A method including (a) providing an amplification reagent including an array of sites, and a solution having different target nucleic acids; and (b) reacting the amplification reagent to produce amplification sites each having a clonal population of amplicons from a target nucleic acid from the solution. The reacting can include simultaneously transporting the nucleic acids to the sites at an average transport rate, and amplifying the nucleic acids that transport to the sites at an average amplification rate, wherein the average amplification rate exceeds the average transport rate. The reacting can include producing a first amplicon from a nucleic acid that transports to each of the sites, and producing subsequent amplicons from the nucleic acid or from the first amplicon, wherein the average rate at which the subsequent amplicons are generated exceeds the average rate at which the first amplicon is generated.

Analysis of a system and/or sample involves the use of absorption-encoded micro beads. Each type of micro bead is encoded with amounts of the k dyes in a proportional relationship that is different from proportional relationships of the k dyes of others of the n types of absorption-encoded micro beads. A system and/or a sample can be analyzed using information obtained from detecting the one or more types of absorption-encoded micro beads.

The present invention provides methods, systems, assemblies, and articles for capturing single cells with a capture chip. In certain embodiments, the capture chip comprises a substrate comprising a plurality of cell-sized dimples or wells that each allow a single cell to be captured from a cell suspension. In some embodiments, the dimples or wells of the capture chip align with the holes or wells of a multi-well through-hole chip, and/or a multi-well chip, such that the cell, or the contents of the single cell, may be transferred to a corresponding well of the multi-well chip. In particular embodiments, the bottom of each dimple or well of the capture chip has a positive electrical charge sufficient to attract cells from a cell suspension flowing over the dimples or wells.

Disclosed is a method that combines high throughput and flexible nature of a cell-free protein microarray with the quantitative capability of surface plasmon resonance to detect >400 different protein interactions in <1 hour. A method of detecting interactions between a targeting agent and one or more proteins of interest is disclosed. The method includes producing a set of proteins of interest using a cell-free protein expression system; providing the set of proteins of interest on a protein microarray wherein each spot in the array comprises a protein of interest; contacting the protein microarray with a targeting agent that binds to one or more of the set of proteins of interest; and detecting the binding of the targeting agent to the set of proteins of interest using surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi), thereby detecting the targeting agent and one or more proteins of interest in the micro array.

An apparatus (100) including multiple biological chips (110,120) includes a substrate (101), a first adhesive layer (134) disposed on the substrate (101), a first biological chip (110) and a second biological chip (120) disposed on the first adhesive layer (134) and attached to the substrate (101) by the adhesive layer (134). The apparatus (100) further includes a filler (130) disposed between the first biological chip (110) and the second biological chip (120). The filler (130) includes a second adhesive layer (135) extending between a side surface (114) of the first biological chip (110) and a side surface (124) of the second biological chip (120), the second adhesive layer (135) attaching the first biological chip (110) to the second biological chip (120). The filler (130) also includes a surface layer (132) disposed over the second adhesive layer (135). The surface layer (132) has a hydrophobic surface that is co-planar with a top surface (111) of the first biological chip (110) and a top surface (121) of the second biological chip (120).

Methods of preparing a crosslinked hydraulic fracturing fluid include combining a hydraulic fracturing fluid comprising a polyacrylamide polymer with a plurality of coated proppants. The plurality of coated proppants include a proppant particle and a resin proppant coating on the proppant particle. The resin proppant coating includes resin and a zirconium oxide crosslinker. The resin includes at least one of phenol, furan, epoxy, urethane, phenol-formaldehyde, polyester, vinyl ester, and urea aldehyde. Methods further include allowing the zirconium oxide crosslinker within the resin proppant coating to crosslink the polyacrylamide polymer within the hydraulic fracturing fluid at a pH of at least 10, thereby forming the crosslinked hydraulic fracturing fluid.

Embodiments of the present application relate to patterned polymer sheets and processes to prepare the same for sequencing applications. In particular, flexible micro- and nano-patterned polymer sheets are prepared and used as a template surface in sequencing reaction and new polish-free methods of forming isolated hydrogel plugs in nanowells are described.

Disclosed is an encoded chemical library microbead, which microbead has immobilized thereon and/or therein: (i) an encoding tag; and (ii) a target assay system reporter moiety, wherein the reporter moiety exists in a first state in the absence of activity against the target and in a second state in the presence of said activity, and wherein said microbead further comprises a clonal population of one or more chemical structure(s) releasably linked thereto and encoded by said tag.

Provided in some aspects are methods for light-controlled in situ surface patterning of a substrate. Compositions such as nucleic acid arrays produced by the methods are also disclosed. In some embodiments, a method disclosed herein comprises using photoresist for photocontrollable hybridization and/or ligation of nucleic acid molecules, wherein photoresist removal allows hybridization and/or ligation of nucleic acid molecules at the exposed area. A large diversity of barcodes can be created in molecules on the substrate via sequential rounds of light exposure, hybridization, and ligation.

A mechanism for securing tubes in a fixed position is described wherein a body to which a tube is to be fixed has at least one smooth bore hole extending therethrough. A tube has an inner diameter accommodating fluid flow and an outer diameter passing through the smooth bore hole in slip fit relation with the smooth bore of the hole. A threaded hole with helical grooves is parallel to the smooth bore hole and located such that its grooves intersect the diameter of the smooth bore hole. A set screw made of a tougher material than the tube has threads that will seat in the threaded hole in a manner such that advancing the set screw scratches the outer diameter of the tube to a depth wherein the set screw retains the tube in place without deformation of the inner diameter of the tube whereby fluid flow in the tube is not affected by advancement of the set screw while the tube is retained in place by the set screw. The invention can connect tubes in all sorts of patterns with many center-to-center tube distances.