Abstract: The invention relates to a device for detecting the corrosion induced by a medium on a structure. The device comprises a chamber (5) closed by a closing disc (4) made of such a material that the disc becomes permeable to the medium once corroded by the medium, and means for measuring the refractive index of the medium present in the chamber. According to a preferred embodiment, an optical fiber is used to measure the refractive index variation.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for detecting the corrosion induced by a medium on a structure. The device comprises a chamber (5) closed by a closing disc (4) made of such a material that the disc becomes permeable to the medium once corroded by the medium, and means for measuring the refractive index of the medium present in the chamber. According to a preferred embodiment, an optical fiber is used to measure the refractive index variation.

Abstract: A target nucleic acid sequence amplification method wherein at least the target nucleic acid sequence, at least one oligonucleotide primer specific for the target sequence, one or more enzymatic activities and nucleotides are provided, and the target sequence is amplified under conditions suitable in particular for said enzymatic or activity or activities, is disclosed. According to the method, at least one of the nucleotides is a prefunctionalized nucleotide that differs from the other nucleotides at least in that it includes at least one unprotected reactive covalence function in at least one predetermined site of the base of said nucleotide, in order to give a prefunctionalized amplificati product including at least one such prefunctionalized nucleotide. Nucleotides for carrying out the method are also disclosed.

Abstract: The extension of primers capable of hybridizing to the nucleic acid of interest results in a process for generating single-stranded polynucleotides. The process includes contacting the nucleic acid of interest under conditions allowing extension of the primers with a first primer and a second primer capable of hybridizing to a first region and a second region, respectively, of the nucleic acid, wherein the second region overlaps with the first region.

Abstract: An oligonucleotide is intended to be used as a promoter non-template strand in the transcription of a sequence of a nucleotide target in the presence of a phage RNA polymerase. The phage RNA polymerase has specific natural promoters containing a consensus sequence from at least position -17 to position -1. The oligonucleotide contains a core sequence flanked at at least one of its ends by a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridization with a sequence of the target. The core sequence contains a sequence of 6 to 9 consecutive nucleotides from the region -12 to -4 of the non-template strand of the specific promoter, or a sufficiently homologous sequence to enable the functionality of the RNA polymerase to be retained.

Abstract: Oligonucleotide comprising, from 5' to 3', a first portion comprising an upstream segment and a downstream segment forming a stem-loop structure, and a second portion not capable of self-pairing, in which the first portion comprises at least one blocking agent, capable of blocking the replication, by a polymerase, of the said oligonucleotide, such that at least one portion of the downstream segment is replicated and such that the upstream segment is replicated neither totally nor partially. This oligonucleotide can be used as primer in a process for the cyclic amplification of a target sequence of a nucleic acid.

Abstract: A target nucleic acid sequence is amplified by providing a polynucleotide such as VII including the sequence to be amplified as well as an RNA polymerase promoter sequence, and contacting said polynucleotide, in the presence of a system having the RNA polymerase activity, a RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity, and a DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity and capable of strand displacement, with a set of primers. The primers include a primer such as A capable of hybridizing with a segment complementary to a portion of the sequence to be amplified, wherein A includes an upstream RNA polymerase promoter sequence followed by an arbitrary sequence, a primer such as D containing said RNA polymerase promoter sequence, and primer such as C containing said arbitrary sequence. The elongation product of D is displaced by the elongation product of C, and the elongation product of D is thus obtained in the form of single-stranded VIII.

Abstract: The telephone circuit of the invention comprises a transmission circuit short-circuited during decimal numbering by an active circuit when the handset is lifted or during the emission of a decimal numbering digit, the line current supplying, through a voltage stabilizing circuit and a voltage regulation circuit, the microprocessor controlling the telephone circuit.