Manual for starch gel electrophoresis: A method for the detection of genetic variation

The procedure to conduct horizontal starch gel electrophoresis on enzymes is described in detail. Areas covered are (I) collection and storage of specimens, (2) preparation of tissues, (3) preparation of a starch gel, (4) application of enzyme extracts to a gel, (5) setting up a gel for electrophoresis, (6) slicing a gel, and (7) staining a gel. Recipes are also included for 47 enzyme stains and 3 selected gel buffers. (PDF file contains 26 pages.

Transverse "resistance overshoot" in a Si/SiGe two-dimensional electron gas in the quantum Hall effect regime

We investigate the peculiarities of the "overshoot" phenomena in the transverse Hall resistance R_{xy} in Si/SiGe. Near the low magnetic field end of the quantum Hall effect plateaus, when the filling factor \nu approaches an integer i, R_{xy} overshoots the normal plateau value h/ie^2. However, if magnetic field B increases further, R_{xy} decreases to its normal value. It is shown that in the investigated sample n-Si/Si_{0.7}Ge_{0.3}, overshoots exist for almost all \nu. Existence of overshoot in R_{xy} observed in different materials and for different \nu, where splitting of the adjacent Landau bands has different character, hints at the common origin of this effect. Comparison of the experimental curves R_{xy}(\nu) for \nu = 3 and \nu = 5 with and without overshoot showed that this effect exist in the whole interval between plateaus, not only in the region where R_{xy} exceeds the normal plateau value.Comment: 3 pages, 5 EPS figure

Bayesian Inference of GNSS Failures

International audienceThe probability of failure (failure rate) is a key input parameter to integrity monitoring systems used for safety, liability or mission critical applications. A standard approach in the design of Global Positioning System (GPS) integrity monitoring is to utilize the service commitment on the probability of major service failure, often by applying a conservative factor. This paper addresses the question of what factor is appropriate by applying Bayesian inference to real and hypothetical fault histories. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) anomalies include clock or signal transmission type faults which are punctual (may occur at any time) and incorrect ephemeris data which are broadcast for a nominal two hours. These two types of anomaly, classified as continuous and discrete respectively are addressed. Bounds on the total probability of failure are obtained with given confidence levels subject to well defined hypotheses relating past to future performance. Factors for the GPS service commitment of 10-5 per hour per satellite are obtained within the range two to five with high confidence (up to 1-10-9)

Modelling inhalation exposure to combustion-related air pollutants in residential buildings: Application to health impact assessment.

Buildings in developed countries are becoming increasingly airtight as a response to stricter energy efficiency requirements. At the same time, changes are occurring to the ways in which household energy is supplied, distributed and used. These changes are having important impacts on exposure to indoor air pollutants in residential buildings and present new challenges for professionals interested in assessing the effects of housing on public health. In many circumstances, models are the most appropriate way with which to examine the potential outcomes of future environmental and/or building interventions and policies. As such, there is a need to consider the current state of indoor air pollution exposure modelling. Various indoor exposure modelling techniques are available, ranging from simple statistical regression and mass-balance approaches, to more complex multizone and computational fluid dynamics tools that have correspondingly large input data requirements. This review demonstrates that there remain challenges which limit the applicability of current models to health impact assessment. However, these issues also present opportunities for better integration of indoor exposure modelling and epidemiology in the future. The final part of the review describes the application of indoor exposure models to health impact assessments, given current knowledge and data, and makes recommendations aimed at improving model predictions in the future

Water driven deformation in soft solids

Plants have utilized water to achieve many different types of motion, using the concepts that they use, we are able to develop a self-actuated soft solid-liquid composite. This self-actuation is driven by the evaporation and resulting tension of water, which can deform soft materials. The effects that water droplets deforming in soft solids have need to be characterized in order to utilize these composites. When water is embedded in elastomeric materials, it can undergo transitions known as breathing, buckling, and creasing. Breathing and creasing have been observed. These droplets are examined in elastomers of two different elastic modulus. When droplets in the stiffer elastomer crease they form just one crease, whereas less stiff elastomers crease in multiple areas, this is the result of the surface tension. Creasing is expected to set in for any embedded droplet when it shrinks to the same relative size ratio. However, there seems to be a dependence on the stiffness, stiffer samples crease at a smaller size. The pressure in the droplets appears to not reach the expected cavitation limit, which could be a result of not taking strain hardening effects into account in calculations. After studying how a single droplet deforms in an elastomer, multiple droplets are used together in order to achieve motion resulting from evaporation

Interfaces in partly compatible polymer mixtures: A Monte Carlo simulation approach

The structure of polymer coils near interfaces between coexisting phases of symmetrical polymer mixtures (AB) is discussed, as well as the structure of symmetric diblock copolymers of the same chain length N adsorbed at the interface. The problem is studied by Monte Carlo simulations of the bond fluctuation model on the simple cubic lattice, using massively parallel computers (CRAY T3D). While homopolymer coils in the strong segregation limit are oriented parallel to the interface, the diblocks form ``dumbbells'' oriented perpendicular to the interface. However, in the dilute case (``mushroom regime'' rather than ``brush regime''), the diblocks are only weakly stretched. Distribution functions for monomers at the chain ends and in the center of the polymer are obtained, and a comparison to the self consistent field theory is made.Comment: to appear in Physica