1. A Pol III \u03b1 mutant having at least one mutation in one or more of motifs A and B, wherein said modified Pol III \u03b1 has altered activity relative to an unmodified Pol III \u03b1 not having said at least one mutation.
2. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 1, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant has altered dNTP discrimination activity relative to said unmodified Pol III \u03b1.
3. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 2, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant has increased affinity for a ddNTP.
4. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 2, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant comprises one or more mutations in motif B.
5. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 2, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant has increased affinity for a labeled nucleotide.
6. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 5, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant comprises one or more mutations in motif A.
7. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 5, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant comprises one or more mutations in motif B.
8. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 5, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant comprises one or more mutations in motif A and one or more mutations in motif B.
9. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 1, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant has altered primer discrimination activity relative to said unmodified Pol III \u03b1.
10. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 9, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant has increased affinity for RNA-primed template.
11. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 9, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant has decreased affinity for DNA-primed template.
12. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 9, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant has increased affinity for DNA-primed template.
13. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 9, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant has decreased affinity for RNA-primed template.
14. The Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 9, wherein said Pol III \u03b1 mutant comprises one or more mutations in motif B.
15. A modified Pol III replicase, comprising a Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to any one of claims 4, 8, or 14.
16. The modified Pol III replicase according to claim 15, wherein said modified Pol III replicase lacks a clamp loader.
17. The modified Pol III replicase according to claim 15, wherein said modified Pol III replicase comprises a \u03b2 sliding clamp.
18. A method for classifying a candidate polypeptide as a bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1, comprising identifying in said candidate polypeptide at least one of bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs A, B or C.
19. The method according to claim 18, comprising identifying in said candidate polypeptide said bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs A and B.
20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising determining the arrangement of said bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs A and B.
21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising determining the spacing of said bacterial Pol III \u03b1 motifs A and B.
22. The method according to claim 19, further comprising identifying in said candidate polypeptide bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motif C.
23. The method according to claim 22, further comprising determining the arrangement of said bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs C and A, C and B, or C and A and B.
24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising determining the spacing of said bacterial Pol III \u03b1 motifs C and A, C and B, or C and A and B.
25. The method according to claim 18, wherein said bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs correspond to gram positive bacteria.
26. The method according to claim 18, wherein said candidate polypeptide is derived from a human sample.
27. A nucleic acid amplification kit, comprising a Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 1.
28. A nucleic acid amplification reaction tube, comprising a Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 1.
29. A nucleic acid amplification reaction mixture, comprising a Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 1.
30. A method of replicating nucleic acid, comprising subjecting said nucleic acid to a replication reaction in a replication reaction mixture comprising a Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 1.
31. A method for amplifying and sequencing nucleic acid in a single reaction mixture, comprising subjecting said nucleic acid to a simultaneous amplification and sequencing reaction in a reaction mixture comprising a Pol III \u03b1 mutant according to claim 1.
32. A method for diagnosing a patient as having a bacterial infection, comprising identifying in a candidate polypeptide obtained from said patient bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs A, B, or C, or a combination thereof.
33. The method according to claim 32, comprising identifying in said candidate polypeptide at least two of said bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs.
34. The method according to claim 33, further comprising determining the arrangement of said at least two bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs in said candidate polypeptide.
35. The method according to claim 34, further comprising determining the spacing of said at least two bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs in said candidate polypeptide.
36. The method according to claim 35, wherein said bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs are gram positive bacterial Pol III consensus motifs.
37. A method for diagnosing a patient as having a bacterial infection, comprising obtaining a sample from said patient, and identifying in said sample a nucleic acid comprising one or more nucleotide sequences encoding one or more of bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs A, B, and C.
38. The method according to claim 37, wherein said nucleic acid comprises at least two of said nucleotide sequences encoding bacterial DNA Pol III \u03b1 motifs A, B, and C.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for manufacturing magnetic core laminations, the method comprising:
providing a first material having a desired magnetic permeability;
providing a second material having a desired thermal conductivity;
interspersing particles of the first and second materials; and
pressing the particles together in a desired shape of a magnetic core lamination, thereby binding the particles to each other and forming a composite material having the desired shape of the magnetic core lamination.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first portion of the volume of the composite material comprises the first material and retains the magnetic permeability of the first material.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein a second portion of the volume of the composite material comprises the second material and retains the thermal conductivity of the second material.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein a third portion of the volume of the composite material comprises voids.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the third portion comprises between 1% and 2% of the volume of the composite material.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the particles are pressed together at a temperature sufficient to fuse the particles to each other.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the particles are pressed together at a temperature which is insufficient to sinter the particles.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the particles are pressed together at a temperature of less than a sintering temperature of the first material and a sintering temperature of the second material.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein interspersing the particles of the first and second materials comprises milling together the particles of the first and second materials with a binder material.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein interspersing the particles of the first and second materials comprises coating particles of one of the first and second materials with the other of the first and second materials prior to pressing the particles together in the desired shape of the magnetic core lamination.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the particles of the one of the first and second materials are evenly coated with the other of the first and second materials.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the particles of the one of the first and second materials are unevenly coated with the other of the first and second materials.
13. An apparatus comprising:
an electric submersible pump motor having a magnetic core;
wherein the magnetic core includes a plurality of laminations, each lamination being formed of a composite material;
wherein a first portion of a volume of the composite material is a first material having a corresponding magnetic permeability;
wherein a second portion of the volume of the composite material is a second material having a corresponding thermal conductivity;
wherein the first portion of the volume of the composite material is distinct from the second portion of the volume of the composite material, and wherein the magnetic permeability and thermal conductivity characteristics of the first and second materials in the first and second volumes remain distinct.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first portion of a volume of the composite material comprises particles of the first material and the second portion of the volume of the composite material comprises particles of the second material, and wherein the particles of the first and second materials are fused together.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the particles of the first and second materials are non-sintered.
16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein a third portion of the volume of the composite material comprises voids.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the third portion comprises between 1% and 2% of the total volume of the composite material.
18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first material has a magnetic permeability of at least 3000 SI units and the second material has a thermal conductivity of at least 50 WmK.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the second material has a magnetic permeability of less than 3000 SI units and the first material has a thermal conductivity of less than 50 WmK.