This invention provides compositions and methods for detecting differences in copy number of a target polynucleotide. In some cases, the methods and compositions provided herein are useful for diagnosis of fetal genetic abnormalities, when the starting sample is maternal tissue (e.g., blood, plasma). The methods and materials described apply techniques for allowing detection of small, but statistically significant, differences in polynucleotide copy number.

Methods and systems for creating emulsions are described. Also described are the emulsions created by the methods or with the systems.

A method and a system for in-situ remediation of recalcitrant organic and inorganic contaminants in an environmental medium are disclosed. Dissolved gases from water and an oil are removed to form degassed water and a degassed oil. The degassed water and the degassed oil are mixed to form a surfactant-free oil-in water emulsion. The surfactant-free oil-in-water emulsion is injected into the environmental medium, thereby producing anaerobic conditions to cause indigenous anerobic bacteria to biodegrade residual concentrations of the contaminants in the environmental medium.

An apparatus and a method for manufacturing instantly emulsified cosmetics is disclosed. The apparatus comprises: a housing; a pump in the housing for discharging an instantly emulsified emulsion outside of the housing; a first container in the housing for storing an internal fluid; a second container in the housing for storing a functional fluid including a functional raw material; a third container in the housing for storing an external fluid; a channel part in the housing for receiving the external fluid, the internal fluid and the functional fluid generate an emulsion; and a tube provides the pump with the emulsion generated in the channel part, wherein the channel part includes: a first channel for mixing the internal fluid and the functional fluid to generate a mixed fluid; and a second channel for mixing the mixed fluid provided from the first channel and the external fluid to generate an emulsion.

An apparatus and a method for manufacturing instantly emulsified cosmetics is disclosed. The apparatus comprises: a housing; a pump in the housing for discharging an instantly emulsified emulsion outside of the housing; a first container in the housing for storing an internal fluid; a second container in the housing for storing a functional fluid including a functional raw material; a third container in the housing for storing an external fluid; a channel part in the housing for receiving the external fluid, the internal fluid and the functional fluid generate an emulsion; and a tube provides the pump with the emulsion generated in the channel part, wherein the channel part includes: a first channel for mixing the internal fluid and the functional fluid to generate a mixed fluid; and a second channel for mixing the mixed fluid provided from the first channel and the external fluid to generate an emulsion.

Method of analysis. In the method, a first emulsion and a second emulsion substantially separated from one another by a spacer fluid may be formed. The first emulsion, the spacer fluid, and the second emulsion may be flowed in a channel from a fluid inlet to a fluid outlet of a heating and cooling station having two or more temperature-controlled zones, such that each emulsion is thermally cycled to promote amplification of a nucleic acid target in droplets of the emulsion. Amplification data may be collected from individual droplets of each emulsion downstream of the heating and cooling station. A level of the nucleic acid target present in each emulsion may be determined based on the amplification data collected from the individual droplets of the emulsion.

Method of analysis. In the method, a first emulsion and a second emulsion substantially separated from one another by a spacer fluid may be formed. The first emulsion, the spacer fluid, and the second emulsion may be flowed in a channel from a fluid inlet to a fluid outlet of a heating and cooling station having two or more temperature-controlled zones, such that each emulsion is thermally cycled to promote amplification of a nucleic acid target in droplets of the emulsion. Amplification data may be collected from individual droplets of each emulsion downstream of the heating and cooling station. A level of the nucleic acid target present in each emulsion may be determined based on the amplification data collected from the individual droplets of the emulsion.

Sometimes, a problem is obvious, everyone sees it, but nothing happens until someone decides to do something useful about it. Methods are herein provided for recovering heavy hydrocarbons from plastic materials and/or geo-formation. In one solution set, PVC waste materials are emulsified by an amine solvent in an aqueous phase, thereby extracting heavier hydrocarbons from the primary structure of PVC into the amine aqueous phase; followed by de-emulsifying the extracted heavier hydrocarbons by separating and recovering the amine solvent, and then separating the de-emulsified heavier hydrocarbons from the aqueous phase by a hydrophobic membrane.

The present invention discloses a method for preparing a micro-channel array plate, comprising the steps of : (1) arranging a first optical fiber glass rod and a second optical fiber glass rod closely, melting the two glass rods into a whole at a high temperature to obtain a melted glass rod, drawing the melted glass rod at least one time into a longer and thinner glass rod than the melted glass rod, and cutting the drawn glass rod into small pieces to obtain a micro-channel array plate blank, wherein the corrosion resistance of the first optical fiber glass rod and the second optical fiber glass rod to the same corrosive liquid is different; (2) corroding the micro-channel array plate blank by a corrosive liquid to obtain a micro-channel array plate crude product with through holes; and (3) conducting hydrophobic treatment on the micro-channel array plate crude product to obtain the micro-channel array plate.

A bio emulsion fuel manufacturing apparatus and method using vegetable oil is provided, including an oil tank unit configured to refine a vegetable oil introduced from an oil inlet by using a coagulant agent and a centrifugal decanter; a water tank unit configured to pretreat a water introduced from a water inlet by using a water tank catalyst; a first HHO gas infuser unit configured to introduce nano-bubbles into the water inside the water tank; a mixed oil unit connected to the oil tank unit and the water tank unit, and configured to produce a mixed oil by using an inline mixer; an ionization catalyst unit connected to the mixed oil unit and configured to convert the mixed oil to a bio emulsion fuel by using an ionization catalyst group; and a second HHO gas infuser unit configured to introduce HHO gas into the bio emulsion fuel.