High-performance genetic analysis using microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis microplates.

This review focuses on some recent advances in realizing microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis (microCAE). In particular, the development of a novel rotary scanning confocal fluorescence detector has facilitated the high-speed collection of sequencing and genotyping data from radially formatted microCAE devices. The concomitant development of a convenient energy-transfer cassette labeling chemistry allows sensitive multicolor labeling of any DNA genotyping or sequencing analyte. High-performance hereditary haemochromatosis and short tandem repeat genotyping assays are demonstrated on these devices along with rapid mitochondrial DNA sequence polymorphism analysis. Progress in supporting technology such as robotic fluid dispensing and batched data analysis is also presented. The ultimate goal is to develop a parallel analysis platform capable of integrated sample preparation and automated electrophoretic analysis with a throughput 10-100 times that of current technology.     

Nonlinear Instability of the Two-Dimensional Striation Model About Smooth Steady States

The two-dimensional striation model consists of a nonlinear system of PDE's which arises in the modeling of the ionospheric plasma. The local-in-time existence of strong solutions is first proved using Banach's fixed point theorem. Then, under physically relevant assumptions, the system is shown to be nonlinearly unstable as soon as it is linearly unstable. Moreover, the instability occurs before the possible blow-up time of the solution. The proof relies on an earlier work of Hwang and Guo (2003 Hwang , H. J. , Guo , Y. ( 2003 ). On the dynamical Rayleigh–Taylor instability . Arch. of Rat. Mech. Anal. 167 : 235 – 253 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The first step of the proof is to investigate under which conditions the linearized system is unstable and to prove that its spectrum is bounded, by means of a variational formulation. The second one consists in constructing a family of solutions depending on the parameter δ measuring the smallness of the perturbation to the steady-state. Thanks to the boundedness of the linearized spectrum, this family of solutions is shown to be unstable by means of a power series expansion in δ.     

Flow field measurement by tracer photography

Methods of inserting and photographing tracers in an air stream are described. Successive positions of micrometer-sized oil drops are determined in centimeter-sized fields of a low power microscope by triple flash illumination at known intervals of 10 to 500 microseconds. Tracer positions read from the picture are entered into a computer and velocities calculated throughout the field. Some examples of computer displays of velocity fields are presented.     

Particle-hole amplitudes in spherical nuclei

Equations and relations are discussed which allow to calculate particle-hole amplitudes of excited states of spherical nuclei. In particular we investigate the case where the Bethe-Salpeter equation must be solved in both particle-hole channels.