The present invention relates to a method for analyzing and selecting a specific droplet among a plurality of droplets (4), comprising the following steps: —providing a plurality of droplets (4), —for a droplet (4) among the plurality of droplets, measuring at least two optical signals, each optical signal being representative of a light intensity spatial distribution in the droplet for an associated wavelength channel, —calculating a plurality of parameters from the optical signals, —determining a sorting class for a droplet according to calculated parameters, —sorting said droplet according to its sorting class, wherein the plurality of parameters comprises the coordinates of a maximum for each optical signal and a co-localization parameter and the at least two calculated parameters used for the determining step comprises the co-localization parameter.

The present invention provides a connector (18) for use in a beverage dispense system (1), the connector (18) defining a conduit for connecting a beverage line (2) to a beverage supply (4). The connector (18) comprises an electrical sensor (21) (e.g. a capacitive sensor) for measuring an electrical parameter of a beverage within the connector conduit. The electrical parameter and/or changes in the electrical parameter can be used to detect bubbles in the beverage and/or identify the type/brand of beverage.

Systems having an unfiltered light scatter detector configured to detect scattered light from a sample in a flow stream are provided. Systems according to certain embodiments include a light source having two or more lasers, a light detection system having an unfiltered light scatter detector and a processor having memory operably coupled to the processor where the memory includes instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to generate one or more data signals in response to scattered light from each of the two or more lasers detected by the unfiltered light scatter detector; and determine one or more parameters of data acquisition based on the generated data signals from the unfiltered light scatter detector. Methods for determining one or more parameters for data acquisition with the subject systems are also described.

A system and method for sorting sperm is provided. The system includes a housing and a microfluidic system supported by the housing. The system also includes an inlet providing access to the microfluidic system to deliver sperm to the microfluidic system and an outlet providing access to the microfluidic system to harvest sorted sperm from the microfluidic system. The microfluidic system provides a flow path for sperm from the inlet to the outlet and includes at least one channel extending from the inlet to the outlet to allow sperm delivered to the microfluidic system through the inlet to progress along the flow path toward the outlet. The microfluidic system also includes a filter including a first plurality of micropores arranged in the flow path between the inlet and the outlet to cause sperm traveling along the flow path to move against through the filter and gravity to reach the outlet.

A system and method for sorting sperm is provided. The system includes a housing and a microfluidic system supported by the housing. The system also includes an inlet providing access to the microfluidic system to deliver sperm to the microfluidic system and an outlet providing access to the microfluidic system to harvest sorted sperm from the microfluidic system. The microfluidic system provides a flow path for sperm from the inlet to the outlet and includes at least one channel extending from the inlet to the outlet to allow sperm delivered to the microfluidic system through the inlet to progress along the flow path toward the outlet. The microfluidic system also includes a filter including a first plurality of micropores arranged in the flow path between the inlet and the outlet to cause sperm traveling along the flow path to move against through the filter and gravity to reach the outlet.

Cell counting device A cell counting device and a method of using a cell counting device are disclosed. The cell counting device comprises a chamber for receiving a sample, at least one light source to emit light towards a section of the chamber. The section of the chamber comprises a sub-sample of the sample. The cell counting device also comprises a light detector to receive a light emitted from the section of the chamber and to generate an electronic signal associated with the received light, and a controller. The controller is configured to estimate the number of photoactive cells in the sample by calculating the distribution of variable fluorescence [F.sub.v] values of a predetermined number of sub-samples about the mean F.sub.v value.

A urine analysis system according to an embodiment includes: a testing apparatus that measures particles included in a urine sample according to a flow cytometry method; an image capturing apparatus that captures images of particles in the urine sample to acquire particle images; and a management apparatus that receives a measurement result obtained by the testing apparatus and the particle images acquired by the image capturing apparatus. The management apparatus generates an order to capture an image of the urine sample based on the measurement result obtained by the testing apparatus. The image capturing apparatus executes the image capturing processing of the particles in the urine sample for which the image capturing order has been generated by the management apparatus, and transmits the acquired particle images to the management apparatus.

A blood cell analysis method and a blood cell analyzer are provided. In the method and analyzer, characteristic information of white blood cell fragments is obtained based on side scattered light information and fluorescence information, characteristic information of platelets is obtained based on forward scattered light information and fluorescence information and then a count value for the platelets is acquired based on the characteristic information of the platelets and the characteristic information of the white blood cell fragments. The present invention can avoid the influence of the white blood cell fragments on the platelet counting, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the platelet counting without increasing costs.

A method and system for imaging thermodynamic phase of clouds includes obtaining a spatially-resolved polarimetric image of a region of the sky containing a cloud using a multipixel image sensor having multiple channels corresponding to different wavelength bands, determining a value of the Stokes S.sub.1 polarization parameter of incident light on each pixel corresponding to a portion of the image containing the cloud for multiple channels corresponding to different wavelength bands, and determining the thermodynamic phase of the cloud within the image based on the values of the Stokes S.sub.1 polarization parameter. The Stokes S.sub.1 polarization parameter values determined for a first channel corresponding to a first wavelength band is used to determine a liquid thermodynamic phase, and the Stokes S.sub.1 polarization parameter values determined for a second channel corresponding to a second, shorter wavelength band is used to determine an ice thermodynamic phase.

The invention relates to a method for determining the electrophoretic velocity of droplets of a first fluid in a second fluid, the method comprising: providing a first capillary (3′) having an outlet positioned in a first channel (3); providing a stream of the first fluid in the first capillary and providing a stream of the second fluid in the first channel external to the first capillary, so as to generate droplets of the first fluid in the second fluid at the outlet of the first capillary; transporting the droplets to an observation area (200) in a second channel (11); applying an electric field to the observation area of the second channel; and measuring the velocity of the droplets in the observation area. The invention also relates to a device for determining the electrophoretic velocity of droplets of a first fluid in a second fluid.