Abstract: Particles such as bacteria may be enumerated from a liquid in an accurate and efficient manner through use of an apparatus including a filter sheet which is oriented transverse to the surface of the liquid being filtered. The filter sheet is so arranged so that, as the liquid is filtered, an increasing portion of the filter is above the surface of the liquid. As a result of the surface of the liquid dropping across the filter, a smaller fraction of the total volume of the liquid passes through the upper portion of the filter than through the lower portion of the filter. Since the number of bacteria trapped per unit area of the filter depends on the volume filtered through the area, a monotonically increasing gradient of density of filtered bacteria occurs from the top to the bottom of the filter.

Abstract: A well-forming and loading-guide comb for electrophoresis gels. The comb includes a comb body, to which well-forming teeth and a loading guide are attached in an opposing fashion. The comb can be used with the teeth pointing downward into the gel to form sample wells in either vertical or horizontal electrophoresis gels. Upon hardening of the gel, the comb is once removed from the gels, leaving sample wells therein. The comb is then rotated 180 degrees, and notches (in the case of vertical electrophoresis gels) or L-shaped extensions (in the case of horizontal electrophoresis gels) of the loading guide are aligned with the sample wells so as to provide for easy guided access of a sample delivering instrument during the loading of samples into the wells.

Abstract: A system for mapping rules and objects from a database system during an inference cycle includes a database system a knowledge request translator, and an inference system. The database system stores both the facts and rules. The knowledge request translator, in response to rule retrieval requests, retrieves rules from the database system, each rule retrieval being based on rule selection criteria that are included in the rule request. The inference system generates rule retrieval requests, including rule selection criteria, for use by the knowledge request translator. The inference system initiates inference operations in connection with rules retrieved by said knowledge request translator, and facts in the database system. In initiating inference operations, the inference system supplies fact criteria to the knowledge request translator, which generates, in response thereto, database inquiries to initiate pattern matching operations in connection with the facts in the database system.