Abstract:
A centrifuge tube with temporary liquid storage cavities. The centrifuge tube has an upper opening and defines a specimen enclosure therein. The tube includes a lid for sealably covering the upper opening. Temporary liquid holding cavities are formed upon the underside of the lid so as to extend outwardly from the underside and terminate in open distal ends. One or more liquid components or reagents can be inserted directly into the open distal ends of the cavities so as to reside inside the cavities on the lid. The cavities are sufficiently narrow so that the walls of each cavity are disposed in frictional engagement with the liquid to increase the surface tension and adherence of the liquid within the cavity. The lid can be snapped shut over the opening of the tube without discharging the liquid components from the cavities, so that the liquid components hang in open suspension above the bottom of the tube. The liquid components are dislodged from the cavities and fall to the bottom of the tube upon centrifugation of the tube.
Abstract:
Centrifuge tube, specimen well,covering lid and method of their use, the well having an inner wall between an upper opening and a bottom region, including between the upper opening and the bottom region a liquid-holding cavity having a liquid drain channel, the lid having a bottom wall including alternative liquid-holding cavities. The liquid-holding cavities are configured and arranged to allow liquid in these cavities to flow to the bottom region only when a centrifugal force is applied to the centrifuge tube.
Abstract:
An electric heating element which includes two sets of adjacent electrically conductive wires electrically insulated from each other. By adjacent is meant that the two sets of wires are placed as close to each other as is possible without electrically connecting the two wires; for example, the wires are preferably within 2 to 4 millimeters of each other. One set of wires is constructed and arranged to carry electric current in a first direction through the heating element. The other set of wires is constructed and arranged in a parallel circuit to the first set to carry electric current in the opposite direction through the heating elements. At least one of the sets of wires is further constructed to generate heat when the electric current passes through that set of wires. Each set of wires in the heating element has equal impedance such that any magnetic field generated by one set of wires is reduced or eliminated by an opposing magnetic field generated by the other set.
Abstract:
A one step process providing timed exposure to a substantially constant concentration of hypochlorite disinfectant is described, said process being completed when the hypochlorite is destroyed in an autocatalytic reaction with thiosulfate. The hypochlorite lifetime is precisely controlled by adjusting the initial pH of an alkaline disinfection solution of thiosulfate and hypochlorite, said solution containing a molar ratio of between 0.25 and 0.75 moles of thiosulfate to 1.00 mole of hypochlorite. Subsequently, with gradual evolution of acid and decreasing pH, the acid-dependent autocatalytic oxidation of thiosulfate is accelerated. This consumes the hypochlorite in a brief time interval, terminating the disinfection process. Also included in said alkaline disinfection solution is an appropriate concentration of Na.sub.2 HPO.sub.4 or other chemical which is unreactive with hypochlorite and allows said initially alkaline pH to substantially decrease, but which later becomes a functioning pH buffer, controlling the final pH of the hypochlorite-free, disinfected solution. Completion of the disinfection process which is accompanied by a substantial pH decrease can be visualized by including one or more pH-color indicators in the disinfecting solution.
Abstract:
A hat for souvenir collectors or sports fans is disclosed. The hat has two hand extensions attached to the front brow. An elastic strip is attached to the front brow in a manner that pulls the hands together. A string which is looped under the chin is provided to pull the hands apart, rapid pulling and releasing of the string produces a clapping action. Attached to each hand is a noisemaking device. A flexible sheet is attached to the hands on which appears a printed slogan. The slogan can be read when the hands are pulled apart.
Abstract:
A nutritional fat or oil-based composition for increasing HDL cholesterol, decreasing LDL cholesterol and decreasing the LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio in human plasma is described. The composition can advantageously include at least 1% by weight myristic acid esterified at the sn-2 position in triglyceride molecules, includes between 10% and 40% by weight linoleic acid, and further includes between 30% and 65% by weight oleic acid and between 15% and 40% by weight total saturated fatty acids. The ratio of sn-2 myristic acid to sn-2 palmitic acid is typically greater than 1:1 and the sum of weight percentages for saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids equals 100%. In desirable cases, the composition is substantially cholesterol-free.
Abstract:
An omega-3 fatty acid supplementation fat blend includes one part by weight of an omega-3 enriching oil containing EPA and/or DHA fatty acids that has been combined and diluted with at least one-half part by weight of a low linoleic acid content oxidatively stabilizing saturated fat. The omega-3 supplementation fat blend is incorporated into stabilized aqueous suspensions including beverages and foods.
Abstract:
The present invention is generally directed to systems and methods for thickening liquids, e.g., hydrophobic liquids, non-aqueous liquids, fuels, etc. In one set of embodiments, a composition is produced by combining in a mixture, at least one monoglyceride (abbreviated “MG”) and glycerine (abbreviated “G”), in which the molar ratio of G to MG in the mixture is between 1:1 and 4:1. The mixture may be melted and cooled to form solids containing a G2MG molecular complex in which two molecules of G are hydrogen-bonded to each molecule of MG. The composition may be substantially free, in certain embodiments, of contaminating reactants, catalysts, alkaline agents, and/or by-products of fatty acid interesterification that may interfere with the use of said composition as a thickening agent.
Abstract:
A food or beverage composition suitable for human consumption includes a cow's milk that has been supplemented and homogenized with an omega-3 fatty acid-containing milk supplementation oil, in which a milk supplementation oil includes one part by weight of an EPA/DHA fatty acid-containing enriching oil that has been combined and diluted with at least one part by weight of an oxidative stabilization oil, such as a low linoleic acid/high oleic acid-containing oxidative stabilization oil. As a result, the rate of oxidation of EPA/DHA fatty acids added to the milk via the milk supplementation oil can be reduced at least two-fold or even much more compared to the rate of oxidation of an equal quantity of the same EPA/DHA fatty acid-containing enriching oil homogenized into the same cow's milk without having been first combined and diluted with the oxidative stabilization oil.