The system includes an adjustable light source constructed to direct a beam of electromagnetic radiation at a specimen chamber that allows a portion of the beam to scatter when illuminating particles within the chamber. The scattered portion of the beam is directed to a sensor, the sensor having a frame rate and a time period between frames. The system may have a processor connected to the sensor and light source, the processor may perform the following steps: activate the light source and obtain images from sensor; if the images from the sensor show that particles are blinking then reduce the frame rate, set the exposure time to at least 60% of the time between frames and reduce the illumination. Then the processor obtains additional images and processes those images to mitigate blurring. The processor determines the Brownian motion of the particles from the processed images and determines the sizes of the particles based on the motion.

The present disclosure provides methods and mechanisms for measuring small masses attached to a substrate within a microcantilever. Specifically, the disclosure describes the measurement of small particles accumulated at a substrate that cannot be flowed through a microchannel within a microcantilever. A resonance measurement is acquired at a first time. A pair resonance measurements is then acquired at a second point in timeone with the test mass at a first position off or along the microcantilever, the second with the test mass at a second position along the microcantilever. Comparing the resonance frequencies determined for the two test mass positions allows for disambiguation of changes in the mass of the particles from changes in the resonant behavior of the microcantilever itself.

A technique relates to separation of a mixture. A nano-deterministic lateral displacement (nanoDLD) array is configured to separate the mixture in a fluid. A feedback system is configured to control a velocity of the fluid through the nanoDLD array. The feedback system is configured to control the velocity of the fluid to separate one or more entities in the mixture.

A cross-scale wide-spectrum particle size plugging formula granularity analysis method includes: performing a size classification on a plugging material of a plugging formula; obtaining a particle size distribution of the plugging material by performing procession on each particle plugging material via a laser granularity analysis method and an imaging granularity analysis method, according to difference sizes thereof; obtaining the particle size distribution of the plugging formula by a weighted summation way, according to a granularity interval and an addition of each particle plugging material. The present disclosure can solve a problem that the particle size distribution of the plugging formula across multiple-scale ranges can't be effectively obtained, and perform granularity analysis on wide-spectrum particle size plugging formula spanning a micron-grade size, a millimeter-grade size, a centimeter-grade size and above, so as to effectively evaluate sealing ability of the plugging formula and provide reference for researchers to optimize the plugging formula.

Methods, kits and reagents are provided for increasing the sensitivity of detecting the presence or absence of endospores by increasing the available protein for detection. The methods are fast and amendable to testing in a non-laboratory setting and use a protein detection reagent and solid microparticles.

An analysis device (200) analyzes a crossover frequency at which a dielectrophoretic force on dielectric particles switches from a repulsive force to an attractive force or from the attractive force to the repulsive force, comprising a flow channel (5), a pair of electrodes (22, 23), a power supply (24), an imaging unit (25) and an analyzer (26). Through the flow channel (5), a sample solution containing the dielectric particles in the dielectrophoretic liquid flows. The pair of electrodes (22, 23) are arranged in the first channel. The power supply (24) applies a frequency-modulated AC voltage to the first electrodes (22, 23). The imaging unit (25) captures an image of a movement trajectory of each of the dielectric particles flowing between the electrodes (22, 23) in the flow channel. The analyzer (26) obtains the crossover frequency of the dielectric particles based on the captured image of the movement trajectory.

A particulate matter sensor device comprises an enclosure (21) defining a flow channel (2), a radiation source (3) for emitting radiation into the flow channel for interaction of the radiation with particulate matter in an aerosol sample in the flow channel, and a radiation detector (4) for detecting at least part of said radiation after interaction with the particulate matter. The sensor device comprises a flow modifying device (511) arranged upstream of the radiation detector and/or radiation source so as to reduce particulate matter precipitation onto the radiation detector, the radiation source and/or the channel wall sections in their proximity. The invention also relates to a method of determining parameters of particulate matter in an aerosol sample by using such a particulate matter sensor device.

Among other things, a first surface is configured to receive a sample and is to be used in a microscopy device. There is a second surface to be moved into a predefined position relative to the first surface to form a sample space that is between the first surface and the second surface and contains at least part of the sample. There is a mechanism configured to move the second surface from an initial position into the predefined position to form the sample space. When the sample is in place on the first surface, the motion of the second surface includes a trajectory that is not solely a linear motion of the second surface towards the first surface.

Systems and methods for predicting engine performance are provided herein. A fluid sample having particles suspended therein is received from a first engine. A plurality of particles are extracted from the fluid sample. Features of the plurality of particles extracted from the fluid sample and features of particles of reference fluid samples from a plurality of reference engines are obtained. A plurality of correlation indices indicative of a level of correlation between the first engine and each one of the plurality of reference engines is determined. The correlation indices are compared to a threshold to determine a subset of the plurality of reference engines. Performance history for the engines in the subset is obtained. From the performance history, the first engine is determined as having a similarity in performance with the engines in the subset. An output is generated indicating a predicted performance for the first engine.

Disclosed herein is a novel, compact optical particle identification and characterization system and method of use within both gaseous and liquid media. The system can implement both elastic and inelastic light scattering techniques simultaneously under the same sensor platform. By separating the sensing components from the electro-optical unit and using optical fibers for interconnection, only the sensing components need to be exposed to the environmental conditions. This reduces the design constraints on the electro-optical unit and permits the incorporation of optical components into the sensing probe that can withstand high-temperature, high-pressure, and corrosive environments. Thus, the system can be used in benign, moderate, and harsh environments.