Abstract: In order for a duct shut-off device to present the least possible resistance to flow in a duct when the device is in a non-activated state, a duct section (1) is provided with plates (3) which extend longitudinally in the flow direction and which are coated with an expandable material which reacts when the temperature, pressure or some other physical or chemical property of a substance flowing through the duct exceeds a given threshold level. When this threshold level is exceeded, the expandable material on the plates will swell and therewith reduce the cross-sectional area of the duct successively until the duct is completely close.

Abstract: A clearing saw harness device comprising a pad, to which the clearing saw is detachably attachable, for bearing against a person's body, a harness for the pad, and a helical spring for attaching the pad to the harness for at least partially absorbing forces transmitted from the clearing saw. The pad comprises two flexible plate elements which are formed and interconnected to each other along opposed edge portions respectively thereof so that one of the plate elements is substantially planar and an other is curved. The harness includes a band which passes through a ring and both of a pair of slots in the pad. An end portion of the spring is attached to the ring and an other end portion of the spring is attached to the pad.

Abstract: An accessory support system attachable to the exterior of a motor vehicle supports recreational accessories such as grills, table tops and umbrellas for use out of doors. The system comprises a lateral support assembly adapted to connect to the trailer hitch of a motor vehicle, and one or more vertical support means adapted to engage one or more recreational accessories such that the accessories are supported in a position suitable for use. The lateral support assembly may include a first lateral support rod adapted at one end to removably engage a vehicle trailer hitch and adapted at the other end to rotatably couple to a second lateral support rod via a vertical coupling means. The second lateral support rod can include a distal end portion adapted to engage a vertical support rod which supports grill means. The grill means may be positioned within about a 270.degree.

Abstract: An apparatus for engrafting a blood vessel comprising: a plurality of strings, a tubular graft having a central lumen, wherein the plurality of strings are removably attached to the tubular graft, the graft is removably positioned at least partially within a restraining means, such as a sheath introducer, a guide wire with an attachment means for attachment of the plurality of strings, one or more stents for deployment within the graft, and a means for deploying the stents within the graft.

Abstract: Compositions comprising outer membrane protein "E", and peptides and oligopeptides thereof, of Moraxella catarrhalis are described. Additionally, nucleotide sequences encoding the protein, peptide, or oligopeptide are disclosed, as well as recombinant vectors containing these sequences. Protein, peptide, or oligopeptide can be produced from host cell systems containing these recombinant vectors. Peptides and oligopeptides can also be chemically synthesized. Disclosed are the uses of the protein, peptides and oligopeptides as antigens in antigenic formulations for vaccine applications or for generating antisera of diagnostic or therapeutic use; and as antigens in diagnostic immunoassays. The nucleotide sequences are useful for constructing vectors for use as vaccines for insertions into attenuated bacteria in constructing a recombinant bacterial vaccine and for inserting into a viral vector in constructing a recombinant viral vaccine.

Abstract: An ultrasonic imaging system and method for imaging human or animal tissue having a surface and including a probe comprising a platen for defining the surface in a manner supporting the human or animal tissue for imaging the same, a transducer positioned closely adjacent the supporting platen for providing an output ultrasonic beam directed on the surface so that the size of the beam at its focal point is as small as possible to maximize the resolution of the system an electrically operated motor for moving the transducer in a manner such that the ultrasonic beam is directed in a path along the surface. A fluid-tight housing extends from the tissue-supporting surface and has an interior region containing the transducer and motor which region is filled by an electrically non-conductive fluid having an acoustic impedance substantially equal to that of water and having a viscosity sufficiently low so as not to impede the movement of the transducer.

Abstract: An electrochemical cell comprising a medium rate electrode region intended to be discharged under a substantially constant drain and a high rate electrode region disposed in a jellyroll wound configuration intended to be pulse discharged, is described. Both electrode regions share a common anode and are activated with the same electreolyte.

Abstract: An electrochemical cell comprising a medium rate electrode region intended to be discharged under a substantially constant drain and a high rate electrode region intended to be pulse discharged, is described. Both electrode regions share a common anode and are activated with the same electrolyte.

Abstract: The present invention operates when a fastening means connects to a patient. The fastening means attaches to one end of a flexible member and at the other end of the flexible member is a spherical member. The apparatus limits the distance the patient can move. This predetermined distance is the length of the flexible member, the fastening means and the spherical member. The spherical member is removably mounted to a control housing. The control housing has a signalling device that generates a signal when the patient moves beyond the pre-determined distance. The spherical member triggers the signalling device when the patient, from any direction, moves beyond the pre-determined distance which exerts a pulling force upon the spherical member.

Abstract: A chart recorder method and apparatus wherein a recording head records a plurality of different colored line segments on a recording medium, a head drive moves the recording head and the recording medium reciprocally relative to each other in a scanning direction, a recording medium drive moves the recording medium and the recording head relative to each other in a sub-scanning direction, a component receives a plurality of signals to be recorded on the recording medium as a corresponding plurality of traces to be recorded by the recording head, and a control circuit controls the recording head so that at least one of the traces is formed by line segments which change color cyclically.

Abstract: A monoclonal antibody, or fragments thereof, having binding specificity for both endoglin expressed on human vascular endothelial cells and on murine endothelial cells. Antiangiogenic therapy in mammals can be effected by administering to the mammalian host a therapeutically effective amount of an anti-endoglin monoclonal antibody, or fragment thereof, which is conjugated to at least one angiogenesis inhibitor or antitumor agent. The composition is useful for treating tumor and angiogenesis-associated diseases.

Abstract: The present invention details a pressurizable mattress. The mattress has at least one inflatable cushion having a pair of sides, and at least one set of an electromagnetic energy emitting device and an electromagnetic energy receiving device. The electromagnetic energy emitting device, when operating, illuminates the interior of the inflatable cushion. The electromagnetic energy receiving device collects the illuminating energy. The operation of the mattress requires a means for measuring the optical aperture of the inflatable cushion. The measuring means determines the optical aperture of the inflatable cushion by measuring the quantity of illuminating energy collected by the electromagnetic energy receiving device when the electromagnetic energy emitting device illuminates the interior of the inflatable cushion.

Abstract: A sealed capacitor, which may be hermetic, having a generally flat, planar geometry, is described The capacitor includes at least one electrode provided by a metallic substrate having a capacitive material contacted thereto. The coated substrate can provide at least one of the casing side walls itself or, be connected to the side wall. A most preferred form of the capacitor has the conductive substrate provided with the capacitive material formed from an ultrasonically generated aerosol.

Abstract: A bridge platform and method of erecting the same wherein a plurality of cables extend longitudinally of the bridge in spaced relation below the deck or roadway and steel support structure of the bridge, which cables are supported at opposite ends by the spaced-apart vertical piers of the bridge, and wherein a plurality of platform flooring panels or sections are supported on the cables, extend laterally of the bridge, are arranged side-by-side along the length of the bridge between the piers and are removably secured to the cables. The cables are attached to the bridge piers by compression clamp structures. The platform flooring sections comprise elongated rectangular corrugated decking panels and are arranged in end-to-end overlapping relation transversely of the bridge, side-to-side overlapping relation longitudinally along the bridge and with the corrugations extending transversely of the cables.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for percutaneous arterial closure with staples. The apparatus comprises a triple lumen catheter, two j-shaped guide wires, a vascular stapler, and a tubular member. The method and apparatus provide for closure of arterial punctures that are typically created during catheterization. The method and apparatus provide a percutaneous method that reduces the likelihood of bleeding and the formation of false aneurysms. The method comprises inserting the triple lumen catheter in the arterial opening to deploy a pair of guide wires having projections at the end. The catheter is removed and the projections on the end of the guide wires are engaged with the arterial wall around the opening. The guide wires are then twisted to close the opening. Next, a stapler is moved down the guide wires to the site of the opening where staples are inserted to close the opening. Then, the tubular member slides over the guide wires and straightens the projections for removal from inside the artery.

Abstract: A deposition process for coating a substrate with an ultrasonically generated aerosol spray of a pseudocapacitive material or a precursor thereof contacted to a substrate heated to a temperature to instantaneously solidify the pseudocapacitive material or convert the precursor to a solidified pseudocapacitive metal compound, is described. The ultrasonic aerosol droplets are much smaller in size than those produced by conventional processes and the heated substrate minimizes the possibility of contamination, thereby providing the present coating having an increased surface area. When the coated substrate is an electrode in a capacitor, a greater surface area results in an increased electrode capacitance.

Abstract: A composition comprising an immobilized biological membrane is provided. The functional immobilized biological membrane consists of a support structure, a metal layered onto a surface of the support structure, an alkanethiol monolayer assembled onto the metal, and a biological membrane deposited on the alkanethiol monolayer. Also provided is a method of producing the immobilized biological membrane, wherein the method involves contacting an alkanethiol with a metal surface of a support structure in forming an alkanethiol monolayer assembled onto the metal, and depositing a biological membrane onto the alkanethiol monolayer such that the biological membrane becomes associated with the alkanethiol monolayer. Uses of the biological membrane include as a sensing indicator in a biosensor, as an adsorbent in a chromatography system, and as a coating for medical devices.

Abstract: Identified are genetic regulatory elements which are part of a natural antisense RNA negative regulatory system in eukaryotic cells. The genetic regulatory elements, designated an antisense initiator sequence, when downstream of and operably linked to a DNA molecule can transcribe the DNA molecule into RNA transcripts of negative strand polarity that function to bind to, in forming an RNA duplex with, sense RNA transcripts being produced from a target gene to be regulated. The invention relates to recombinant vectors useful for introduction into eukaryotic cells, and methods of using the vectors to regulate expression of a target gene comprising introducing the recombinant vectors into host eukaryotic cells.

Abstract: A method for predicting the presence of deep vein thrombosis in a patient comprises measuring the concentration of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 in the venous blood of the patient and comparing it to an established baseline concentration. A concentration in the patients venous blood higher than the established baseline concentration is predictive of the presence of deep vein thrombosis.