A shear panel building material that includes a first facing membrane, a core matrix disposed on a face of the first facing membrane, and a semi-rigid or rigid material attached to the core matrix. The core matrix can include microspheres having a size of about 200 microns to about 800 microns, sodium silicate, and ethylene vinyl acetate. In one aspect, the shear panel is substantially free from glue and cement.

The present embodiments provide systems and methods suitable for delivering a therapeutic agent to a target site. A container holds the therapeutic agent and a pressure source has pressurized fluid in selective fluid communication with at least a portion of the container. A catheter, in fluid communication with the container, has a lumen sized for delivery of the therapeutic agent to a target site. In one embodiment, a diameter of particles of the therapeutic agent is in a range of between about 1 micron to about 925 microns, a mass of the particles of the therapeutic agent is in a range of between about 0.0001 mg to about 0.5 mg, a ratio of an inner diameter of the catheter to the diameter of particles is at least 4:1, and a regulated pressure of the pressurized fluid is between about 0.01 psi to about 100 psi.

An improved method of grinding polyaryletherketones, providing very good yields and the production of powders of polyaryletherketones with an average diameter below 100 μm having a narrow size distribution with few fine particles (Dv10>15 μm). Method of grinding polyaryletherketones of apparent density below 0.9 carried out in a temperature range between 0° C. and the glass transition temperature of the polymer measured by DSC, in order to obtain powders having a particle size distribution (diameters by volume) of d10>15 μm, 50<d50<70 μm, 120<d90<180 μm.

Functionalized particulate support material and chromatographic media prepared therefrom are disclosed. The functionalized particulate support material is a plurality of particles, each particle having a particle surface. Chemically bonded to and extending from the surface of the particles is a combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic functional groups. The hydrophobic functional groups enable polymerization of one or more monomers onto the particle surface while the hydrophilic functional groups provide increased wettability of the particle surface compared to an unmodified particle surface. The functionalized particulate support material may be further processed so as to form polymer chains extending from the hydrophobic functional groups. In one embodiment, the resulting polymer functionalized material is useful as a chromatographic media in chromatography columns or cartridges, such as in a liquid chromatography (HPLC) column. Chromatography columns or cartridges containing the polymer functionalized media, and methods of making and using the media, are also disclosed.

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for efficient and effective protein delivery in vitro and in vivo. In some aspects, proteins are reversibly crosslinked to each other and/or modified with functional groups and protected from protease degradation by a polymer-based or silica-based nanoshell.

The present invention relates to the preparation of a thermoplastic fluoropolymer blend composition exhibiting improved mechanical properties upon fabrication. The fluoropolymer blend composite on is produced by blending an emulsion latex of fluoropolymer (A) with an emulsion latex of fluorinated copolymer (B). Copolymer (B) emulsion has a small particle size, super high MW, and a low degree of crystallinity. The blending of the latex emulsions results in a morphology with small particles of copolymer (B) uniformly distributed within a matrix of fluoropolymer (A) in a manner that could not be achieved by a mere melt blending of the tow components.

Proppant particles formed from slurry droplets and methods of use are disclosed herein. The proppant particles can include a sintered ceramic material and can have a size of about 80 mesh to about 10 mesh and an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns. The methods of use can include injecting a hydraulic fluid into a subterranean formation at a rate and pressure sufficient to open a fracture therein and injecting a fluid containing a proppant particle into the fracture, the proppant particle including a sintered ceramic material, a size of about 80 mesh to about 10 mesh, and an average largest pore size of less than about 20 microns.

The invention relates to novel biocompatible hybrid nanoparticles of very small size, useful in particular for diagnostics and/or therapy. The purpose of the invention is to offer novel nanoparticles which are useful in particular as contrast agents in imaging (e.g. MRI) and/or in other diagnostic techniques and/or as therapeutic agents, which give better performance than the known nanoparticles of the same type and which combine both a small size (for example less than 20 nm) and a high loading with metals (e.g. rare earths), in particular so as to have, in imaging (e.g. MRI), strong intensification and a correct response (increased relaxivity) at high frequencies. Thus, the nanoparticles according to the invention, with diameter d.sub.1 between 1 and 20 nm, each comprise a polyorganosiloxane (POS) matrix including gadolinium cations optionally associated with doping cations; a chelating graft C.sup.1 DTPABA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid bisanhydride) bound to the POS matrix by an —Si—C— covalent bond, and present in sufficient quantity to be able to complex all the gadolinium cations; and optionally another functionalizing graft Gf* bound to the POS matrix by an —Si—C— covalent bond (where Gf* can be derived from a hydrophilic compound (PEG); from a compound having an active ingredient PA1; from a targeting compound; from a luminescent compound (fluorescein). The method for the production of these nanoparticles and the applications thereof in imaging and in therapy also form part of the invention.

The present disclosure is generally directed to an embolic material which, in some embodiments, may be in the form of a microsphere or a plurality of microspheres. The embolic material generally comprises carboxymethyl chitosan (CCN) crosslinked with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). In some embodiments, the embolic material may further comprise a therapeutic agent, such as doxorubicin.

A method of forming a particle includes, in a disperse phase within an aqueous suspension, polymerizing a plurality of mer units of a hydrophilic monomer having a hydrophobic protection group, thereby forming a polymeric particle including a plurality of the hydrophobic protection groups. The method further includes converting the polymeric particle to a hydrophilic particle.