Abstract: The present invention provides nucleotide and peptide sequences of an isolated cDNA coding for sunflower farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase, a key enzyme for the structurally diverse class of isoprenoid biosynthetic metabolites. The present invention also provides the recombinant plant expression vector comprising said nucleotide sequences and for the host cell into which said DNA sequence in the recombinant plant expression vector has been introduced to produce transgenic tobacco plants. Transgenic plants expressing heterologous farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase show 2-fold increase in seed production, higher chlorophyll contents in leaves as compared to non-transgenic or control vector-transformed tobacco plants. The expression vector for the sunflower farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase gene, herein designated pCIP-sfps, has been deposited with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology Korean Collection for Type Cultures (K.C.T.C.) designation number KCTC 0520BP, having been deposited on Sep.

Abstract: This method of preventing polymerization of methacrylic acid inn the process of its production is characterized by comprising using, in a refining column, a combination of N-nitrosophenylhydroxylamine or salt thereof with an N-oxyl compound, an N-hydroxy-,2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine compound and a 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine compound. In this method, N-nitrosophenylhydroxylamine or a salt thereof rises inside a refining column under splitting part thereof to effectively inhibit polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid or the like. The above polymerization in both vapor and liquid phases can be inhibited more effectively by the combined use of the compounds mentioned above.

Abstract: A method and device for high resolution 3-D detection of changes in mechanical and structural properties of the breast tissue that are indicative of breast cancer development. A compact hand held device comprises a pressure sensor array, a self-contained motion tracking system integrated with the pressure sensor array, and an electronic unit with a display. Mechanical imaging of the breast is achieved by pressing the sensing pad onto the breast, oscillating it over breast tissue portions with sequential returning to a reference point. Analysis of pressure response data for oscillatory deformations comprises cumulative summation of a plurality of pressure patterns after spatially shifting every pattern by a pre-calculated value in an opposite direction of pressure sensor array motion. Determining mechanical and geometrical features of the breast inner structures includes formation of a 3-D mechanical image of the breast combining results of local scanning at all breast sites.

Abstract: An isolation device feasible for protecting a parallelable power supply from a reverse current comprises a field-effect transistor (FET) coupled in series between a voltage output terminal of the parallelable power supply and a load, and a transistor control circuit including a voltage comparator for detecting if a reverse current is flowing through the FET, a duty comparator circuit for detecting if an infinitesimal reverse current which is undetectable by the voltage comparator circuit is flowing through the FET, a transistor driving circuit for performing a logic AND operation with an output state of the voltage comparator circuit and an output state of the duty comparator circuit to drive the FET to turn on or off in response to the result of the logic AND operation, and an auxiliary circuit for driving the FET to turn off when the parallelable power supply is short-circuited.

Abstract: An oil recovery system, designed to recover oil from oil-contaminated water of a river, lake or sea due to a difference in specific gravity of the liquids. The system includes a 4-stage separation tank 15 having four chambers 51-54. The first chamber 51 includes a hopper-shaped oil floating unit 59 in communication with a piston pump 68 (FIG. 5) and having porous filters 61, 62 therein. The second and third chambers 52, 53 include a plurality of horizontal diaphragms 63 for reducing the processing time for separating oil from water. The system can be continuously operated without being stopped during an oil recovering operation. The oil recovered from discharged pipe 67 is usable so that the system preferably conserves natural resources.

Abstract: A flexible biconvex lens for intra-capsular implantation in an intra-ocular lens capsule of a patient enables the lens refractive properties to be to altered by the transfer of forces from ciliary muscles of the patient to said the flexible biconvex lens. The flexible lens comprises a plurality of holes spaced at equal radial intervals around the periphery of the lens. The plurality of holes promote tissue ingrowths to secure the flexible biconvex lens to the intra-ocular lens capsule without requiring peripheral mechanical extensions, adhesives or mechanical fasteners to said flexible biconvex lens.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a controlled release system useful for site'specific delivery of biologically active ingredients or sensory markers, over an extended period of time, targeting biological surfaces comprising the oral cavity and mucous membranes of various tissues, as well as the controlled release of the biological active ingredients or sensory markers. The controlled release system of the present invention is a nano-particle encapsulated in a moisture sensitive micro-particle. The nano-particle having an average particle diameter of from about 0.01 microns to about 10 microns, which comprises a biodegradable solid hydrophobic core and a bioadhesive/mucoadhesive positively charged surface. The invention also relates to the use of the nano-particles of the present invention in consumer oral hygiene products, such as toothpaste or mouthwash, for treatment and prevention of periodontal disease.

Abstract: System for sensing perturbations in a distributed manner using an array of multimode fibers for localization (zone identification) of the perturbation, particularly, the present invention relates to a two dimensional array based speckle pattern sensing system having 4×3 (12) multimode fibers for sensing perturbation in multiple zones, said multimode fibers are imaged in parallel by a charge coupled device (CCD) camera and their speckle pattern analyzed by a conventional image processing hardware to determine the perturbations.

Abstract: A music box transmitting mechanism for a music box includes a bottom rotating member rotating in one direction and a top rotating member having an inner rotatable member rotating in a direction opposite to that of the bottom rotating member. Furthermore, a transmitting member acting on the music box can transmit the kinetic energy from the power device to the inner rotatable member at a long distance.

Abstract: A method and package for packing food products with a calorie-division indicating function is disclosed. In the method, a food product is preliminarily sectioned into a plurality of portions while indicating calorie content on each of the portions prior to packing the product with a package. Thus, people are allowable to consume one or more measured portions containing a desired number of calories. On the other hand, a package for food products are sectioned into a plurality of segments while indicating calories on each of sectioned portions of a packed food product. In the above package, the calorie content is expressed separately on each of the sectioned portions while indicating the calorie content of each portion or total calorie content of partially divided portions. The invention also provides a container for food products, having a calorie scale on its sidewall. In such a case, the calorie scale indicates calorie content of portions of a food product within the container.

Abstract: The invention a novel and efficient method for protoplast culture comprising the steps of isolating the protoplasts from a cell suspension, mixing the protoplasts with equal volumes of alginate solution, placing 40-50 &mgr;l of CaCl2 solution on a glass microslide, placing a mixture of protoplasts and alginate solution on the glass microslide and immediately covering by a glass coverglass, adding CaCl2 solution from the sides of coverglass, sliding down the coverglass towards one side and placing it in a petridish containing protoplast culture medium, sealing the petridishes, incubating it and transferring the extra thin alginate layer with celled colonies to regeneration medium for development of culture.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for real time mechanically imaging the prostate with a transrectal probe. In the method, the prostate image is synthesized and displayed in real time during the examination process. In a preferred embodiment, a compact prostate examination device comprises a probe sized to fit within the rectum and having a head with a tactile sensor longer than the axial length of an average prostate, an electronic unit and a display. As the pressure sensing part of the head is pressed against and moved over the prostate, it generates signals characterizing mechanical structure of the examined area. An accelerometer based motion tracking system is mounted in the probe for determining the position of the pressure transducer array during prostate examination. The electronic unit incorporated into the handle of the probe receives the pressure and motion data to calculate mechanical and geometrical features of the prostate and displays it on the display.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a controlled release system useful for site specific delivery of biologically active ingredients or sensory markers, over an extended period of time, targeting biological surfaces comprising the oral cavity and mucous membranes of various tissues, as well as the controlled release of the biological active ingredients or sensory markers. The controlled release system of the present invention is a nano-particle, having an average particle diameter of from about 0.01 microns to about 10 microns, which comprises a biodegradable solid hydrophobic core and a bioadhesive/mucoadhesive positively charged surface. The invention also relates to the use of the nano-particles of the present invention in consumer oral hygiene products, such as toothpaste or mouthwash, for treatment and prevention of periodontal disease. The nano-particles of the present invention are particularly effective for targeted controlled delivery of biological active ingredients into the periodontal pocket.

Abstract: For use in a process for the production of (meth)acrylic acid comprising at least a step for the reaction of (meth)acrylic acid by catalytic gas phase oxidation and a step for the absorption thereof, a method for preventing an effluent gas pipe from blocking is disclosed, which method is characterized by causing part or the whole of the gas discharged from the step for absorption, while being circulated via the effluent gas pipe to the step for the reaction or being discarded, to be subjected to temperature elevation and application of pressure and/or mist separation. Particularly by setting the temperature of the waste gas from the absorption column at a level in the range of 30-70° C.

Abstract: The present invention relates to physiologically active materials separated from the cereals and manufacturing method thereof. Physiologically active materials such as ferulic acid and arabinoxylan present in cereal brans were separated by the extrusion process and the subsequent treatment with plant cell wall hydrolyzing enzymes. This combined process of extrusion and enzyme treatments for cereal brans, compared to the individual treatment, significantly increased the separation efficiency of physiologically active materials in cereal brans, ferulic acid and arabinoxylan, which inherently exist as insoluble materials in the cell wall of cereal bran.

Abstract: Substituted 1-oxo-2-(2,6-dioxopiperidin-3-yl)isoindolines are useful in reducing undesirable levels of TNF&agr; in a mammal. Typical embodiments are pharmaceutical compositions containing 1-oxo-2-(2,6-dioxopiperidin-3-yl)-4-aminoisoindoline and 1-oxo-2-(2,6-dioxo-3-methylpiperidin-3-yl)-4-aminoisoindoline.

Abstract: The invention includes modified dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) nucleic acids encoding the modified DFR that has altered amino acid sequences at the substrate specificity determining region. The property of the modified DFR is characterized by its ability to reduce dihydrokaempferol (DHK) preferentially over dihydroquercetin (DHQ), and dihydromyricetin (DHM). The invention also includes plants having at least one cell expressing the modified DFR. Such plants are characterized by the increased content of pelargonidin-based pigments. The invention also includes vectors comprising at least a portion of the modified DFR nucleic acids. The invention also includes methods using such vectors for producing plants having the increased content of pelargonidin-based pigments.

Abstract: A bi-directional low-pass filter for use at a user end or an office end in a communication network is disclosed. By providing compensation and high-band attenuation circuitry, the low-pass filter exhibits an improved attenuation value in high-band and a general attenuation value in a low-frequency band. The satisfactory attenuation performance in the high-frequency band minimizes the signal interference of a high-band communication terminal with a low-band communication terminal in the communication network. Further, by providing symmetric input/output circuitry, the low-pass filter can be operated reversibly.

Abstract: The present invention provides transgenic higher plants and transgenic plant cells thereof which have been transformed with a plant translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) gene to improve growth rate in a growth stage-dependent manner, especially in the earlier vegetative growth stage from seedlings to young plants. Also, the invention provides methods for engineering higher plants so that they can be more efficiently transformed with other transforming vector constructs. Further, provided are TCTP expression vectors which contain an uninterrupted coding region for the TCTP protein used to generate transgenic plants and cells thereof.