A modular microfluidic system for deoxyribonucleic acid identification by short tandem repeat analysis

Microfluidic technology has been utilized in the development of a modular system for DNA identification through STR (short tandem repeat) analysis, reducing the total analysis time from the ∼6 h required with conventional approaches to less than 3 h. Results demonstrate the utilization of microfluidic devices for the purification, amplification, separation and detection of 9 loci associated with a commercially-available miniSTR amplification kit commonly used in the forensic community. First, DNA from buccal swabs purified in a microdevice was proven amplifiable for the 9 miniSTR loci via infrared (IR)-mediated PCR (polymerase chain reaction) on a microdevice. Microchip electrophoresis (ME) was then demonstrated as an effective method for the separation and detection of the chip-purified and chip-amplified DNA with results equivalent to those obtained using conventional separation methods on an ABI 310 Genetic Analyzer. The 3-chip system presented here demonstrates development of a modular, microfluidic system for STR analysis, allowing for user-discretion as to how to proceed after each process during the analysis of forensic casework samples.     

Microchip extraction of catecholamines using a boronic acid functional affinity monolith

A novel solid phase extraction microchip with a boronic acid functional affinity monolithic disc was developed in this work. Vinyl phenylboronic acid–ethylene glycol dimethacrylate co-polymer monoliths, which have pore sizes up to 20 μm, were investigated for extraction of catecholamines using adsorption and desorption studies in a batch system. Desorption yields of greater than 90% were achieved for catecholamines at pH 3 and below. Monolithic discs were then formed in chambers in borofloat glass microfluidic chips using in situ UV polymerization. Adsorption on the monolithic discs was performed via electrokinetic flow, with catecholamines determined via laser-induced native fluorescence (LINF) detection following electrokinetic elution. Microchips containing the boronic acid functional polymer discs worked well for extraction of catecholamines, providing greater than 100 fold concentration enrichment. This study demonstrated that a solid phase extraction microchip, containing an easily prepared monolith disc, will be useful for boronate affinity extraction of cis-diol containing compounds.     

内埋炸药下超高韧性水泥基复合材料的抗爆性能

为研究超高韧性水泥基复合材料(ultra-high toughness cementitious composites, UHTCC)在内埋炸药爆炸下的抗爆性能和损伤破坏规律,对不同炸药埋深下的UHTCC和高强混凝土(high-strength concrete, HSC)进行了内埋炸药抗爆实验。得到了两种材料靶体的破坏状态,并利用接触爆炸的实验结果计算出了两种材料的抗爆性能参数。结果表明,在相同条件下,UHTCC抗爆性能优于高强混凝土。为了进一步探究UHTCC的抗压强度、抗拉强度以及拉伸韧性对靶体在内埋炸药下抗爆性能的影响,首先,采用改进的K&C模型对炸药埋深为40 mm的超高韧性水泥基复合材料靶体进行数值模拟,模拟结果与实验结果基本吻合,并根据数值模拟的结果得到了爆炸冲击波沿靶体径向衰减速度大于轴向衰减速度这一规律,验证了数值模型的有效性;然后,通过调整改进K&C模型中与抗压强度、抗拉强度以及拉伸韧性相关的参数,数值预测了不同抗压强度、抗拉强度以及拉伸韧性下UHTCC靶体的破坏状态,发现增强UHTCC的韧性可以有效防止靶体发生整体性破坏,增大UHTCC的抗拉强度可以减小靶体迎爆面的开坑直径,增大UHTCC的抗压强度对减小开坑直径效果不明显。     

Investigation of structural and electronic properties of β- HgS: Molecular dynamics simulations

The pressure induced phase transition of β-HgS is studied using an ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. The structural phase transformation from the zinc-blende structure to the NaCl-type structure (space group $Fm\overline{3}m$) and from this structure to CsCl-type structure ($Pm\overline{3}m$) with the application of hydrostatic pressure is predicted. Additionally, the electronic properties of HgS and various physical properties such as the lattice constants, the bulk modulus and the pressure derivative of the bulk modulus are revealed. Furthermore, these phase transitions are obtained using the total energy and enthalpy calculations. According to these calculations these transformations are occurring at about 20?GPa and 28?GPa for $F\overline{4}3m$ →$Fm\overline{3}m$ and $Fm\overline{3}m$ →$Pm\overline{3}m$, respectively.     

A new ultra‐high‐vacuum variable temperature and high‐magnetic‐field X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism facility at LNLS

X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) is one of the most powerful tools for investigating the magnetic properties of different types of materials that display ferromagnetic behavior. Compared with other magnetic‐sensitive techniques, XMCD has the advantage of being element specific and is capable of separating the spin and magnetic moment contributions associated with each element in the sample. In samples involving, for example, buried atoms, clusters on surfaces or at interfaces, ultrathin films, nanoparticles and nanostructures, three experimental conditions must be present to perform state‐of‐the‐art XMCD measurements: high magnetic fields, low temperatures and an ultra‐high‐vacuum environment. This paper describes a new apparatus that can be easily installed at different X‐ray and UV beamlines at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS). The apparatus combines the three characteristics described above and different methods to measure the absorption signal. It also permits in situ sample preparation and transfer to another chamber for measurement by conventional surface science techniques such as low‐energy electron diffraction (LEED), reflection high‐energy electron diffraction (RHEED), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X‐ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD). Examples are given of XMCD measurements performed with this set‐up on different materials.     

Joint convergence of conditional expectations

Let P_n, nIN{0}, be probability measures on a-fieldA; f_n, nIN{0}, be a family of uniformly boundedA-measurable functions andA _n, nIN, be a sequence of sub--fields ofA, increasing or decreasing to the-fieldA _o. It is shown in this paper that the conditional expectations converge in P_o-measure to with k, n, m , if P_n|A, nIN, converges uniformly to P_n|A and f_n, nIN, converges in P_o-measure to f_o.     

Discontinuous extensions and almost resolvability

It is proven that in large classes of topological spaces each real-valued continuous function on aG _δ-setG has an extension to the whole space which is continuous exactly at the points ofG. AmongG _δ-spaces this property characterizes the almost resolvable normal spaces.