| University of Cape Town Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20120046183 | METHOD OF DIAGNOSING A MENTAL STATE - A method of assessing a psychiatric disorder, behavioural problem or mental state following exposure to stress is described. Expression levels of mRNA transcripts for a plurality of genes linked to a stress-related neural state in the peripheral blood of a subject are measured. The expression levels of the genes, relative to a reference set of expression levels for the same genes in a healthy subject, are used to predict or assess a psychiatric disorder following exposure to a stressor. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120018551 | Method of Producing Stable Oxygen Terminated Semiconducting Nanoparticles - A method is provided of producing inorganic semiconducting nanoparticles having a stable surface. The method comprises providing an inorganic bulk semiconductor material, such as silicon or germanium, and milling the bulk semiconductor material in the presence of a selected reducing agent. The reducing agent acts to chemically reduce oxides of one or more component elements of the semiconductor material, or prevent the formation of such oxides by being preferentially oxidised, thereby to provide semiconducting nanoparticles having a stable surface which allows electrical contact between the nanoparticles. The milling may take place in a mill in which the milling media and/or one or more components of the mill comprise the selected reducing agent. For example, the milling can be carried out in a high energy mill with a hammer action in which a pestle of the mill, a mortar of the mill, or both are composed of the selected reducing agent, or a low energy, stirred media mill, such as a ball mill, a rod mill or similar, in which the milling media, a lining of the mill, or both are composed of the reducing agent. The milling media or mill are typically composed of a metal selected from the group comprising iron, chromium, cobalt, nickel, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, and aluminium, or an alloy containing one or more of said metals. In another embodiment of the method, the selected reducing agent comprises a liquid contained in the mill during milling of the bulk semiconductor material. The liquid is typically an acidic solution containing any of hydrochloric, sulphuric, nitric, acetic, formic, or carbonic acid, or a mixture thereof. The invention extends to a mill for carrying out the method. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120003642 | OLIGONUCLEOTIDES AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING SUSCEPTIBILITY TO SOFT TISSUE INJURIES - A method of determining in a subject a predisposition to, or increased risk for, developing a tendon, ligament, or other soft tissue injury or pathology, the method comprising the step of screening the subject for the presence of at least one poly-morphism in at least one gene family selected from the group consisting of any one or more of: the matrix metallo-protease (MMP) family, the collagen family, including the COL5A1 and COL12A1 genes, the glycoprotein family, including the TNC and COMP genes, and derivatives thereof, which polymorphism is a polymorphism which results in a modified, augmented, or gated interaction with other members of the gene families mentioned herein, when compared to a wild-type interaction. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20110230756 | FLUID FLOW ASSESSMENT - A method of assessing fluid flow in a body is provided which includes phase contrast velocity encoded MRI scanning the body to obtain the velocity of fluids flowing in each of a plurality of volume elements (voxels) in three orthogonal directions; determining whether the flow in each voxel ( | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110204884 | MAGNETOMETER - A magnetometer which includes an elongate reactor in which a sample can be secured in a sample support zone and which is located within a magnetic field space of a magnetic field generator and one or more signal pickup coils. Movement generating means is provided for generating relative movement in a generally linear direction between the reactor and at least one of the magnetic field and pickup coil, preferably by moving the reactor in its length. The magnetometer is characterised in that the reactor is a metal tube having a length which permits its ends to remain external of the signal pickup device during the relative movement. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110190368 | Organosulfur Compounds, a Method of Making Organosulfur Compounds and their Use for Inhibiting the Growth of Tumour Cells - Organosulfur compounds of the general formula (2) are described, wherein R | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110080452 | Inkjet Printing of Nanoparticulate Functional Inks - Apparatus for depositing ink on a substrate includes a nozzle defining an outlet for the ink, with at least a portion of the nozzle being electrically conductive. A first voltage source applies a first potential to the outlet nozzle. One or more auxiliary electrodes are located adjacent the outlet nozzle, and a second voltage source applies a second potential to the auxiliary electrodes. The apparatus includes a piezo-electric or thermal actuator for expelling ink from the nozzle towards a target zone on a substrate, the ink comprising a liquid vehicle and pigment particles dispersed in the vehicle. At least the pigment particles are electrically charged, typically due to the applied potentials. In one embodiment, an auxiliary electrode is disposed coaxially around the electrode formed by the nozzle. In another embodiment, an auxiliary electrode located beyond the nozzle, on a common axis with the electrode formed by the nozzle. The configuration of the nozzle, the auxiliary electrodes, and the values of the first and second potentials are selected to cause pigment particles to be concentrated in the target zone, so that a quantity of the pigment particles is deposited in the target zone having a higher concentration than the concentration of the pigment particles in the ink. The invention extends to a method of depositing ink on a substrate. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20100275327 | METHOD OF INCREASING ABIOTIC STRESS TOLERANCE IN PLANTS - A method of increasing abiotic stress tolerance in a plant is described, the method comprising transforming the plant with a vector comprising a nucleic acid which is at least 80% identical to SEQ I.D. NO: 10. Plants or plant parts transformed with these sequences are also described. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100173977 | Crystal - The present invention relates to a crystal. In particular the present invention relates to a crystal of the N-domain of ACE protein. The present invention also relates to methods, processes, domain specific modulators, pharmaceutical compositions and uses of the N-domain crystal and the structure co-ordinates thereof. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100160180 | Crystal Structure of an Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) and Uses Thereof - The present invention relates to a crystal of ACE protein. The present invention further relates to methods, processes, ACE modulators, pharmaceutical compositions and uses of the ACE crystal and the structure co-ordinates thereof. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20090142822 | Crystal Structure of an Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) and Uses Thereof - The present invention relates to a crystal of ACE protein. The present invention further relates to methods, processes, ACE modulators, pharmaceutical compositions and uses of ACE crystal and the structure coordinates thereof. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090092855 | Doping of particulate semiconductor materials - The invention relates to a method of doping semiconductor material. Essentially, the method comprises mixing a quantity of particulate semiconductor material with an ionic salt or a preparation of ionic salts. Preferably, the particulate semiconductor material comprises nanoparticles with a size in the range 1 nm to 100 μm. Most preferably, the particle size is in the range from 50 nm to 500 nm. Preferred semiconductor materials are intrinsic and metallurgical grade silicon. The invention extends to a printable composition comprising the doped semiconductor material as well as a binder and a solvent. The invention also extends to a semiconductor device formed from layers of the printable composition having p and n type properties. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090076245 | HIV-1 Subtype Isolate Regulatory/Accessory Genes, and Modification and Derivatives Thereof - The invention describes HIV-1 subtype isolate regulatory/accessory genes, and modifications and derivatives thereof. The genes which are described are the tat, nef and rev genes. Consensus amino acid sequences are also disclosed. The invention also relates to a vaccine including two or more of the nucleotide sequences, and nucleotide sequences from the pol and/or gag genes of HIV-1. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090047302 | Chimaeric Human Papillomavirus 16 L1 Virus Like Particles and a Method for Preparing the Particles - A method for producing a chimaeric human papillomavirus (HPV) L1 polypeptide containing a heterologous peptide, and in particular, a HPV L2 peptide comprising the steps of introducing a DNA sequence coding for the heterologous peptide into a DNA sequence coding for the L1 polypeptide; introducing the DNA sequence including the sequences for the L1 polypeptide and heterologous peptide into a host cell in which the DNA sequence can be expressed; causing expression of the DNA sequence; and recovering the resulting chimaeric L1 polypeptide which includes the heterologous peptide. The invention also describes a vector for use in the method, a host cell containing the vector, and a vaccine including the chimaeric HPV L1 polypeptide produced according to the method. | 02-19-2009 |
