In order to provide a microarray analysis method that can perform alignment processing appropriately in an analysis of a DNA chip on which no positive control is arranged or an analysis of a chip on which a sample contains a small amount of DNAs, the microarray analysis method in which a microarray obtained by arranging probes on a substrate surface having an irregular shape is irradiated with excitation light and fluorescence amounts of the probes excited by the excitation light are obtained as numerical data includes a step (a) of measuring the fluorescence amounts of the probes to acquire fluorescence image data, a step (b) of receiving reflected light and/or scattered light from the substrate surface to acquire the irregular shape of the substrate surface of the microarray as alignment image data based on the light receiving intensities of the light, and a step (c) of determining positions of the probes on the fluorescence image data based on the alignment image data.

The present invention provides novel microfluidic devices and methods that are useful for performing high-throughput screening assays and combinatorial chemistry. Such methods can include labeling a library of compounds by emulsifying aqueous solutions of the compounds and aqueous solutions of unique liquid labels on a microfluidic device, which includes a plurality of electrically addressable, channel bearing fluidic modules integrally arranged on a microfabricated substrate such that a continuous channel is provided for flow of immiscible fluids, whereby each compound is labeled with a unique liquid label, pooling the labeled emulsions, coalescing the labeled emulsions with emulsions containing a specific cell or enzyme, thereby forming a nanoreactor, screening the nanoreactors for a desirable reaction between the contents of the nanoreactor, and decoding the liquid label,; thereby identifying a single compound from a library of compounds.

The present invention provides novel microfluidic devices and methods that are useful for performing high-throughput screening assays and combinatorial chemistry. Such methods can include labeling a library of compounds by emulsifying aqueous solutions of the compounds and aqueous solutions of unique liquid labels on a microfluidic device, which includes a plurality of electrically addressable, channel bearing fluidic modules integrally arranged on a microfabricated substrate such that a continuous channel is provided for flow of immiscible fluids, whereby each compound is labeled with a unique liquid label, pooling the labeled emulsions, coalescing the labeled emulsions with emulsions containing a specific cell or enzyme, thereby forming a nanoreactor, screening the nanoreactors for a desirable reaction between the contents of the nanoreactor, and decoding the liquid label,; thereby identifying a single compound from a library of compounds.

The invention relates to a reactor assembly for analyzing the effluent streams from a plurality of flow-through reactors, comprising:

- a plurality of flow-through reactors for performing chemical reactions, each reactor comprising:

- a reaction chamber (1), comprising a reaction zone (2), the reaction chamber being connected to

- at least one reactor inlet (3) for at least one reactant, upstream of the reaction zone,

- at least one reactor outlet (4) for the effluent stream from the reaction zone, downstream of the reaction zone,



- a housing comprising a base block and a cover element,

wherein the base block (5) comprises a plurality of first channels (6), each first channel accommodating a flow-through reactor and a second sealing element (12), arranged between the outside of the reactor and the inner wall of the fist channel,



wherein the reactor assembly further comprises:

- at least one analyzer for subjecting the effluent stream to an analyzing procedure, each reactor outlet being connected to at least one analyzer by an effluent conduit, and

- at least one dilution gas supply means (16), for adding at least one dilution gas to the effluent stream, downstream of the reaction zone,



characterized in that,

a space (14) is present in each first channel between the outer wall of the reactor and the inner wall of the first channel and below the second sealing element (12),

and in that the base block comprises fourth channels, each fourth channel being connected to a first channel and opening in said space (14) in that first channel below the second sealing element and above the reactor outlet for adding a dilution gas to the effluent stream of the reactor arranged in said first channel.

A method of characterizing materials comprising the steps of: providing a substrate; synthesizing an array of materials on said substrate; providing at least one reactant gas wherein said reactant gas is in contact with said array of materials; activating at least one of said materials on said array with a heating source; and periodically monitoring an infrared emission from said activated material with an infrared camera, wherein said infrared camera outputs a series of signals corresponding to an emission intensity varying with time of said activated material.

A conduit system for an apparatus for screening materials is provided, wherein the conduit system comprises a sampling probe having an inner passage and an outer passage concentrically arranged around the inner passage. Moreover, a screening apparatus including the conduit system and a method of operating the apparatus are provided.

Apparatus suitable for high throughput experimentation, comprising an assembly (1) for housing at least one vessel (2) having a first and second vessel opening (3, 4), the assembly (1) comprising:

• a base block (5) having at least one through going first channel (6) for removably housing the vessel (2), having a first channel opening (19), opening in a first face (7) of the block, and a second channel opening (18), opening in a second face (8) of the block (5);
• a cover element (9) with the bottom surface (10) facing the base block (5) being releasably attached to the first face (7) thereof;
• a first sealing element (11) between the first face (7) of the base block (5) and the bottom surface (10) of the cover element (9), being placed such that it seals gastight around said first channel opening (19) between the cover element (9) and the base block (5); and
• a second sealing element (12) located in the first channel (6) around the vessel (2), sealing gastight against the inside of the first channel (6) and the outside of the vessel (2).