We discuss several measures of the quality of a molecular orbital. Each requires only that the orbital be associated with a well-defined Fock operator and is thus applicable to both Hartree–Fock and density functional orbitals. One of the measures, the g diagnostic, ranges from g = 0 (perfect) to g = p/2 (poor) and is conceptually simple. We illustrate its usefulness by applying it to a number ...

LA Oc After a lively discussion at LabAutomation2005 in San Jose, we asked three major diagnostic companies to share their vision for the molecular diagnostics ‘‘rapidgrowing-and-more-than-ever’’ market. Happily, all of them complied and we are pleased to present insight from Bayer Healthcare, Beckman Coulter, and Roche Molecular Systems. To complement these perspectives, we invited a heavy use...

The mitochondrial respiratory chain (RC) results from the expression of both mitochondrial and nuclear genes. The number of disease-causing mutations in nuclear genes is steadily growing and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions and mutations account for no more than 15-20% of pediatric patients. Unfortunately, the disease-causing mutations have been identified for only a small number of patients...

Hematologic malignancies, particularly lymphoma and leukemia, are a diverse group of diseases with a myriad of different presentations. Although the diagnosis of these diseases can be straightforward, there are many cases in which the diagnosis is difficult to establish with conventional methods. Molecular diagnostic testing to identify oncogenes and clonal lymphocyte populations can aid in res...

In DNA-based diagnostics, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the most widely used DNA amplification method. To enable both sensitive and specific detection of agents causing infectious diseases, the PCR needs to be combined with methods to prepare the clinical sample containing the genetic material of the pathogen. Furthermore, methods for detection and DNA sequence analysis of the PCR ampl...

The rapid growth in molecular diagnostic testing, which has averaged between 10% and 20% per year for the past 5 years, is largely attributable to both breakthroughs in our basic understanding (i.e., the Human Genome Project) and in applied technology. In the past decade, molecular applications have moved from labor-intensive and manual to rapid and automated due to improvements in sample extra...

Larvae of many species of Sesiidae, the clearwing moths, are important pests in commercial nurseries, urban landscapes, timber stands, vineyards, and orchards. They cause economic loss by larval boring in stems and roots of herbaceous and woody plants. Researchers and growers often monitor for the presence of economically important sesiid adults with pheromone traps. These traps often attract m...

Over the past several years, the development and application of molecular diagnostic techniques has initiated a revolution in the diagnosis and monitoring of infectious diseases. Microbial phenotypic characteristics, such as protein, bacteriophage, and chromatographic profiles, as well as biotyping and susceptibility testing, are used in most routine laboratories for identification and differen...

BACKGROUND Molecular diagnostics devices are becoming smaller. With the advancement of miniaturization technologies, microchip-based systems will soon be available for genetic testing. The purpose of this review is to highlight the underlying principles in miniaturization, the strategies being developed for bioanalysis, and the potential impact on the practice of this rapidly growing medical di...

Acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) is characterised by proliferation of abnormal promyelocytes. The reciprocal translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 15 and 17, and the fusion between the retinoic acid receptor (RARa) gene, and PML gene, is unique to APL. Because of unsuccessful cytogenetic analysis of conventional G-banding technique (mitoses were not observed), we diagnosed three...