PATENT ABSTRACTS 293

5089530

NOVEL FERMENTATION PRODUCT WITH ANTIPARASITIC

ACTIVITY

Athanasios Tsipouras, Dan A Ostlind, Otto D Hensens, Deborah L Zink assigned to Merck & Co Inc

The fermentation of a fungal organism iden- tified as Chrysosporium meridarium produces a novel binaphthalene compound which is a highly potent antiparasitic, insecticidal, and anthelmin- thic agent.

5071462

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ORGANIC

FERTILIZER WITH THE USE OF NITROGEN FIXING BACILLUS

Yosiaki Kimura, Naha, Japan

To produce organic fertilizer which is effective for sterile agricultural land, a mixture com- prising coral reef powder, domestic animal ex- creta, sewage disposal waste and ground cellulose derived from plant fiber is prepared and it is well mixed in the presence of organic com- pounds and inorganic salts. Thereafter, it is sub- jected to cultivating in a multi-bath type cultivating bath for a predetermined period of time while temperature and pH are adjusted pro- perly. Cultivation is achieved with the addition of bacilli including nitrogen fixing bacillus such as Azotobactor vinelandii, Bacillus megaterum, Rhizobium leguminosarm or the like, Trichoderma virde acting as raw fiber decom- posing bacillus, candida utilus acting as yeast fungus and green algae, each of which is cul- tivated under the operating condition of symbiosis cultivation. The pH in the cultivating bath is maintained in the range of 5.5 to 7.5, pre- ferably in the range of 6 to 7. After completion of cultivation, the mixture is dried to form dried product and the latter is shipped to users.

5071654

ION CHANNEL PROPERTIES OF DELTA ENDOTOXINS

Leigh H English assigned to Ecogen Inc

The present invention relates to an in vitro method for measuring the toxicity of a delta-

endotoxin of Bacillus thuringiensis by evaluating the ability of said endotoxin to form an ion chan- nel in a phospholipid vesicle.

5084240

CENTRIFUGE VESSEL FOR AUTOMATED SOLID-PHASE

IMMUNOASSAY

Arthur Babson assigned to Cirrus Diagnostics Inc

A centrifuge vessel (10) for performing auto- mated immunoassays is disclosed. The cen- trifuge vessel (10) comprises a center tube (I 1) and an outer waste chamber (15). A biomaterial (18) is held within the center tube (1 I) and is capable of binding specific analytes in test sam- ples. In operation, the centrifuge vessel (10) is rotated at high speed about its longitudinal axis, thereby causing all fluid within the center tube (11) to be transported into the outer waste cham- ber (15) while the analyte of interest remains bound to the biomaterial (18) positioned within the center tube (11).

5084378

ENHANCED DETECTION OF FLUORESCENCE QUENCHING IN

LABELED CELLS

Harry A Crissman, John A Steinkamp assigned to The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy

A method is provided for quantifying BrdU labeled DNA in cells. The BrdU is incorporated into the DNA and the DNA is stained with a first fluorochrome having a fluorescence which is quenchable by BrdU. The first fluorochrome is preferably a thymidine base halogen analogue, such as a Hoechst fluorochrome. The DNA is then stained with a second fluorochrome having a fluorescence that is substantially uneffected by BrdU. The second fluorochrome may be selected from the group consisting of mithramycin, chromomycin A3, olivomycin, propidium iodide and ethidium bromine. The fluorescence from the first and second fluorochromes is then measured to obtain first and second output signals, respectively. The first output signal is substracted from the second output signal to ob- tain a difference signal which is functionally related to the quantity of BrdU incorporated into DNA. The technique is particularly useful for quantifying the synthesis of DNA during the S-phase of the cell cycle.