The inventive food holding apparatus comprises a holding area that accommodates food and warms the food with heat radiated by a bottom surface and with warm convection air. Part of the convection air forms an air curtain having a Bernoulli effect that removes excess moisture from the external surface of the food and maintains the food in a warm, crisp condition. The apparatus conditions food to attain a biologically safe noncooking temperature and to retain its freshly cooked texture and internal moisture for more than two hours. This lets restaurants serve the food longer to its customers, allowing efficient batch cooking and significantly decreasing food waste.

Machine (1) for extracting puree, or fruit juice starting from vegetable or animal food, such as a rough extractor or a fine extractor. The machine (1) comprises essentially a cylindrical body (2) having an inlet (3) for the product to treat, an outlet (4) for a part of the product that can be used and an outlet (5) for another part of product to dispose of. The rotor (6) is wheeled to a motor (80) by a shaft (15). The product that is put in the cylindrical body (2) of the machine (1) is pushed by centrifugal force by a plurality of blades (20) of the rotor (6) to pass through a sieve (7) having holes (8) and a cylindrical or conical shape. The blades (20) of the rotor (6) comprise, in particular a first portion (21) having a first concavity and a second portion (22) having a second concavity opposite to the first.

Disclosed is a beverage extraction filter that can extract in a plurality of extraction machine types. The beverage extraction filter comprises a filter unit (40) where coffee powder is housed and a planar lid unit (41) mounted to the top section of the filter unit (40). The lid unit (41) is formed in a layer structure created by a non-permeable first sheet member (42) positioned on the filter unit side (40) and a permeable second sheet member (43) layered on top of the first sheet member (42), and a hole section (42a) through which hot water is made to pass is formed in the center of the first sheet member (42).

The present invention relates to a device to regulate the level of a liquid inside a boiler of a coffee machine, having a transparent duct connected to the boiler and designed to visibly display the level of the liquid inside the boiler, a capacitive sensor that can be positioned outside the transparent duct in determined positions and designed to generate electric signals representing the presence or absence of liquid in correspondence to the position of the sensor along the transparent duct. The sensor of the device has first measuring elements and second measuring elements, both of capacitive type; the second measuring elements are positioned at a predetermined distance from the first measuring elements, and a measuring device designed to measure the impedance between the first and second measuring elements and to generate signals indicating the presence or absence of liquid in correspondence to the position of the sensor. The invention also relates to the machine that includes this device.

The present invention provides apparatus and methods for adjusting the atmosphere within a substantially sealed chamber containing respiring produce. The chamber of the present invention includes inlet means to permit ambient atmosphere to enter the chamber, and outlet means to permit chamber atmosphere to exit the chamber. Methods using apparatus of the present invention comprise: (a) monitoring the oxygen concentration within the chamber;(b) following detection that the oxygen concentration in the chamber has fallen below a predetermined amount, opening the inlet means so that the amount of oxygen in the chamber increases; and(c) removing carbon dioxide from the chamber atmosphere substantially at a predetermined rate, the predetermined rate having been selected such that the carbon dioxide concentration within the chamber atmosphere does not substantially exceed a predetermined amount. The methods may also comprise opening the inlet means for a time that is approximately proportional to the difference between the detected oxygen concentration and an oxygen setpoint.

A grill is provided with a removable storage basket assembly for providing a conveniently accessible receptacle or storage platform for articles such as seasonings, cooking tools, towels, or other articles. The storage basket assembly includes a frame having a basket or tray that can be mounted thereto, and a handle. The handle is configured to be received within a recess formed in a shelf of the grill for removably but stably mounting the storage basket assembly on the grill.

A cookware system includes a microwaveable metal collecting pan, configured in a bowl shape with a plurality of elongated slots disposed thereon. The collector pan is positioned in a supporting bowl to catch dripping fluids and to provide a basin to hold water during steam cooking. A food item can be placed inside the pan, which is in turn placed inside the bowl and covered with a lid.

A coffee machine comprises a frothing device, wherein an internal milk channel leading to a frothing chamber is provided into which opens a bypass air inlet for operable air supply to the frothing device. A flexible milk suction line connects the frothing device with a milk supply container. Means are provided for cleaning the frothing device and the milk suction line with rinsing water from a continuous-flow water heater of the coffee machine. A controlled valve arrangement is provided which feeds rinsing water from the continuous-flow water heater to the bypass air inlet of the frothing device. A milk suction end of the milk suction line is directly or indirectly, fluid-conductively connectable with a residual water pan of the coffee machine prior to feeding rinsing water to the bypass air inlet.

A beverage machine for preparing and dispensing a hot beverage having a pump dispensing system. Hot water passes through a water distributor to infuse material in a filter basket. A coffee tank receives the brewed beverage and maintains it at an appropriate temperature. On demand, a pump dispensing system delivers the beverage through an outlet chamber and spout into a user's cup. The user manipulates a switch to vary the rate at which the pump dispensing system dispenses the beverage.

The invention proposes a device for decaffeinating a liquid. The device includes at least one cathode electrode and at least one anode electrode which are spaced apart and which are immersed in the liquid; a power supply coupled to the at least one cathode electrode and the at least one anode electrode and configured to apply power thereto, wherein the at least one cathode electrode and the at least one anode electrode are configured to generate an electric field in the liquid upon application of the power to attract caffeine molecules in the liquid to the at least one cathode electrode; wherein the at least one cathode electrode is made of or coated with an absorbing material configured to absorb at least part of the caffeine molecules that are attracted to the at least one cathode electrode.

The invention provides a new method for preparing ultra-small polymeric-lipidic delivery nanoparticles (USDNs) that were synthesized by a nanoprecipitation method followed by a layer-by-layer nanodeposition. The USDNs particle size can be controlled between 5-25 mn and provides loading capacities of 22.12% to 72.08%. Moreover, the USDNs platform provides pH controlled drug release, within a terminal release ratio of 68% at pH 5.0 and almost no release to pH of 7.5. Furthermore, based on their small sizes (5-25 nm) and unique composition, the USDNs penetrates the skin strata efficiently, release the payload at the target site as topical or transdermal treatment of a variety of skin disorders. Additionally the USDNs system can be used to treat and diagnoses other crucial diseases (Cancer, Alzheimer, etc) can be combined with various micro-needles or needles free array technologies for special application.

A peptide comprising a sequence for opening a tight junction of an epithelial surface and optionally a cell penetrating sequence; and related compositions, optionally comprising further pharmaceutical agents; and related methods.

Variant factor H binding proteins that can elicit antibodies that are bactericidal for at least one strain of Neisseria meningitidis, compositions comprising such proteins, and methods of use of such proteins, are provided.

The disclosure provides methods and compositions for suppressing retroviruses, including novel methods for treating a retroviral infection in a human in need of such treatment, comprising delivering a functional meiosis arrest female protein 1 (MARF1) to cells containing a retroviral provirus, together with novel expression constructs comprising a coding sequence encoding a functional MARF1 operatively linked to a promoter, vectors comprising such constructs, and packaging cell lines for use in making such vectors.

This disclosure relates to combination therapies comprising anti-Pseudomonas Psl and PcrV bispecific binding molecules and related compositions, for use in prevention and treatment of Pseudomonas infection.

The present invention relates to VEGF-binding agents, DLL4-binding agents, VEGF/DLL4 bispecific binding agents, and methods of using the agents for treating diseases such as cancer. The present invention provides antibodies that specifically bind human VEGF, antibodies that specifically bind human DLL4, and bispecific antibodies that specifically bind human VEGF and/or human DLL4. The present invention further provides methods of using the agents to inhibit tumor growth. Also described are methods of treating cancer comprising administering a therapeutically effect amount of an agent or antibody of the present invention to a patient having a tumor or cancer.

The invention provides compositions and methods for treating leukemia, for example, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and B-cell acute lymphoid leukemia (B-ALL). The invention also relates to at least one chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) specific to CD123, vectors comprising the same, and recombinant T cells comprising the CD123 CAR. The invention also includes methods of administering a genetically modified T cell expressing a CAR that comprises a CD123 binding domain. The invention also includes methods of bone marrow ablation for use in treatments necessitating bone marrow reconditioning or transplant.

Provided herein are methods of treatment to regenerate, restore or rejuvenate a tissue. Methods include making adult somatic and germ cells pluripotent for administration to a patient. Alternatively, created pluripotent cells may be differentiated to the desired tissue type and administered to a patient to repair or enhance the target tissue.

A recombinant vector comprises simian adenovirus 36, simian adenovirus 42.1, simian adenovirus 42.2 and/or simian adenovirus 44 sequences and a heterologous gene under the control of regulatory sequences. A cell line which expresses one or more simian adenovirus-36, -42.1, -42.2 or -44 gene(s) is also described. Methods of using the vectors and cell lines are provided.

Materials and methods for treating and preventing American Foulbrood disease in honeybees, such as materials and methods for using phage lysin enzymes to lyse Paenibacillus larvae, are provided herein.

The present invention relates to the use of the miRNA expression profile, particularly of miR-199a-5p, and the target genes regulated thereby for the diagnosis, prognosis and use of miR-199a-5p inhibitors for treating fibroproliferative disorders.

By a genome-wide gene analysis of expression profiles of known or putative gene sequences in peripheral blood and biopsy samples, the present inventors have identified a consensus set of gene expression-based molecular biomarkers for distinguishing liver transplantation patients who have Acute Rejection (AR), Hepatitis C Virus Recurrence (HCV-R), both AR/HCV-R, or Acute Dysfunction No Rejection (ADNR). These molecular biomarkers are useful for diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of liver transplantation patients.

This disclosure relates to methods, computer products, computer-implemented methods, and systems for predicting the probability or risk of prostate cancer recurrence and tumor aggressiveness in a patient. The method is based, in part, on the patient's risk profile that includes the presence/degree of specific copy number variations and predictive clinical factors. The methods and systems can be used to aid in treatment selection.

This invention relates to novel monoclonal antibodies that specifically bind to the alpha-folate receptor. In some embodiments, the antibodies inhibit a biological activity of folate receptor-α (FR-α). The antibodies are useful in the treatment of certain cancers, particularly cancers that have increased cell surface expression of the alpha-folate receptor (“FR-α”), such as ovarian, breast, renal, colorectal, lung, endometrial, or brain cancer. The invention also relates to cells expressing the monoclonal antibodies, antibody derivatives, such as chimeric and humanized monoclonal antibodies, antibody fragments, and methods of detecting and treating cancer using the antibodies, derivatives, and fragments.

The present invention provides methods for assessing whether a subject is at risk of developing a neurological disorder, diagnosing or confirming whether a subject is afflicted with a neurological disorder, assessing whether PD has progressed in a subject afflicted with PD, assessing whether a neurological disorder is developing in a subject who has been identified as being at risk of developing the neurological disorder, assessing whether a subject afflicted with a neurological disorder is likely to benefit from a therapy, assessing whether a subject afflicted with a neurological disorder has benefited from a therapy, treating a subject afflicted with a neurological disorder, and prophylactically treating a subject who has been identified as being at risk of developing a neurological disorder. The present invention also provides epitopes, compounds and compositions relating to these methods.

Device for forming buttons from a pin-on back plate, a front plate, and a cover over the front plate, with the device having a pair of button-forming dies alternately shiftable into operation alignment with a forming punch which on descent with the successively aligned dies cooperates with the latter to assemble the separate button parts into a button, and a cover-blanking punch and die set above the forming punch, of which the blanking die is topmost and has a die aperture open at the top and bottom and a cutting edge at the bottom of the aperture, with the blanking die being by the forming punch raised into blanking cooperation with the blanking die, and the forming punch being moved upwardly and downwardly by manually operable means.

Device for forming buttons from a pin-on back plate, a front plate, and a cover over the front plate, with the device having a pair of button-forming dies alternately shiftable into operative alignment with a forming punch which on descent into the successively aligned dies cooperates with the latter to assemble the separate button parts into a button, and a blanking punch and die set above the forming punch, of which the blanking punch is raised into cooperation with the blanking die for blanking a cover from a supply sheet, and a handlever operatively connected with the punches for simultaneously lowering the forming punch and raising the blanking punch.

Apparatus for covering buttons operable in an automatic, semi-automatic or manual mode. The apparatus includes a rotatable table having alternately positioned shell and back receiving lower dies, means for automatically delivering the shells and backs to their respective lower dies, a reciprocating upper die synchronized for movement with the rotation of the rotatable table and engageable with the lower dies at a first station to transfer a shell and fabric covering from a shell receiving lower die to the upper die and press-fit a back from a back receiving lower die into the covered shell in the upper die to form an assembled covered button and having means permitting its use with a range of fabric cover thicknesses, and means for ejecting the assembled covered buttons.

A button covering device having a platform with a central opening which forms a well to receive a button to be covered and the fabric for covering the button. A pair of sliding plates having contoured recesses are mounted on the platform whereby the contoured recesses may be positioned to overlap the opening to gather the fabric over the rear of the button.

A method for fabrication of a relatively low cost display or communicative novelty button in which a consumable restrictor sheet is placed over a vacuum draw type female mold cavity. The restrictor sheet may be of cardboard and be apertured with a diameter smaller than the mold cavity diameter. A thermoplastic sheet material is then placed over the restrictor sheet, heated to reach a formable state and vacuum drawn through the restricted aperture and down so that the sheet comes into contact with and generally conforms to the desired shape defined by the mold cavity. The plastic sheet material may then be trimmed near the edge of the restrictor sheet to leave a button shell mounted on a restrictor sheet which may then be used for purposes of display. The restrictor sheet also enables fabrication with an inwardly facing peripheral groove that may be used to secure a pin fastener. An alternate form of fastener in which a portion of the remaining plastic sheet is used is also disclosed.

A fabric covered button comprising a button head having a peripheral groove for receiving a locking ring. The fabric is secured to the button head and the marginal edge thereof is retained within the groove by the locking ring.

Apparatus for assembling covered buttons in which a first die assembly including a first punch carrying a first sleeve which sequentially receives a piece of covering material and the button shell with its flange extending toward the open end of the sleeve. A second assembly including a second sleeve having a bore one end of which is formed with a first cam surface extending axially inwardly of the above. The second sleeve is spring loaded to an extended position on a supporting post having a centrally located button back fastener receiving cavity in the end thereof with a second cam surface extending inwardly from the outer edge of the end to the bottom of a recess surrounding the cavity. An annular boss at the inner edge of the recess around the cavity is elevated to allow the material and the shell flange to curl inwardly under the button back. In the retracted position of the second sleeve on the post, the second cam surface forms a continuation of the first. In operation, when the first assembly carrying the covering piece and the shell moves toward the second assembly, the first sleeve stops against the spring loaded bottom sleeve and the punch continues forcing the material down so that the material is tucked inward by the beveled or curved surface of the second sleeve. Upon continued relative movement of the assemblies, the shell flange acts on the cam surface of the second sleeve to force the sleeve to its retracted position and the shell flange is moved inwardly of the back wall under the continued action of the first post, the extent of the inward movement of the shell flange being determined by the thickness of the material of the covering piece, as well as the height of the shell and the type of back used.

A device is disclosed for pressing objects by lifting the objects into a waiting pressing shaft. The shaft includes a forming element at its lower end for forming the object, and the shaft is engaged by its upper end through a pivot member to an air cylinder in a manner which provides a force advantage to the air cylinder. Also, a system for pressing objects is disclosed, in which the press device is employed in conjunction with a turntable for sequential and continuous pressing operations.

A universal assembly machine manufactures conventional buttons with formed backs. The machine comprises a rotatably indexable die table to which are mounted pickup and crimp dies. The die table indexes about a center column of the machine frame. A ram die is advancable and retractable in a pickup stroke and a crimp stroke by means of a handle. The ram die includes a ram outer ring that is rotatable by means of a shifter post joined to the die table. Indexing the die table causes the shifter post to rotate the ram outer ring into a pickup mode or a crimp mode to suit the ram pickup and crimp strokes, respectively. The universal assembly machine also manufactures buttons with flat backs by using a different crimp die pedestal than is used with the formed backs. An adapter on the crimp die pedestal used with formed backs allows that crimp die pedestal to also be used for manufacturing buttons with flat backs. The invention also embraces button medallions. A flat back button is loaded into the pickup die, and the die table is indexed. The ram die is advanced in a third press stroke to bend the shell frusto-conical wall of the flat back button inwardly to be flat and parallel to the flat back.

A machine manufactures buttons having coplanar shell flanges in a two-stroke operation. The machine comprises a crimp die having different resistances to advancement of a ram. The first resistance enables a metal shell margin to partially bend under a flat back that is placed on a first surface of the crimp die. The second resistance enables the shell wall to completely bend against a second surface of the crimp die so as to form flanges that lie in a single plane. Both round and rectangular buttons are manufacturable using the same basic machine. The rectangular machine uses a shifter cage on the ram that rotates in response to indexing a die table on which the crimp die and a pickup die are attached. The round machine uses a rotatable frame on the ram. With the rectangular machine, the shell is initially bent during a pickup stroke of the ram.

A button making device capable of simply exchanging a first pressed mold, a second pressed mold, and a pressing mold so as to produce buttons of different sizes; a polygonal button whose front surface plate is dome-wise curved and has its shape fixed; and such a button making device, are provided. The button making device has a sliding platform, two pressed molds, a fixed member, a pressing shaft, a pressing mold, and an operation mechanism. The pressed molds are provided on an attachment member which is removably attached to the sliding platform. The pressing mold is removably attached to a lower end of the pressing shaft using magnetic force. The present invention can be used for a button making device which can easily form a metal button by press processing which can be used as an accessory adhered to clothes or the like by a pin or the like.

The present invention relates to a button manufacturing device that is lightweight and robust, and that can be operated even at an unstable location and in a small space. A button manufacturing device comprises a base, a slide platform disposed on the base for reciprocating movement, first and second lower dies provided on both sides of the slide platform in the reciprocating directions, a press screw shaft capable of moving in the axial direction by screwing into a female screw section provided on a beam fixed to the upper part of struts, fixed on the base, an upper die provided on a lower end of the press screw shaft for joining to the first lower die or the second lower die, and an operating handle provided on an upper part of the press screw shaft.

A mounting device, for mounting a plurality of buttons on a product, includes a supporting member, a punching member, and a driving member The supporting member includes a supporting panel, a plurality of holding portions fixed on the supporting panel for supporting the product, a molding board having a plurality of molding holes a platform, and a base fixed on the platform for supporting the molding board. The punching member includes a retaining member positioned above the supporting member, and a plurality of cutters fixed to the retaining member The cutters cut the buttons off a button assembly, and couple to a vacuum generator for creating suction to hold the buttons. The driving member drives the punching member to mount the buttons on the product.

A method for removing 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) from solution may include contacting an alkaline earth metal silicate with a solution containing 4-MEI and adsorbing at least some of the 4-MEI using the alkaline earth metal silicate. The method may further include removing at least some of the alkaline earth metal silicate having the adsorbed 4-MEI from the solution. The alkaline earth metal silicate may include magnesium silicate or calcium silicate. A method for removing 4-MEI from solution may include contacting an adsorbent clay material with a solution containing 4-MEI and adsorbing at least some of the 4-MEI using the adsorbent clay material. The method may further include removing at least some of the adsorbent clay material having the adsorbed 4-MEI from the solution. The adsorbent clay material may include smectite, bentonite, or an activated or un-activated AOCS day material.

A shelf-stable snack product having visibly impactful vegetable inclusions, a composite dough for forming the shelf-stable snack product, and method of manufacture is disclosed herein. The shelf-stable snack product includes masa and a fresh vegetable ingredient, and a final moisture content in the range of about 1.7-2.5 weight percent. Additionally, the shelf-stable snack product has an l-value no less than a corresponding l-value of a plain version of the shelf-stable snack product lacking the vegetable inclusions.

The present disclosure relates to a method and a device for producing food products, in particular sleeveless products of a specific form with the following steps: entry of form parameters, display of the form of the food product as a function of the entered form parameters as a 2D or 3D graphic, calculation of process parameters as a function of the entered form parameters.

Rebaudioside M compositions with improved aqueous solubility and methods for preparing the same are provided herein. The rebaudioside M compositions include (i) disordered crystalline compositions comprising rebaudioside M and rebaudioside D, (ii) spray-dried compositions comprising rebaudioside M, rebaudioside D and steviol glycoside mixtures and/or rebaudioside B and/or NSF-02, (iii) spray-dried compositions comprising rebaudioside M, rebaudioside D and at least one surfactant, polymer, saponin, carbohydrate, polyol, preservative or a combination thereof. Sweetened compositions, such a beverages, containing the rebaudioside M compositions with improved water solubility are also provided herein.

A salad making device is able to be used to make a handheld salad for easier consumption instead of the typical salad in a bowl. A wrapper is able to be used to secure the compacted salad materials.