A method of conducting a biological assay, comprises obtaining data corelative to a temperature of a reagent, mixing the reagent with a sample to provide a mixture, receiving from the mixture a signal indicative of an amount of an analyte in the sample, and correcting the amount based on the obtained data and on a type of the reagent.

A system (1) for detecting an analyte of interest in a sample is disclosed that comprises a measurement chamber (21) for metering the sample and including a defined concentration of an activator (27) causing the generation of a product when interacting with the analyte of interest, a heating element (31) thermally coupled to the measurement chamber, a controller (33) adapted to control the heating element such that the measurement chamber is maintained at a defined temperature (T.sub.d), a sensor (35) adapted to detect said product, a timer (37) adapted to time an interaction time between the sample and the activator; and a processor (39) responsive to the sensor and the timer. The processor is adapted to, upon addition of the sample to the measurement chamber, determine an amount of the analyte of interest in the sample from a sensor signal indicative of an amount of said product in the measurement chamber provided by the sensor prior to termination of said interaction; known interaction kinetics between the analyte of interest and the activator at the defined temperature and the defined concentration; and the interaction time at time of generation of the sensor signal. A method of detecting an analyte of interest in a sample using such a system is also disclosed.

A sample staining device, comprising a staining platform provided with a staining solution and cleaning solution supply part; glass slide support structures located on either side of the staining platform and forming a certain clearance between a glass slide and the staining platform; and a glass slide driving mechanism that enables the glass slide to move while maintaining a certain clearance from the staining platform. When said device works, a staining solution is supplied to the staining platform, and a convex liquid surface is formed due to surface tension; when the glass slide moves to the convex liquid surface of the staining solution, the staining solution infiltrates and diffuses in the clearance formed between the staining platform and the glass slide to cover the glass slide so as to stain a sample; and after the glass slide is stained, a cleaning solution is supplied to clean the residual staining solution.

The present invention addresses to an automated gas injection system in vials with rubber septa, for simultaneous injection of gas in 24 or more positions, with injection pressure control and/or overpressure detection, applied to mass spectrometry analyses and/or gas chromatography. The present invention can be used, for example, in isotopic analyses of geological materials in equipment with carbonate extraction units, in the cleaning and decontamination of tubes to be used in isotopic or chromatographic analyses, and in the removal of contaminants from steam drag or by continuous flow, or coming from the free space of vials or tubes in the analyses of organic and inorganic materials.

The application of this invention allows reducing the current times of routine purge (flush) of at very least 3 minutes for every 2 positions (72 positions in total and final time of 108 minutes, in a batch of samples) to a total of 96 positions in 3 minutes, with a reduction of 12 times or more in the flush time, which implies greater analytical capacity to the laboratory, lower external costs of sending samples, less time to obtain results, with technology that is easy to implement in universities and research centers in general, in addition to increasing the lifespan of rubber septa.

A system is provided for transporting, handling and monitoring samples in a temperature-controlled storage environment. The system includes a handheld carrier configured to transfer samples to and from a temperature-controlled storage station and a temperature-controlled container for receiving and housing one or more carriers. The carrier includes an integrated sample identification and temperature sensing capability configured to monitor a thermal history of one or more samples during transport, handling and storage including as the samples are conveyed between the temperature-controlled storage environment and the temperature-controlled container. That is, the carrier is adapted to be held in the hand during use. A carrier for conveying and monitoring samples during transport, handling and storage is also provided.

Equipment for the control of the industrial contamination of industrial components comprising at least one base frame; and an extraction unit/device/component of contaminating impurities from at least one industrial component, mounted on the base frame and provided with a washing unit/device/component of the industrial component by way of an operating fluid adapted to remove the contaminating impurities from said industrial component, the operating fluid mixing with the contaminating impurities to obtain an operating mixture following the washing of the industrial component; and a preparation unit/device/component of at least one analysis sample of the contaminating impurities removed from the industrial component starting from the operating mixture, wherein the equipment comprises an analysis unit/device/component of the analysis sample mounted on the base frame and adapted to detect at least one analytical data which is characteristic of the contaminating impurities.

A method and system for analyzing a sample potentially comprising a target, comprising: (i) activating one or more components of the sample analysis system in preparation for a sample, wherein the sample analysis system comprises a heating element, a centrifuge, a thermocycler, an imager, a user interface, and a processor; (ii) obtaining a sample potentially comprising a target; (iii) adding the obtained sample to a sample preparation receptacle, the sample preparation receptacle comprising one or more reagents configured to maximize success of the sample analysis; (iv) heating the sample preparation receptacle, with the added sample, in the heating element of the sample analysis system at a first temperature for a first heating period of time; (v) centrifuging the sample preparation receptacle, after heating, for a first period of time using the centrifuge of the sample analysis system; (vi) transferring at least a portion of the sample, after centrifugation, from the sample preparation receptacle to a sample analysis receptacle, the sample analysis receptacle comprising one or more reagents configured for a qPCR reaction specific to a selected target; (vii) obtaining, via the thermocycler and imager of the sample analysis system, a fluorescence curve during a qPCR reaction; (viii) analyzing, by the process of the sample analysis system, the obtained fluorescence curve to determine a presence or absence of the selected target in the sample; and (ix) reporting, to a user by the user interface of the sample analysis system, the presence or absence of the selected target in the sample; wherein one or more steps of the method are guided by interactive instructions provided by the sample analysis system.

Various embodiments are directed to a device for detecting a particle liquid content characteristic comprising: one or more fluid flow device inlets configured to receive at least one fluid sample comprising a first plurality of particles and a second plurality of particles, the device being configured to determine a particle liquid content characteristic based at least in part on a comparison of first particle data and second particle data. In various embodiments, the device may comprise a heating element configured to heat at least a portion of particles within the second fluid sample. In various embodiments, the device may comprise a fluid sensor configured to generate first particle data using an optical scattering operation and a fluid composition sensor configured to generate second particle data using a particle imaging operation. Various embodiments are directed to systems and methods for controlling a fluid flow monitoring system.

A slide processing apparatus controls the temperature and orientation of a microscope slide carrying one or more specimens. The apparatus heats the specimen-bearing microscope slide while the slide is oriented to both facilitate adhesion between the specimens and the slide and control movement of the specimens relative to the microscope slide. A slide dryer of the apparatus conductively heats the specimens using a conductive slide heater that physically engages the microscope slide.

The 2D barcode at the base of a sample tube is protected from frosting by an air pocket within a wall of high thermal conductivity material that surrounds the barcode. The wall is of thermal conductivity greater than 14W/m K and preferably greater than 200W/m K. The wall may be formed as a skirt extending from the base of the sample tube or as a part of a supporting rack. The wall, cooled by the sample tube and the frozen sample within the tube, collects frost that would otherwise collect on the 2D barcode and deflects the flow of moist air that would otherwise flow against the barcode.