98

brane, the disc being sealed round its periphery to the tube adjacent one end thereof.

4963494

E N Z Y M E I M M O B I L I Z A T I O N I N A N A N I S O T R O P I C

U L T R A F I L T R A T I O N M E M B R A N E

Ken Hibioo, Takeshi Okada, Kazuo Nakao, Yuko Sahashi, Osaka, Japan assigned to Nitto Electric Industrial Co Ltd

An enzyme immobilized membrane comprising an anisotropic ultrafiltration membrane having a porous layer and a dense layer, and an enzyme immobilized therein is disclosed. The porous layer of the ultrafiltration membrane retains a water-soluble polymer having at least two func- tional groups in the crosslinked state, and the en- zyme is covalently bonded to the membrane through the functional groups of the polymer. Preferably, the membrane is prepared from poly- sulfone. The enzyme immobilized membrane is produced by a process which comprises im- pregnating a solution of the water-soluble poly- mer into the porous layer of the ultrafiltration membrane under a pressure of 0.1 to 1.0 kg/cm2, washing the porous layer, passing a solution of a crosslinking agent through the porous layer un- der a pressure within the same pressure range as above to crosslink the water-soluble polymer, removing the non-crosslinked water-soluble polymer by back washing from the dense layer of the membrane, and then passing a solution of the enzyme under a pressure within the same pre- ssure range as above through the porous layer, whereby the enzyme is covalently bonded to the membrane through the functional groups of the polymer.

PATENT ABSTRACTS

venient and accurate genetic identification. A large number of clones that recognize VNTR loci have been isolated from a cosmid library and characterized.

4965201

P R E P A R A T I O N O F D I C A R B O X Y L I C A C I D

John Casey, Roy Dobb, Roge Jeffcoat, Stan- wick, United Kingdom

The invention provides a process for preparing medium chain dicarboxylic acids by biochemical oxidation so that in particular C8 and C10 dicar- boxylic acids are prepared from nontoxic levels ofC8-C14 fatty acids using a nitrogen-restricted yeast propagated in a carbon substrate con- taining growth medium. Preferably the fatty material is supplied to the yeast in the form of a glyceride. Also it is preferred that the amount of nitrogen in the biomass is between 4 and 9%, in particular between 5.5 and 7~ (w/w).

4965206

D E T E R M I N A T I O N O F B I O M A S S

Douglas B Kell, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY 23 3HB, United Kingdom

Method and apparatus for the determination of biomass in a suspension, such as a culture, in real time and a fermentation process using the method. In the method the electrical capacitance of the suspension is measured and from the measurement the volume fraction of the suspen- sion enclosed by the cytoplasmic membranes of the cells (biovolume) is determined.

4963663

G E N E T I C I D E N T I F I C A T I O N E M P L O Y I N G D N A P R O B E S O F V A R I A B L E N U M B E R T A N D E M

R E P E A T L O C I

Raymond L White, Yusuke Nakamura, Peter O'Connell, Mark F Leppert assigned to Univer- sity of Utah

The present invention is related to the identifica- tion of cloned DNA sequences that reveal in- dividual multiallele loci. The loci are used in the process of the present invention to provide con-

4965289

S U B S T R A T E A N D P R O C E S S F O R M A K I N G A S U B S T R A T E

David C Sherrington, Philip W Small, Kirkintil- loch, United Kingdom assigned to Unilever Pa- tent Holdings B V

A substrate comprises a porous polymeric material having a porosity of at least 75% and comprising pores having a diameter within the range 1 to 100 mum and [acing interconnected by a plurality of holes, and a gel or material adapted in use to form a gel which gel or pre-gel materials