Patents Assigned to Kuwait University
  • Publication number: 20150080236
    Abstract: The method of sub-classifying breast cancer tumors profiles the expression of the Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) from a tissue sample from a cancerous primary breast tumor. The RKIP expression is profiled using its mRNA or by immunohistochemical protein quantifying methods in order to detect the level of RKIP in the breast cancer tissue sample. Based upon the RKIP expression profile, a sub-classification of cancer type may then be assigned. An RKIP expression of approximately 10.31 indicates basal carcinoma, an RKIP expression of approximately 10.04 indicates Claudin-low carcinoma, an RKIP expression of approximately 10.47 indicates Luminal-A carcinoma, an RKIP expression of approximately 10.44 indicates Luminal-B carcinoma, an RKIP expression of approximately 10.25 indicates HER2+ carcinoma, an RKIP expression of approximately 10.43 indicates ER+ carcinoma, and an RKIP expression of approximately 10.30 indicates ER? carcinoma.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2013
    Publication date: March 19, 2015
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: FAHD AL-MULLA, JEAN PAUL THIERY
  • Patent number: 8956168
    Abstract: The electrical outlet safety device is placed between an electrical plug and the corresponding electrical outlet or receptacle to which the plug is connected. The safety device includes a thin body portion formed of a material adapted to expand rapidly if exposed to a predetermined temperature. A series of thin, electrically and thermally conductive blades extends from the body, with the blades being captured between the prongs of the plug and the internal contacts of the receptacle when installed therewith. If excessively high electrical resistance and correspondingly high temperature are produced in one or more of the electrical connections between the plug and the outlet, the blades of the safety device transmit the excessive temperature to the body, whereupon the body is transformed to an expansive electrically insulating foam that expels the plug from the receptacle. Springs may be included within the body to provide additional expansive force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Bader Shafaqa Al-Anzi
  • Patent number: 8904991
    Abstract: The rotary mechanism with articulating rotor may be adapted as a pump or compressor when external power is applied to its shaft, as a motor when differential pressure is applied to its inlet and outlet ports, or as an internal combustion engine when provided with fuel, air, and ignition source. The mechanism includes an internal chamber having major and minor diameters. An articulating rotor having four linked segments rotates therein. The segments allow the rotor to articulate between square and rhomboid shapes as it rotates within the chamber, the rotor segments forming variable volume chamber portions as they rotate. The rotor segments are linked to the central shaft either by a transverse arm rotationally affixed to the central shaft and to diametrically opposed rotor segments, or by telescoping rods connecting the linked ends of the rotor segments to the central shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Osamah M. Al-Hawaj
  • Patent number: 8894559
    Abstract: The spinning disc centrifuge rotor includes a sample holder formed from a cylindrical disc body and a cover plate that are made from a transparent material, such as polycarbonate. The disc-shaped body has two concentric or coaxial recesses defined therein. The first recess forms a cylindrical well or sample chamber for receiving a generally cylindrical rock sample. The second recess has a larger diameter than the first recess, and is shallower, forming a fluid collection area above the sample well, the second recess forming an annular ring extending around the top edge or rim of the sample well. An O-ring snugly within the outer wall of the second recess and forms a seal between the cover plate and the floor of the second recess, preventing fluid leakage. A rotor shaft extends from the bottom face of the cylindrical disc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Osamah Ali Alomair
  • Publication number: 20140342590
    Abstract: The electrical outlet safety device is placed between an electrical plug and the corresponding electrical outlet or receptacle to which the plug is connected. The safety device includes a thin body portion formed of a material adapted to expand rapidly if exposed to a predetermined temperature. A series of thin, electrically and thermally conductive blades extends from the body, with the blades being captured between the prongs of the plug and the internal contacts of the receptacle when installed therewith. If excessively high electrical resistance and correspondingly high temperature are produced in one or more of the electrical connections between the plug and the outlet, the blades of the safety device transmit the excessive temperature to the body, whereupon the body is transformed to an expansive electrically insulating foam that expels the plug from the receptacle. Springs may be included within the body to provide additional expansive force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 14, 2013
    Publication date: November 20, 2014
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: BADER SHAFAQA AL-ANZI
  • Publication number: 20140341856
    Abstract: The method of controlling tomato plant viruses involves inoculation of an uninfected plant with a combination of a cucumber mosaic virus (CMV-KU1) associated with a naturally occurring benign viral satellite RNA with a mixture of two plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains, namely, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stenotrophomonas rhizophilia, in order to protect plants from the virulent CMV virus while promoting plant growth, yield and fruit quality of the tomato that is lost due to the viral infection. The healthy plant leaves are inoculated with the CMV-KU1 virus at the dicotyledonary stage. Simultaneously, the roots of the tomato plants are inoculated with the PGPR mixture. The satellite RNA component of the combination protects plants against a virulent virus (CMV-16), while the PGPR component compensates for growth, yield, and quality loss of tomato seen in the presence of both CMV-KU1 and CMV-16, in addition to strengthening the protection of plants.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2013
    Publication date: November 20, 2014
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: NARJES H. DASHTI, MAGDY S. MONTASSER
  • Patent number: 8863595
    Abstract: The automated sample extraction device is a device for the automatic extraction of chemical samples. The device includes a housing defining an open interior region. A rotating carousel is disposed within the housing, and a plurality of sample holders are mounted thereon. A plurality of sample storage tanks each contain a unique chemical sample, and a desired volume of at least one chemical sample is drawn from a respective one of the sample storage tanks to a respective at least one of the plurality of sample holders. The carousel is rotated so that the desired volume of the at least one chemical sample may be dispensed into a receptacle positioned adjacent the carousel. The at least one chemical sample may then be mixed, heated, cooled, shaken and/or vibrated within the receptacle prior to dispensing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Sadeq Ahmad Al-Qasem
  • Patent number: 8858202
    Abstract: The rotary diaphragm pump has a flexible, resilient diaphragm band surrounding an elliptical frame within a case having four chambers surrounding an elliptical core. An articulating mechanism has a plurality of wheels traveling along the elliptical edges of the frame. The mechanism extends and retracts as the wheels move from maximum extension along the major axis of their elliptical tracks to minimum extension at the minor axis of their tracks. This mechanism drives a pair of actuator rollers along the inner surface of the diaphragm, periodically forcing the diaphragm into the surrounding chambers to produce the pumping action. Each chamber has an inlet port and an outlet port. The various ports may be interconnected to provide one or more multi-stage pumps in combination with one or more single-stage pumps, as desired. Two or more pumps may be joined in tandem to provide greater capacity from a single drive shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Osama M. Al-Hawaj
  • Publication number: 20140202144
    Abstract: The combined pump and energy recovery turbine includes at least one fluid flow pressurizing a sliding vane pump and a sliding vane energy recovery turbine that recovers energy from a second fluid flow, such as the brine discharge from an RO seawater desalination system. A cylindrical rotor has two sliding vanes in respective slots, the rotor being concentrically disposed within an oval-shaped enclosure defining two mirror image crescent-shaped chambers, each chamber having inlet and outlet passageways. The first chamber pressurizes the first fluid flow, and the second chamber functions as a second outflow-driven energy recovery turbine, thus enabling the single rotor device to operate as a pressurizing pump on the first fluid flow, and second outflow-driven energy recovery turbine recovering energy from the pressure drop in the second fluid flow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2013
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: OSAMA M. AL-HAWAJ
  • Patent number: 8735443
    Abstract: The method of treating diabetes-related vascular complications includes the treatment of diabetic patients with ?-lipoic acid (LA) in order to mitigate the negative impact of diabetes-related vascular dysfunctions upon vascular homeostasis. The treatment method includes the step of administering to the patient an initial dosage of ?-lipoic acid believed to be therapeutically effective. The patient's response is then monitored by measuring ?-lipoic acid-responsive biomarkers and by performing assays from blood and tissue taken from the patient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventors: Fahd Al-Mulla, Milad Bitar
  • Publication number: 20140140879
    Abstract: The rotary mechanism with articulating rotor may be adapted as a pump or compressor when external power is applied to its shaft, as a motor when differential pressure is applied to its inlet and outlet ports, or as an internal combustion engine when provided with fuel, air, and ignition source. The mechanism includes an internal chamber having major and minor diameters. An articulating rotor having four linked segments rotates therein. The segments allow the rotor to articulate between square and rhomboid shapes as it rotates within the chamber, the rotor segments forming variable volume chamber portions as they rotate. The rotor segments are linked to the central shaft either by a transverse arm rotationally affixed to the central shaft and to diametrically opposed rotor segments, or by telescoping rods connecting the linked ends of the rotor segments to the central shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2012
    Publication date: May 22, 2014
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: Osamah M. Al-Hawaj
  • Publication number: 20140107941
    Abstract: The method for measuring the properties of petroleum fuels by distillation relates to a measuring method for predicting the property values of complex hydrocarbon fuels, such as the property values of gasoline, by distillation. Compensation of boiling point distribution measurements used for the prediction of physical properties of hydrocarbons is further performed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2013
    Publication date: April 17, 2014
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: TAREQ ABDULJALIL ALBAHRI
  • Patent number: 8668900
    Abstract: The cancer-imaging agent and method of radioimaging relates to the use of a radioimaging agent for the imaging increased choline uptake to detect cancerous tissue. The radioimaging agent includes choline or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof labeled with technetium-99m. Preferably, the radioimaging agent is [methyl]-choline chloride labeled with 99mTcO4, which carries technetium-99m. In use, a patient is administered an effective amount of the radioimaging agent by injection and then scanned with a radioimaging device. The radioimaging agent is used to image select soft tissues in the patient, such as the liver or gallbladder, the upper abdominal organs, or the like, and to detect increased choline uptake. Choline is known to accumulate in cancerous cells. Thus, the radioimaging agent is particularly effective in the detection of potentially cancerous tissues.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Fatma Jassab Faleh Marzooq Al-Saeedi
  • Patent number: 8668187
    Abstract: The integrated aeration system utilizes a water pump for aeration. Ambient air/gas is entrained by a circulating water jet induced by the pump. The circulating water jet enters a sealed tank. The entrained gas is broken into bubbles after the impingement between the jet and a receiving pool occurs, aerating the receiving pool by water jet spray. The entrained gas/air builds up headspace pressure above the water pool, the headspace pressure being measured by a pressure gauge. The trapped air above the water pool is released when the headspace pressure increases to reach a desired value to aerate a separate tank/container as a diffused aeration or any other aeration process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Bader Shafaqa Al-Anzi
  • Publication number: 20140060149
    Abstract: The apparatus for determining coefficients of friction collects data required for determining static and dynamic coefficients of friction between various materials. The apparatus includes a ramp with adjustable slope and a plurality of test masses for placement on the ramp. Upslope lights and sensors, downslope lights and sensors, and a digital angle meter are installed on the ramp. The apparatus has a timing device having a display to show the elapsed time between a test mass passing the upslope sensor and the downslope sensor. The operator can determine the static coefficient of fraction from the tangent of the angle displayed on the digital angle meter when a test mass first begins to slide, and can compute the kinetic coefficient of friction from the angle displayed on the digital angle meter and the elapsed time shown on the timing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2012
    Publication date: March 6, 2014
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: MUSEB SALEH ALHUSAIN
  • Publication number: 20140044579
    Abstract: The rotary diaphragm pump has a flexible, resilient diaphragm band surrounding an elliptical frame within a case having four chambers surrounding an elliptical core. An articulating mechanism has a plurality of wheels traveling along the elliptical edges of the frame. The mechanism extends and retracts as the wheels move from maximum extension along the major axis of their elliptical tracks to minimum extension at the minor axis of their tracks. This mechanism drives a pair of actuator rollers along the inner surface of the diaphragm, periodically forcing the diaphragm into the surrounding chambers to produce the pumping action. Each chamber has an inlet port and an outlet port. The various ports may be interconnected to provide one or more multi-stage pumps in combination with one or more single-stage pumps, as desired. Two or more pumps may be joined in tandem to provide greater capacity from a single drive shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Publication date: February 13, 2014
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: OSAMA M. AL-HAWAJ
  • Patent number: 8645079
    Abstract: The method for measuring the properties of petroleum fuels by distillation relates to a measuring method for predicting the property values of complex hydrocarbon fuels, such as the property values of gasoline, by distillation. Compensation of boiling point distribution measurements used for the prediction of physical properties of hydrocarbons is further performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Tareq Abduljalil Albahri
  • Patent number: 8637461
    Abstract: The method of diagnosing and treating oxidative stress-impaired wound healing allows a practitioner to identify a subject at risk of having impaired wound healing by identifying the sensitivity of that patient to IGF-1. A finding of IGF-1 resistance, either systemically or at the site of an already existing wound, indicates an increased likelihood that the wound will have difficulty healing. In addition, identifying IGF-1 resistance by this method indicates that treatment of a wound with a combination of an antioxidant, IGF-1 and IGFBP-1 will provide optimal healing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2014
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventors: Fahd Al-Mulla, Milad Bitar
  • Patent number: 8551532
    Abstract: In order to prepare an anti-inflammatory composition extracted from the skin of the Arabian Gulf catfish (Arius bilineatus (Valenciennes)), a gelatinous secretion is collected from the skin of the Arabian Gulf catfish. The gelatinous secretion is biologically active due to the presence of biologically active proteins and lipids. The lipids are extracted from the gelatinous secretion, and then are mixed into an inert dermatological cream. The inert dermatological cream serves as a carrier for the lipids. Preferably, the mixture includes approximately 0.2% to 0.8% of the lipids by weight. Either the total lipids may be used in the mixture, or the lipids, prior to mixing into the cream, may be fractionated into major lipid fractions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Kuwait University
    Inventor: Jassim M. Al-Hassan
  • Publication number: 20130172253
    Abstract: The method of diagnosing and treating oxidative stress-impaired wound healing allows a practitioner to identify a subject at risk of having impaired wound healing by identifying the sensitivity of that patient to IGF-1. A finding of IGF-1 resistance, either systemically or at the site of an already existing wound, indicates an increased likelihood that the wound will have difficulty healing. In addition, identifying IGF-1 resistance by this method indicates that treatment of a wound with a combination of an antioxidant, IGF-1 and IGFBP-1 will provide optimal healing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2011
    Publication date: July 4, 2013
    Applicant: KUWAIT UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: FAHD AL-MULLA, MILAD BITAR