A simple device for intubation of rats

Endotracheal intubation of rats is often necessary for lengthy survival surgeries, but the animal's small size and the lack of suitable equipment may complicate the procedure. The authors describe the construction and use of a simple device for the easy intubation of rats, requiring no expensive, specialized equipment.     

A simple device for stationary cultivation of microorganisms

A new device is designed that is suitable for both laboratory- and industrial-scale cultivation of microorganisms, particularly filamentous fungi, on the surface of liquid media. The device reliably ensures the sterility of cultivation, regardless of its duration. Its installation costs are relatively low and maximum production is reached per unit of installation space. In comparison with submerged cultures in fermentors, the proposed mode does not use a high consumption of energy for stirring and aeration (consequently, the duration of cultivation is not an economically relevant factor) and does not require maintenance of complicated equipment. Due to the building and construction of the technological equipment, the production plant is capable of very fast expansion and, when the need arises of very fast and economical liquidation.     

A simple rapid mixing device

An instrument is described for the rapid mixing of solutions. Gas presure, controlled by electronically operated solenoid valves, is used to eject solutions from microsyringes into a stirred solution. It can be used to initiate and quench enzymatic reactions at times down to 0.5 s. Although this time resolution is longer than that of a conventional quenched-flow instrument, it has several advantages. It can be used for volumes of solutions as small as 20 μl. It covers a range of times inaccessible to conventional quenched-flow instruments and manual mixing techniques. Last, the instrument is very simple and can be easily and inexpensively constructed.     

一种昆虫过冷却点的简易测定装置

在前人的研究基础上改进了利用热敏电阻测定昆虫过冷却点和体液冰点的装置,经检验其准确度与常用的热电偶法基本相同,但其测定成功率较高,使用方便。本装置先录制热敏电阻值变化的全过程,便于随时调出并准确地读出过冷却点与体液冰点的热敏电阻值;开发了操作方便的昆虫夹,明显缩短了测定时间,提高了测定效率,可用于定期的、连续的昆虫过冷却点与体液冰点的批量测定。     

A simple device for dehulling seeds and grain

The simple device described operates on the principle of bouncing the seed between a “squirrel cage” type rotor and a ripple plate, thus impacting the hull from the kernel in contrast to the conventional milling or rolling procedures generally employed. Thirteen seed and grain types were dehulled during a single pass through the mill and screening device. Safflower seed could be effectively dehulled but required two passes through the mill. The efficiency of dehulling after one pass varied, but was 90% with sunflower seed and 95% with cottonseed.The extent of the dehulling was proportional to the velocity of the rotor tips and could be readily varied. Consequently the mill was able to process a wide variety of seed and also other materials such as dry lucerne hay. Wear and maintenance were minimal as sharp knife edges or a precise gap between the rotor and the ripple plate were not required.     

A simple device for spot counting in photomicrographs or electron micrographs.

A simple apparatus for spot counting in photomicrographs or electron micrographs is described, consisting of an illuminator on which the photographic print in placed and a counting pen. By making small holes in the photograph with the specially designed spring-loaded counting pen, the spot counted can be clearly located by the light from the illuminator falling through the hole, whereas a microswitch built into the counting pen makes an electronic counting system to move one digit.