Abstract: A method is described for treating consumable products, such as foods, drugs or dietary supplements, for example drugs enclosed in capsules, to detect contamination. A colorimetric indicator, which can react with a contaminating substance such as cyanide, is incorporated into the consumable product or the packaging for the product. When the indicator comes in contact with the contaminating substance, a readily detectable color signal is produced.

Abstract: A method of inducing polyploidy in oysters through the use of hydrostatic pressure is disclosed. The method includes separating oysters from one another such that male oysters are separated from female oysters, inducing the oysters to spawn, controlling the temperature of eggs from the oysters, fertilizing the eggs with sperm to form zygotes and then subsequently applying hydrostatic pressure to the zygotes to induce polyploidy.

Abstract: A double and triple barrel electrode for the simultaneous measurement of pH and P.sub.CO2 ; and pH, P.sub.CO2 and P.sub.02 employing a membrane in conjunction with a pH fluid and fluids responsive to CO.sub.2 and O.sub.2. The responsive fluids exhibit a pH change upon a change in the concentration of the particular analyte in the responsive fluid. The liquid membrane is selectively permeable to H.sup.+ ion, and permeable to CO.sub.2 and O.sub.2 gas.

Abstract: The disclosed system includes a piezoelectric crystal exposed to an energy-absorptive medium of interest. A crystal oscillation circuit is included for sustaining oscillation of the crystal in contact with the fluid. To accomplish this, the circuit includes feedback elements for providing automatic gain control of the amplifier portion of the oscillator. In this manner, the conditions required for crystal oscillation are maintained independent of variations in the medium the crystal is exposed to. Information regarding the gain adjustment and oscillation frequency of the crystal are applied to a microprocessor-based system for determining fluid characteristics such as viscosity, density, and dielectric constant. Alternatively, this information is used to correct for the influence of such parameters on the resonant behavior of piezoelectric crystals undergoing mass change, in the analysis of, for example, corrosion, adsorption and electroplating.

Abstract: A system for endoscopic detection of blood flow is disclosed. A catheter is sized to pass through the biopsy channel of an endoscope and includes an elongated catheter tube of flexible material and an ultrasonic probe carried by the catheter tube adjacent its tip. Depending on the application, the ultrasonic field provided by the ultrasonic probe may be either transverse or parallel to the longitudinal axis of the catheter tube and may be either highly directional, omnidirectional, or sectorial. The ultrasonic probe is coupled to a pulsed Doppler circuit (FIG. 16) by an isolation circuit (FIG. 20) that provides electrical isolation and RFI suppression. The Doppler circuit is designed to enhance close proximity detection of blood flow, to limit the range of the probe's ultrasonic field, and to distinguish between arterial blood flow, venous blood flow, and vessel wall motion.

Abstract: A method is described for treating consumable products, such as foods, drugs or dietary supplements, for example drugs enclosed in capsules, to detect contamination. A colorimetric indicator, which can react with a contaminating substance such as cyanide, is incorporated into the consumable product or the packaging for the product. When the indicator comes in contact with the contaminating substance, a readily detectable color signal is produced.

Abstract: An energy storage and conversion system utilizes unique heat exchange media for storing and transferring heat. In one embodiment, a refractory material is heated to the molten state by a solar furnace. The refractory material is stored in its molten form and metered to a direct-contact heat exchanger. It is fed into the heat exchanger in a plurality of streams that break into a plurality of droplets. The droplets flow through the heat exchanger in countercurrent relationship with a relatively inert gas such as argon or nitrogen. The gas is heated and expanded through an expansion engine to convert the thermal energy to mechanical energy which in turn can be utilized to produce electricity, for example. The refractory can be sufficiently cooled in the heat exchanger to fuse into beads, which can be easily recycled to the solar furnace.

Abstract: A thermal cautery system having an endoscopically deliverable probe connected to a power supply and display unit. The power supply and display unit, when triggered by a footswitch, energizes a voltage regulator having a current limited output that supplies power to the probe. The current limiting function of the voltage regulator is disabled for a predetermined period that power is initially applied to said probe to minimize the heating time of said probe. The current through said probe is sensed and used to increase the voltage at the output of the voltage regulator as the current increases to compensate for the voltage drop in the conductors connecting the probe to the power supply. A manually selected portion of the sensed current through the probe is also integrated and used to terminate the flow of current through the probe when the integral of the current with respect to time has reached a predetermined value.

Abstract: A pyramidal data processing system comprising a plurality of levels of processor arrays, the number of processors in an array increases in number from a level of lowest resolution to a level of highest resolution. Each processor in an array is coupled for data transfer to a neighborhood of processors including laterally and diagnoally adjacent processors in the same level, a processor in the level of next lowest resolution, and processors in the level of next greatest resolution. A memory is associated with each processor to store value of data elements. A controller and control memory generate control signals to perform in synchrony data transformations on selected data elements associated with each neighborhood of processors.

Abstract: An oxygen permeable, wettable, optically acceptable vision correction lens can be made from homopolymers of aminoglycans, substituted aminoglycans, or crosslinked polymers thereof.

Abstract: Expression of the crystal protein of Bacillus thuringiensis in Escherichia coli is described by use of plasmids containing heterologous DNA coding for the crystal protein. Genetically engineered bacterial host strains transformed by the plasmids of the invention express Bacillus thuringiensis crystal proteins without exhibiting the growth phase limitations characteristic of the natural bacterial host species.

Abstract: Expression of the crystal protein of Bacillus thuringiensis in E. coli is described by use of plasmids containing heterologous DNA coding for the crystal protein. Genetically engineered bacterial host strains transformed by the recombinant plasmids of the invention express B. thuringiensis crystal proteins.

Abstract: A method to reduce animal browsing damage to plants comprises the step of inducing a nonphytotoxic dosage of selenium into the foliage of the plants at a level sufficient to repel animals. The method is particularly suited for use in reforestation of pines, firs, and other conifers. The selenium is systemically absorbed into the plants after application to the surrounding soil in the root zone. Selenium compounds having a valency of no more than 4.sup.+ are applied to the soil around the plants to induce absorption in a preferred method.

Abstract: Controlled release compositions are made by a distillation method to include chemical impregnants (such as animal repellants, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, plant growth stimulants, perfumes and deodorizers, fertilizers, and drugs) in biodegradable, microporous structures. Each microporous structure collapses upon drying but swells upon rewetting to allow the impregnant entrapped in it to diffuse from the structure. Never-dried wood pulp is a particularly desirable microporous structure because it has large pores initially, a large surface area initially, and demonstrated swelling capability. The method is particularly useful when the impregnant is insoluble in the fluid initially within the microporous structure and when the solvent for the impregnant is immiscible with that fluid.

Abstract: Method and compositions for infectious disease diagnosis and epidemiology involving labeled nucleotide probes complementary to nucleic acid coding for a characteristic pathogen product. Clinical isolates are cultivated, expanding the number of microorganisms, the resulting colonies lysed, the genome normally denatured and then fixed. Alternatively, clinical samples (stool, sputum, pus, etc.) are spotted onto an inert support. The sample is treated in such a way that the DNA is liberated from microbes present in the sample and complexed onto the support. The DNA is normally denatured and fixed in this process. Subsequently, a labelled polynucleotide probe specific for a DNA sequence characteristic of a pathogenic product suspected of being present in the clinical sample is contacted with the fixed genomic single stranded nucleic acid under hybridizing conditions. Hybridization of probes to the single stranded nucleic acid is diagnostic of the presence of the pathogen.

Abstract: A system for detecting and quantifying air emboli in blood vessels which uses either an intravascular catheter 22 or an esophageal catheter 50. In a preferred embodiment, the intravascular catheter includes an elongated cylindrical tube of flexible material, the tube having a tip 22A and having formed therein an axial aspiration lumen 26 and a second axial lumen 28. An ultrasonic transducer 24, comprising an annular, cylindrical ring of piezoelectric material, is fitted over and secured to the tube adjacent its tip. A microcaxial cable passes through lumen 28 and is electrically interconnected with the ultrasonic transducer. In a preferred embodiment, the esophageal catheter includes a substantially cylindrical member 54 on which is fitted an ultrasonic transducer 52 comprising an annular, cylindrical ring of piezoelectric material.

Abstract: A method of reducing the formaldehyde emissions from formaldehyde condensation polymers is disclosed. A substance having two or more amide linkages, such as a polyacrylamide polymer is incorporated in the polymer solution immediately or shortly before use, the acrylamide polymer reacting with free formaldehyde in the solution or that generated as a result of hydrolytic breakdown of the formaldehyde condensation polymer. The incorporation of polyacrylamide polymers in a urea-formaldehyde resin solution used in the production of urea-formaldehyde insulating foams is of particular benefit.

Abstract: A system for detecting and quantifying air emboli in blood vessels which uses either an intravascular catheter 22 or an esophageal catheter 50. In a preferred embodiment, the intravascular catheter includes an elongated cylindrical tube of flexible material, the tube having a tip 22A and having formed therein an axial aspiration lumen 26 and a second axial lumen 28. An ultrasonic transducer 24, comprising an annular, cylindrical ring of piezoelectric material, is fitted over and secured to the tube adjacent its tip. A microcoaxial cable passes through lumen 28 and is electrically interconnected with the ultrasonic transducer. In a preferred embodiment, the esophageal catheter includes a substantially cylindrical member 54 on which is fitted an ultrasonic transducer 52 comprising an annular, cylindrical ring of piezoelectric material.

Abstract: Recognizing and counting geometrically distant objects, such as objects of a particular morphological type (e.g., reticulated red blood cells), located in a field of objects of varying types is disclosed. Coherent light is directed toward a monolayer of objects of various types. The light scattered by the objects is collected by a collecting lens and forms a composite Fourier spectrum at the focal plane of the lens. The Fourier spectrum is selectively analyzed on the basis that each object creates a unique portion of the composite Fourier spectrum, and that a family of objects that are geometrically similar have additive spectrums, when their population is large, randomly located, and nonoverlapping. The analysis is performed by making intensity measurements at radial points in the Fourier plane, weighting the measurements, and summing the result. The radial points and weighting factors are determined using regression techniques.

Abstract: An improved ion-sensitive electrode is described, particularly in terms of the structure of a pH electrode and first and second processes for making the same. The pH electrode includes a substrate, preferably of forsterite, which is configured as a wafer having a substantially planar wafer surface. A continuous conducting layer, formed by either thin-film vapor deposition or thick-film screening processes, is formed on the substantially planar wafer surface in a desired configuration. A first region of the continuous conducting layer, and contiguous portions of the substantially planar wafer surface, are covered by a continuous membrane layer preferably composed of a pH-sensitive glass such as Corning Code 0150 glass.