Patents Assigned to McGill University
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Patent number: 5880192Abstract: A vinyl chloride homopolymer or copolymer composition contains a silane, a compound capable of generating free radicals and a stabilizer comprising a lead compound or an organotin compound which is effective to prevent discoloration and degradation of the homopolymer or copolymer and does not inhibit the grafting of the vinyl silane on the homopolymer or copolymer. The graft homopolymer or copolymer is exposed to moisture to cross-link it, suitably after molding or otherwise fabricating the graft polymer to form an article. There is also provided a method of moisture cross-linking poly(vinyl chloride) and vinyl chloride copolymers.Type: GrantFiled: November 10, 1997Date of Patent: March 9, 1999Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: G. Ronald Brown, Ved P. Gupta
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Patent number: 5876121Abstract: The temperature of an infrared radiation scattering medium which contains water, for example, biological tissue and paper, cement and clay substrates, is determined by exposing the medium to infrared radiation, measuring the reflected radiation scattered by the medium, comparing the reflected radiation with calibrated values, and evaluating the temperature of the medium from the comparison; the technique provides a means of non-invasive determination of temperature in biological tissue which has utility in medical diagnosis.Type: GrantFiled: June 30, 1997Date of Patent: March 2, 1999Assignees: McGill University, Universite LavalInventors: David H Burns, Frederic Series
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Patent number: 5874231Abstract: Method for screening for a non-hormone agent potentially useful to treat a hormone disorder. The method involves contacting a potential agent with a system containing a cellular component and a translation factor. The component and factor interact with one another in an intact normal cell in a manner responsive to the hormone to cause a modulation of translation in the cell. The method involves determining whether the agent causes a modulation of translation by the component and the factor analogous to that which occurs in intact cells in response to the hormone.Type: GrantFiled: August 22, 1994Date of Patent: February 23, 1999Assignees: McGill University, Ribogene, Inc.Inventors: Nahum Sonenberg, Arnim Pause, Joe B. Harford, Vincent J. Miles
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Patent number: 5872011Abstract: A detailed three-dimensional structure for the least abundant of the general translation initiation factors in eukaryotes, eIF4E, complexed with a ligand is disclosed. The novel N-terminal truncated eIF4Es which were constructed so as to omit a significant portion of the flexible N-terminal tail of the eIF4E are also part of the present invention. In addition, the crystals of the protein-ligand complexes containing the N-terminal truncated eIF4Es are also included. Furthermore, methods of identifying antagonists of the eIF4E protein which can be used to regulate protein synthesis in cells are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: June 13, 1997Date of Patent: February 16, 1999Assignees: The Rockefeller University, McGill UniversityInventors: Stephen K. Burley, Nahum Sonenberg, Joseph Marcotrigiano, Anne-Claude Gingras
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Patent number: 5870414Abstract: A method of encoding a digital signal comprising a sequence of digital words, each comprising a first portion and a second portion, comprises the steps of successively encoding respective first portions using a trellis code to produce a corresponding sequence of trellis-encoded words, using each of the trellis-coded words to select one of a plurality of subcodes of a block code, and using the selected subcode to encode the corresponding second portion of the digital word corresponding sequentially to the trellis-coded word used to select the subcode, thereby providing a sequence of codewords corresponding to the sequence of digital words.Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 1996Date of Patent: February 9, 1999Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Jean-Paul Chaib, Harry Leib
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Patent number: 5857042Abstract: An optical interconnection arrangement comprises a plurality of substantially parallel optical interconnection channels. In each channel, there are an optical source, an optical receiver, a first lens and a second lens. The first lens conveys light from the source to the second lens, and the second lens refocusses the light at the receiver. Each source and the associated first lens are offset one relative to the other by a predetermined distance in a direction transverse to an optical axis of the first lens. The corresponding receiver and the associated second lens are offset one relative to the other by the same distance but in the opposite direction to the offset between the source and first lens. Each offset is equal and opposite to the corresponding offset in an adjacent channel.Type: GrantFiled: April 29, 1997Date of Patent: January 5, 1999Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Brian Robertson, Frank A. P. Tooley
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Patent number: 5834230Abstract: Substituted aminostyrylpyridinium salts are fluorescent dyes having advantageous characteristics when employed as viscosity probes for the measurement of viscosity in a liquid, especially in a very small volume, for example, in living cells.Type: GrantFiled: July 23, 1996Date of Patent: November 10, 1998Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Graham D. Darling, Seymour Heisler, deceased, Brent R. Stranix, Petra Turkewitsch, Barbara Wandelt
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Patent number: 5827671Abstract: Differentially expressed Leishmania genes and proteins are described. One differentially expressed gene (A2) is expressed at significantly elevated levels (more than about 10 fold higher) in the amastigote stage of the life cycle when the Leishmania organism is present in macrophages than in the free promastigote stage. The A2 gene encodes a 22 kD protein (A2 protein) that is recognized by kala-azar convalescent serum and has amino acid sequence homology with an S-antigen of Plasmodium falciparum Vietnamese isolate VI. Differentially expressed Leishmania genes and proteins have utility as vaccines, diagnostic reagents, as tools for the generation of immunological reagents and the generation of attenuated variants of Leishmania.Type: GrantFiled: June 2, 1995Date of Patent: October 27, 1998Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Gregory Matlashewski, Hugues Chareat
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Patent number: 5807926Abstract: An oxido-reducto synthesis is carried out in a liquid medium with enzymatic transformation of a substrate with an oxido-reducto cofactor dependent enzyme in the presence of a cofactor for the transformation; the enzyme is immobilized by a support which is stationarily disposed in a flow path along which a liquid medium containing the substrate flows in contact with the support.Type: GrantFiled: October 11, 1996Date of Patent: September 15, 1998Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Irving W. Wainer, Vivian Sotolongo, Daphne Wahnon, Dean Johnson
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Patent number: 5790537Abstract: A code division multiple access (CDMA) communications system comprises a plurality of CDMA transmitters and at least one reception station coupled together by a communications channel. Each CDMA transmitter encodes a digital signal with a spreading code, each bit of the digital signal being encoded by a spreading code segment comprising a multiplicity of chips. All of the transmitters transmit their respective encoded signals to the reception station asynchronously via the communications channel so as to occupy the same bandwidth. Each receiver receives the combined signals of all of the transmitters and correlates it with a selected one of the spreading code segments to detect the digital signal from the corresponding transmitter. Each receiver uses also the signal-to-noise ratios of detected signals other than its own, with respect to chip delays relative to a reference one of the signals, to suppress multiple access interference (MAI) caused by such other detected signals.Type: GrantFiled: May 15, 1996Date of Patent: August 4, 1998Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Young C. Yoon, Harry Leib
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Patent number: 5763363Abstract: A powder of an alloy of Ni and Mg, La, Be or Li, consisting of crystallites having a grain size lower than 100 nm and a crystalline structure allowing hydrogen absorption. This powder which is preferably obtained by mechanical grinding, may consist of cristallites of Mg.sub.2 Ni, LaNi.sub.5 or of Ni-based alloys of Be or Li having a grain size lower than 100 nm. The powder may also consist of cristallites of formula Mg.sub.2-x Ni.sub.1+x, x ranging from -0.3 to +0.3, which have a grain size lower than 100 nm, and preferably lower than 30 nm. This crystalline powder is particularly useful for storing and transporting hydrogen. Indeed, it has been discovered that such Ni-based nanocrystalline powder requires no or only one single activation treatment at low temperature to absorb hydrogen. It has also been discovered that the kinetic of absorption and diffusion of hydrogen within the powder is much faster. This can be explained by the presence of a large number of grain boundaries.Type: GrantFiled: December 26, 1996Date of Patent: June 9, 1998Assignee: Hydro-Quebec and McGill UniversityInventors: Robert Schulz, John Strom-Olsen, Leszek Zaluski
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Patent number: 5734041Abstract: Methods and intermediates for the preparation of oligomers containing diastereomerically enriched phosphorothioate linkages are disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 1995Date of Patent: March 31, 1998Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: George Just, Zhili Xin, Eric Marsault, Yi Jin
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Patent number: 5727391Abstract: An actuator develops a displacement from a force; the actuator employs active tension elements which comprise a fiber or fibers which shorten under activation, for example, shape memory alloy fibers; the fiber or fibers are entrained between opposed, spaced apart support members, typically a stack of spaced apart disks; the entrained fiber or fibers define a cage of crossing lengths of fiber in symmetrical array, typically a helicoidal array. Activation of the fibers shortens the fiber lengths producing a relative displacement of the support members which can be translated to a component which is to be displaced, and to which the actuator is operably connected, in another embodiment the active tension elements stretch under stress so that instead of an actuator there is formed a shock absorber which eliminates displacement with a force.Type: GrantFiled: October 16, 1995Date of Patent: March 17, 1998Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Vincent Hayward, Danny Grant
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Patent number: 5723755Abstract: The present invention relates to an expression vector for the large scale production of a human or animal protein, which comprises a DNA construct consisting of operatively linked DNA coding for a plant promoter, a transcription terminator and the human or animal protein to be expressed. Such human or animal proteins may be selected from the group consisting of human protein C (HPC), factor VIII, growth hormone, erythropoietin, interleukin 1 to 7, colony stimulating factors, relaxins, polypeptide hormones, cytokines, growth factors and coagulation factors. The present invention also relates to the plant bioreactor and to the method for the large scale production of human or animal proteins.Type: GrantFiled: May 16, 1995Date of Patent: March 3, 1998Assignees: Francis E. Lefaivre, McGill UniversityInventor: Marc G. Fortin
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Patent number: 5714466Abstract: The present invention relates to a method to determine the amount of ASP protein, a functional derivative or a functional fragment thereof in a plasma sample, wherein the ASP protein comprises the following amino acid sequence: ##STR1## wherein the functional derivative comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of one or more amino acid substitution, one or more amino acid deletion and one or more amino acid addition with the proviso that the functional derivative has a biological activity functionally equivalent to ASP, and the functional fragment comprises part of the ASP amino acid sequence and has a biological activity functionally equivalent to ASP; the method comprises the steps of: a) eluting the plasma sample on a column; b) measuring the amount of the ASP protein, functional derivative or functional fragment thereof present in said sample by an immunoassay with antibodies specific against one or more sites on C3a.Type: GrantFiled: June 22, 1994Date of Patent: February 3, 1998Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Allan D. Sniderman, Katherine Cianflone
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Patent number: 5702695Abstract: A liquid composition comprising a transforming growth factor .beta.(TGF-/.beta. in a polyoxyalkylene block copolymer--containing liquid carrier which gels at about 37 C, promotes osseointegration of an implant in bone, when introduced into a bore in the bone, prior to the insertion of the implant in the bone.Type: GrantFiled: June 16, 1995Date of Patent: December 30, 1997Assignee: McGill UniversityInventor: Cameron Malcolm Lang Clokie
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Patent number: 5686733Abstract: Megavoltage imaging method and apparatus are provided to monitor a target volume of a patient in real time. Structure and steps are provided for generating an image on a detector (having a layer of photoreceptor material deposited on a layer of a high density substrate) by passing a photon beam first through the target volume of the patient and subsequently through the detector. The layer of the high density substrate is on the side of incidence of the photon beam for intensifying photon quanta and filter-scattered radiation from the patient induced by the photon beam. Thus, the photons impinging on the high density substrate are converted to electrons, and the images generated by the electrons subsequently traversing the photoreceptor material to cause the target volume of the patient to be monitored in real time.Type: GrantFiled: March 29, 1996Date of Patent: November 11, 1997Assignee: McGill UniversityInventors: Biagio Gino Fallone, Tony Falco
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Patent number: 5679537Abstract: The present invention relates to a novel immunoassay for measurement of rheumatoid factors (RFs) avidity for correlation with rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and for the presence of the different glycoforms of IgG.Type: GrantFiled: October 26, 1994Date of Patent: October 21, 1997Assignee: McGill UniversityInventor: Marianna M. Newkirk
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Patent number: 5672280Abstract: For the removal of heavy metal contaminants from industrial waste water, a method is proposed for preparing a dense precipitate having superior handling and disposal properties. The method comprises incremental adjustment of the pH to maintain a low saturation ratio and recycling of slurry to provide seed crystals for secondary nucleation.Type: GrantFiled: May 26, 1995Date of Patent: September 30, 1997Assignees: Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Natural Resources, McGill UniversityInventors: George P. Demopoulos, Janice M. Zinck, Peter D. Kondos
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Patent number: 5671752Abstract: In the method and system for electromyographic analysis of a striated muscle, electromyographic signals produced by the muscle are detected by means of an array of electrodes passing through the center of the muscle depolarizing region. Each electromyographic signal comprises an electromyographic component and a noise component. The position of the center of the muscle depolarizing region is then determined by detecting a reversal of polarity of the electromyographic components of the signals. Finally, two signals of opposite polarities amongst the electromyographic signals are subtracted. The subtraction subtracts the noise components of the two signals from each other but adds the electromyographic components of the two signals together to produce an electromyographic signal of improved signal-to-noise ratio.Type: GrantFiled: March 31, 1995Date of Patent: September 30, 1997Assignee: Universite de Montreal/The Royal Insitution for the advancement of Learning (McGill University)Inventors: Christer Sinderby, Alejandro Grassino, Sven Friberg, Lars Lindstrom