Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for carrying out simultaneous heat and mass exchange operations between two input streams, where a gradient of at least 30 degrees C. exists between the streams, each stream containing at least two components. According to the invention, the two streams are introduced into a reactor containing a solid or liquid adsorbent material, which retains at least one component preferentially to the other components. The adsorbancy power of the component by the adsorbent material is higher at lower temperatures than at high temperatures. A stream results from the reactor in which the diluted component becomes more concentrated in respect to the input stream. The equilibrium concentration of the adsorbable species in the adsorbent, at the conditions of the colder stream, is higher by at least 0.01 g adsorbed species per g adsorbent than that prevailing at the conditions of the hot feed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for the electrodeposition of an ordered alloy structured in alternate discrete layers said alloys possessing high elastic modulus and adjustable magnetic susceptibility. According to the invention, the electrodeposition of at least two metals, characterized by a redox potential gap of at least 0.1 V between said metals, is obtained by the pulse plating technique with a frequency in the range of 0.02 Hertz to 15 Hertz. The concentrations of the noblest metal in the electrodeposition solution should be in the range of 0.001M to 2.0M while that of the less noble metal is about its saturation at room temperature. The discrete layers obtained according to the method are less than 90 Angstroms thickness, being substantially pure. Examples of the metals to be electrodeposited according to the invention are copper-nickel; copper-palladium; nickel-gold; copper-nickel-iron and corresponding alloys with cobalt or iron replacing nickel.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a simple and accurate method to be applied in immunoassay technique for separating the free ligand from the antibody-bound ligand.The method involves the use of a solvent extraction operation which at equilibrium provides the formation of two distinct phases the free- and bound-fraction. The solvent to be utilized should be slightly water miscible or completely water immiscible, having the property of marked selective extraction power toward the gamma-labelled constituent to be determined. The method is applicable in a liquid-liquid system, a solid-liquid system and solid-solid system.The method is useful for radioimmunoassay, free radical assay or metallo-immunoassay, being most versatile having also the advantage that as a result of the free ligand being extracted into the solvent, the determination of the quantity of gamma-labelled substance in the free and/or bound fraction compares very favorably with the known prior art methods in immunoassays.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method which eliminates centrifugation and decantation steps, to be performed in an automatic manner for carrying out specific binding assay tests, wherein liquid and solid phases are present.According to the invention, use is made of a specially designed device, consisting of a mixing reservoir into which is fitted snugly a mixer separator having a channel in the vertical axis of the mixer-separator. A rack holding a number of said mixing reservoirs containing the incubated reagents and analytes, capped with the mixer separators, is placed into a press-device designed to perform at a controlled rate a downward movement. The mixer separators are pushed downwards into the mixing reservoirs at a chosen rate for a preselected distance to complete the mass transport and separation operations. The separation devices are removed and either one of the separated phases can be measured in the desired analytical instrument for a quantitative or qualitative determination.

Abstract: A high-pressure, low-capacity pump comprises a rotor (3) of a smooth, planar, circular surface rotating in a pump casing (1) provided with a stator surface (21) facing the rotor surface at a short distance. The stator surface (21) is in the shape of a circular, flat-topped ridge having its center displaced in respect of the rotor center by a given distance. The circular ridge is characterized by that it is bisected along a line extending through both the center of the circle and the rotor center and that it is of different height on both sides of the bisecting line, creating a respective narrow gap (h) and a wide gap (H) between the ridge and the rotor surface. A fluid inlet (11) is provided in the casing on the outside of the circular ridge and a fluid outlet (22) on the inside of the ridge.

Abstract: Molten alkaline earth metal halides are used to convert highly stable oxides into the corresponding anhydrous halides. Usually a third reactant, such as silica, is added in order to bind the basic oxide thus formed. The solid oxide compounds (e.g. silicates) which result are wellknown ceramic phases of a high degree of purity.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a new type of chromatography technique, referred to as dynamic column chromatography, for separation of one or more compounds present in a solution, which is characterized by the existence of a moving solid adsorbent bed. According to the invention, the chromatographic system comprises a piston having at its bottom a sealing element and a longitudinal channel containing the adsorbent between two barriers and a test tube having at its bottom a multiple way valve. By pushing the piston into the test tube, the desired eluent which was prior forced through said valve is entering under intrinsic pressure of the closed system through the channel moving the adsorbed compounds to be separated between said barriers, the solution obtained going out through a nozzle located at one of the end parts of the piston.

Abstract: An object-gripping device, particularly useful for gripping thin-wall tubes, comprises a first flexible gripping member formed with two loops adapted to partially enclose one side of the object, and a second flexible gripping member formed with a third loop interposed between the two loops of the first member and adapted to partially enclose the opposite side of the object. The gripping device further includes means engaging the opposite ends of the two gripping members to move them away from each other to cause their loops to grip the object, or towards each other to cause them to release the object. A sleeve is provided for each gripping member and is movable along its length to vary the effective gripping size of the loops formed by the two members. Also described is an industrial robot having a vertical arm carrying the object-gripping device such as to enable the arm to grip and release an object from above.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an automatic cell for polarographic analysis. According to the invention said cell comprises a vessel (14) containing a nebulizer (3) for deaerating the sample to be analyzed, the deaerated sample being accumulated into a collector (16) and conveyed to a polarographic cell (15) provided with means for the removal of the sample after its analysis. The automatic polarographic analyzer is characterized by the very short time required for its analysis.

Abstract: There is disclosed a method for depositing a diamond or diamond-like carbon film on at least one substrate employing a hydrocarbon gas and at least one gas which preferentially removes by chemical sputtering other forms of carbon, especially graphite from said film to thereby obtain useful carbon film coated products.

Abstract: A hydrodynamic, non-contacting end-face seal for a rotary machine comprises a rotor mounted on the machine shaft and a ring-shaped stator facing the flat and smooth surface of the rotor at a short distance. The stator encloses the machine shaft, is eccentrically positioned in respect of the rotor center, and is urged towards the rotor surface by a helical spring.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for improving a soil structure by stabilization of aggregates. According to the invention it is applied to the soil a graft polymer substantially free of monomer, having an intrinsic viscosity below 1dg/l and a molecular weight below 100,000. The graft polymer is obtained by the exothermic reaction of a water soluble lignosulfonate with a member selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and mixtures thereof. The graft polymers have been found to be also useful as binding reagents for agglomerating single particles of particulate materials.The graft polymers according to the invention are obtained in the form of an aqueous solution, which may be transformed into a powder by spray drying. As soil conditioners they may be applied by spraying, alone or admixed with fertilizers or pesticides and also combined with the operation of planting and soil stabilization.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for improving a soil structure by stabilization of aggregates. According to the invention it is applied to the soil a graft polymer substantially free of monomer, having an intrinsic viscosity below 1 dg/l and a molecular weight below 100,000. The graft polymer is obtained by the exothermic reaction of a water soluble lignosulfonate with a member selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and mixtures thereof. The graft polymers have been found to be also useful as binding reagents for agglomerating single particles of particulate materials.The graft polymers according to the invention are obtained in the form of an aqueous solution, which may be transformed into a powder by spray drying. As soil conditioners they may be applied by spraying, alone or admixed with fertilizers or pesticides and also combined with the operation of planting and soil stabilization.

Abstract: Kerogen and other combustible matter can be extracted from an area of oil shale or tarsand by drilling boreholes in a selected pattern through the overlying soil and rock without removing it. Each borehole mouth is tightly closed by a cover provided with an air inlet pipe and a gas exhaust pipe. In the covers of one or several boreholes, the inlet pipe is centrally guided and longitudinally movable in an upward and downward direction, and a laser beam generated by a laser source is inroduced into the upper end of the pipe and directed centrally to its bottom where it is diverted toward the borehole wall by a mirror assembly. The laser beam moved along the borehole wall irradiates the oil shale or tarsand and ignites the combustible matter contained therein which liquefies and evaporates. Combustion spreads from the initially ignited bore to the remaining bores in the area through the fissures in the formation and likewise serves to liquefy and evaporate the kerogen there.

Abstract: A test pack kit for assaying for a ligand in a liquid medium. The kit comprises specially designed assay tubes, each tube having a cylindrical side arm which can be interconnected with the side arm of another assay tube. In addition, the pack kit contains antiserum; a conjugate of a metal labelling substance with the ligand; assay calibration standards--in vials containing known concentrations of unlabelled ligand; a separation agent in vials containing material used for separating the bound antibody--metal labelling complex from the unbound metal labelling substance and instrument calibration standards--in vials containing several known concentrations of the metal--labelling substance. Errors caused by pipetting or transferring of reagents from one container to another are practically eliminated.

Abstract: A building element for the construction of self-supporting interlocking grids which may be used, for example, as floors or roofs, comprises a beam having a longitudinally protruding projection at each end, and having at least one recess of sufficient size to receive the longitudinally protruding projection from a second identical beam. The projection from a third such beam rests on the recess of the second, the projection of a fourth such beam rests in the recess of the third, and the projection of the first beam rests in the recess of the fourth. Thus, the four beams are rigidly connected in a statically determinate self-supporting manner. An entire grid of such joints may be made as well as light arched and domed roof structures.

Abstract: An inductive device comprising a magnetic core and windings for producing two or three substantially orthogonal magnetic fields at all points within the core. The device may be utilized as an inductor or transformer in a variety of applications.

Abstract: A method and reagent means for the determination of small quantities of chemical compounds in man, animal and plants by a specific binding assay technique.The method involves the utilization of a labelling constituent comprising a conjugate of a labelling substance and a binding component said labelling substance being one or more metal atoms which can be easily determined. The labelling constituents are selected from various metalo organic derivatives or metal coordination complexes.The method is very specific and sensitive and can be successfully utilized for the determination of haptens selected from various groups such as alkaloids, barbiturates, steroids, cannabinoids, vitamins, aminoacids, tranquilizers, sugars, penicillins, etc.

Abstract: A solar collector panel consists of a metal sheet and a number of straight metal tubes intimately connected to the sheet in order to obtain maximum thermal conductivity. One tube each is connected to a sheet by slotting the latter along a straight line by equidistant parallel short cuts and pressing the areas between two consecutive cuts into semi-cylindrical bulges alternately in opposite direction from the sheet surface. These bulges have a concave semi-circular cross section of a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the tube, and all bulges along the straight line form a continuous passage into which the tube is inserted. After insertion the tube is expanded by mechanical means or by hydraulic pressure and pressed onto the semi-cylindrical portions of the sheet, satisfactory contact being obtained by dimensioning the expanding pressure to a magnitude that the tube material is stressed beyond its yield point, while the sheet metal is stressed below its elastic limit.

Abstract: Seepage of water through soil is considerably reduced by providing plural layers of adjacent, thin impermeable strips wherein the strips of an overlayer are staggered by a half strip's width with regard to the strips of the underlayer, and the widths of the strips are substantially greater than the gaps between adjacent strips and the space between layers.