billion annually in medical costs and lost work. We have discovered a fiber treatment using photoactive dyes that inactivates enveloped viruses upon illumination with visible light. To take this technology to the marketplace, we need to develop a robust application technology and proof of efficacy in real world applications. LaamScience was formed specifically to develop this technology and the work proposed below is needed by LaamScience to solicit venture capital, and market this research. Thus, we propose to explore photo-inactivation of enveloped viruses further to modify air filtration media with this treatment and test its efficacy to significantly reduce exposure to live viruses. Specifically, we will permanently bond a polymeric carrier to the fiber surfaces of existing filter media. Next, dyes that upon illumination generate singlet oxygen will be permanently bonded to the polymeric carrier. Finally, the modified filter media will be evaluated for its ability to inactivate influenza viruses. There are three major objectives of the proposed research: (1) optimize 1O2 production under solar, tungsten lamp, and fluorescent light illuminants, (2) develop methods for applying the photoactive dyes to the surface of air filtration media while maintaining 1O2 production efficiency, filtration efficiency, and low pressure drop across the filter, and (3) prove efficacy in real world environment. The goal of the research is to produce a prototype antiviral mask that serves as the basis for further commercialization of this fiber treatment. The treatment will be optimized as follows. First, candidate dyes will be screened to find those that generate high levels of singlet oxygen per unit light intensity for specific light sources simulating solar, indoor and fluorescent lighting. Once the optimum efficiency has been achieved by altering the photoactive dyes and their combinations, the dyes will be covalently bonded to a carrier polymer that will permit them to be attached to the surface of filter media. Next, the dye-carrier combination will be attached to the filter media surfaces. The conditions for attachment will be optimized to i) maximize singlet oxygen generation while ii) minimizing changes in air filtration performance. Finally, the efficacy of inactivating influenza viruses of the modified air filtration media will be determined by dosing the filter media with virus, exposing them to light and assaying the number of active viruses remaining. If necessary, the treatment will be re-optimized. To prove "real world" effectiveness, treated air filter masks will be placed on breathing mannequin heads in a biosafety chamber. Lighting will be arranged to simulate office-, waiting room-, home-, and outdoor-environments. The masks will be sprayed with aerosolized influenza virus designed to simulate one or more sneezes. After 30 minute exposure to ambient light in the simulated environment, the masks will be collected and assayed for how effective they were at inactivating the virus. Successful completion of the proposed effort will provide great benefit to LaamScience, NCSU, North Carolina and society as a whole as this will provide a new method for fighting viruses including influenza, HIV, HSV, and other enveloped viruses and reduce the likelihood of epidemics or pandemics due to the spread of influenza viruses. In addition, it will provide excellent training in that it will guide the Keenan Fellow from pure research to applied research to product development and evaluation in a rapid paced, structured format. This will ensure the Keenan Fellow develops skills highly valued by industry while simultaneously providing the knowledge to bring this technology to the marketplace.

This proposal focuses solely on Phase 1 of a three phase project to develop a revolutionary healthcare garment that could supersede the inadequate attire patients are currently expected to wear when receiving healthcare services. The key objectives of Phase 1 are to provide a comprehensive description of the requirements for well-designed, comfortable and functional healthcare garments, and of the market opportunity for such garments. Requirements of all customers in the supply network including the patients, healthcare providers, manufacturers and distributors of gowns, hospital purchasing officers, members of central surgical supply teams, family caregivers and other stakeholders will be considered in the research. Data will be gathered through site visits to healthcare facilities and through teleconferencing to ensure a broad and representative sample. Qualitative data collection techniques employed may include observation, personal interviews, telephone interviews and teleconferences, and focus groups either in person or via teleconference. Through these, the researchers will gather information about key issues, and delineate specific product requirements and market concerns. Surveys may be employed to acquire quantitative data on the importance of product requirements to each customer group, and the scope of potential markets. Successful completion of Phase 1 will result in a comprehensive set of customer requirements for healthcare garments useful to hospitals, home care suppliers, hospices, nursing homes, extended care facilities, and related industries. It will also provide a market analysis useful to suppliers considering participation in Phases 2 and 3. Results will be shared through conferences, publication of research results, and by engaging stakeholders including producers, distributors, and auxiliary businesses in the work. Our research team is uniquely qualified to undertake this work. Though there is some risk that we will encounter challenges in gathering the data within the proposed timeline, we are minimizing this risk by partnering with WakeMed Health and Hospitals.

ITT proposals are submitted fro industrial research institutes, non-profit organizations, and faculty members of senior colleges and universities for grants under the ITT/NCSU Textile and Materials Research Consortium's Fiscal Year 2007-2008 Program. This includes funds for any ITT Fellows that may participate in MS Thesis Research at North Carolina State University.