Abstract: The invention relates to a displacement and/or positioning device for the displacement and/or positioning of an object in five axes, comprising an object support and five coupling members which support the object support in a frame, whereby four of the five coupling members are each connected to the object support by means of a first joint arrangement each with two degrees of freedom and the remaining one of the five coupling members is connected to the object support by means of a second joint arrangement with one degree of freedom.

Abstract: The invention relates to oxide ceramic fiber composite materials that, e.g., according to the invention, are used in energy conversion installations. The present invention discloses a fundamentally new concept for the previously incompatible requirements of improved brittle fracture behavior to secure thermal shock stability and damage tolerance in the temperature range of <1000° C. and of mechanical high-temperature stability to guarantee long-term form stability (creep resistance) of components.

Abstract: An electronic book comprising multiple, electronically addressable, page displays is described. Said page displays may be formed on flexible, thin substrates. Said book may additionally encompass memory, power, control functions and communications.

Abstract: A measurement cell for an injection machine has a cavity formed between two removable and exchangeable internal metallic blocks equipped with a cooling and heating system. The internal metallic blocks are laterally isolated from bodies that hold the blocks by a space of air that restricts transversal heat transfer in the cavity due to the presence of two polymeric bars installed on its lateral edges edges to generate a one-dimensional heat transfer regime on the central zone of a plate of material to be analyzed. The measurement cell also has a set of fixed pressure and temperature sensors on the bodies connected to a data acquisition system to store signals therefrom and a removable and reusable unit of temperature sensors that possesses ceramic or metallic tubes assembled in a block carrier to guide and fix a group of at least three temperature sensors on the cavity also connected to the same data acquisition system.

Abstract: For processing of substances in the reservoir (3) of a microdroplet dosing device (1), movement of a solid carrier material with a binding-active surface takes place in the reservoir, and binding of the substance takes place on the surface of the carrier material which comprises magnetic particles (7) or a carrier pad.

Abstract: The preparation and use of nucleic acid fragments encoding fatty acid desaturase enzymes are described. The invention permits alteration of plant lipid composition. Chimeric genes incorporating such nucleic acid fragments with suitable regulatory sequences may be used to create transgenic plants with altered levels of unsaturated fatty acids.

Abstract: Thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers are produced by the reaction of a polyester made from an aromatic dicarboxylic acid and a diol, one or more hydroxycarboxylic acids, a stoichiometric excess of an aromatic diol, and a carboxylic acid anhydride. Also disclosed are novel liquid crystalline polymers that may be produced by this process. These liquid crystalline polymers are useful as molding resins and shaped articles thereof are produced. In particular, the articles include films, sheets, containers and portions thereof comprising these LCPs.

Abstract: Genes have been isolated from a variety of bacteria encoding Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase activity. The genes and their products are useful for the conversion of ketones to the corresponding esters. A series of motifs, common to all genes, has been identified as diagnostic for genes encoding proteins of this activity.

Abstract: The subject matter of the invention is a thermal-insulating material having an essentially magnetoplumbitic crystal structure, a metal substrate having a adhesive layer and a thermal-insulating layer made of the thermal-insulating material on its surface, and a process for coating metal substrates with the thermal-insulating material.

Abstract: The invention provides nucleic acids, and variants and fragments thereof, obtained from strains of Bacillus thuringiensis encoding ?-endotoxins having pesticidal activity against insect pests. The invention further provides mutagenized nucleic acids that have been modified to encode pesticidal polypeptides such as endotoxins having improved pesticidal activity and/or altered pest specificity. Particular embodiments of the invention provide isolated nucleic acids encoding pesticidal proteins that may be optimized as well as pesticidal compositions, expression cassettes, and transformed microorganisms and plants comprising a nucleic acid of the invention. These compositions find use in methods for controlling pests, especially plant pests.

Abstract: Genes encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), tyrosine ammonia lyase (TAL) and phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) have been introduced into a host organism for the production of Para-hydroxycinnamic acid (PHCA). The introduction of these genes results in the redirection of carbon flow in the host, optimizing the flow of carbon from glucose to PHCA. The intermediates, tyrosine and cinnamic acid are also produced.

Abstract: A folding table for the rear of a backrest, the table having a surface with a depression therein in which a carrier for visible material, like an advertisement, is disposed. The carrier is received in an undercut in the depression. Alternatively, a frame around the edge of the carrier has projections received in grooves in the table for holding the frame and thereby the carrier to the surface.

Abstract: A drift eliminator is provided in which water laden air which enters the drift eliminator exits the drift eliminator having less than about 0.01% of water by volume therein. The drift eliminator is formed of sheets which are manufactured such that they can be nested in each other to create substantially no gap between sheets of adjacent air channel modules. As a result, a plurality of air channel modules can be combined, by nesting, to create a larger drift eliminator, without sacrificing the precision to which entrained water may be removed from air passing through the drift eliminator. In an alternate embodiment, a light trap is also provided which enables air, but substantially no light, to pass through air channels formed therein.

Abstract: Genes isolated from Methylomonas sp. 16a have been determined to play a role in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway. Specifically, crtN2 gene has the ability to produce omega-aldehyde functional groups on carotenogenic substrates, while the ald gene produced omega carboxyl functional groups. These genes will be useful for production of high levels of functionalized carotenoid compounds, especially those produced in microorganisms which metabolize single carbon substrates.

Abstract: A magnetic flow switch (1) is described that includes a body (2) defining a chamber (20) destined to have a fluid flow pass through it, an excitation magnet (4) placed in a shuttle (3) mounted such that it can slide within the chamber (20) of the body to pass from an initial front position to a final rear position, a Reed switch (6) arranged on the body (2) of the flow switch to detect the magnetic field generated by the displacement of the excitation magnet (4) and to accordingly send a control signal to an electronic control board, and at least one attraction magnet (7) arranged on the body (2) of the flow switch, in a position such as to generate an attraction magnetic field able to attract the excitation magnet (4) to make the shuttle (3) move to the initial front position.

Abstract: Described is a semiconductor detector for detecting electromagnetic radiation or particle radiation, comprising a semiconductor body (10) of a first conduction type, comprising first and second main surfaces; a group of drift electrodes comprising a second, opposite, conduction type, with said drift electrodes being arranged on the first main surface for generating at least one drift field in the semiconductor body (10); and a counterelectrode arrangement (30) which is arranged on the second main surface, which comprises the second conduction type and which forms a radiation entry window, wherein the counterelectrode arrangement (30) comprises a two-dimensional main electrode (31) and at least one barrier electrode (32) which are electrically insulated from each other, and wherein the barrier electrode (32), of which there is at least one, is connected to a voltage source (50) and is designed such that a blocking voltage is applied to it relative to the semiconductor body (10), with said blocking voltage exce

Abstract: In order to create a device for testing a membrane electrode assembly, by means of which fabricated membrane electrode assemblies can be tested in a non-destructive manner, a first contact device is provided for bringing a first electrode side of the test object into electrical contact, a second contact device is provided for bringing a second electrode side of the test object into electrical contact, the first and second contact devices being electrically conductive at least in the contact area, and the first contact device and/or the second contact device having a plurality of electrically conductive contact segments spaced from one another, and a conductivity measuring device is provided for measuring the conductivity of the test object segmentwise in a location-resolved manner.

Abstract: A piezoelectric device is formed of a supporting substrate with first and second conductive traces on a first surface. A piezoelectric material layer is laminated to the supporting substrate with a first surface of the piezoelectric material layer electrically connected to the second conductive trace and a second surface of the piezoelectric material layer electrically conducted to the first conductive trace. A protective coating is applied over the piezoelectric material layer so that at least a portion of the first and second conductive traces are exposed.

Abstract: A Peristaltic micropump includes a first membrane region with a first piezo-actor for actuating the first membrane region, a second membrane region with a second piezo-actor for actuating a second membrane region, and a third membrane region with a third piezo-actor for actuating the third membrane region. A pump body forms, together with the first membrane region, a first valve whose passage opening is open in the non-actuated state of the first membrane region and whose passage opening may be closed by actuating the first membrane region. The pump body forms, together with the second membrane region, a pumping chamber whose volume may be decreased by actuating the second membrane region. The pump body forms, together with the third membrane region, a second valve whose passage opening is open in the non-actuated state of the third membrane region and whose passage opening may be closed by actuating the third membrane region. The first and the second valve are fluidically connected to the pumping chamber.

Abstract: A mold assembly wherein a cavity for molding is defined by primary mold cavity and primary mold core elements and a supplemental core element, the primary mold cavity and primary mold core elements are carried by first and second mating mold components and the supplemental core element is carried by a slide moveable transversely relative to the direction of motion of the mating mold components. The slide is supported by the first mating mold component and has an opening therein for engaging an actuating pin supported by the second mating mold component at an angle oblique to the parting line face of the second mating mold component. The actuating pin is removably retained in a support opening in the parting line face of the second mating mold component by means accessible from the second mating mold component parting line face.