A metal-oxide electron-beam evaporation source including a variable temperature control device according to the present invention includes: a crucible configured to store a deposition material which is formed of a metal oxide and over which an electron beam is directly scanned; N heating units provided in an outer portion of the crucible, dividing the crucible into N regions, and provided for N regions, respectively; and a control unit configured to control the N heating units so that a temperature of an upper region of the crucible is maintained to be higher than that of a lower region of the crucible to reduce a temperature difference between a region over which the electron beam is scanned and a region over which the electron beam is not scanned.

A reaction processor includes: a vessel installation unit for installing a reaction processing vessel provided with a channel formed in a substrate; a high temperature heater and a medium temperature heater for adjusting the temperature of the channel of the reaction processing vessel; a vessel alignment mechanism for adjusting the position of the reaction processing vessel 10; and a housing that has a housing main unit and a cover portion capable of being opened and closed with respect to the housing main unit and that houses the vessel installation unit, the high temperature heater, the medium temperature heater, and the vessel alignment mechanism. In conjunction with the state of the cover portion being changed from an open state to a closed state, the vessel alignment mechanism aligns the reaction processing vessel such that the reaction processing vessel can be heated by the high temperature heater and the medium temperature heater.

The invention relates to a temperature-control element (4) for a multiwell plate (1), which comprises a plurality of cavities (2) arranged in rows and columns for freezing and/or thawing biological samples. The temperature-control element (4) comprises a base body (6) which is made of a thermally conductive material and is flown through by a temperature-control fluid; and a plurality of protruding temperature-control fingers (5) arranged in rows and columns on an upper side of the base body (6), which are connected in a thermally conductive manner to the base body (6), wherein a grid spacing of the temperature control fingers (5) corresponds to a grid spacing of the cavities (2) of the multiwell plate (1). The invention further relates to a device and method for freezing biological samples, in particular for cryopreservation, and/or thawing biological samples, in particular a cryopreserved sample.

A temperature-controllable microfluidic device includes: a microfluidic channel generally extending in a first direction for passing a specimen fluid; a microheater disposed along the microfluidic channel, the microheater being made of a resistive wire having a pair of serpentine-shaped portions generally extending in the first direction along respective sides of the microfluidic channel; and a temperature sensor disposed along the microfluidic channel, the temperature sensor being made of a resistive wire having a pair of serpentine-shaped portions generally extending in the first direction along the respective sides of the microfluidic channel.

A heating system for an EWOD device using a single, spatially-structured temperature control element, used to create a zone with a specific temperature profile. The heating system uses multiple contact regions between the temperature control element and the device. One or more contact regions are separated from the temperature control element by one or more thermally resistive layers that restrict heat flow from the temperature control element to the device, and further restrict lateral flow of heat between adjacent contact regions. The heating system can use materials with different thermal resistance to alter the heat flow to different regions. The spatial location of the contact regions is also used to determine the temperature profile within the device. The device has an optional temperature control element which offsets the low temperature point from the inlet temperature. This invention includes methods to process multiple droplets within the multiple temperature zones.

Methods and devices are provided for executing temperature-controlled shipment of relatively small temperature-sensitive payloads. A vacuum shipper may include a vacuum container and a PCM pack with an outer wall broadly form fitting to the vacuum container. The PCM pack includes a payload cavity and may be pre-conditioned at an effective charging temperature for an effective charging time. A temperature-sensitive payload is placed in the payload cavity. An insulated stopper is pressed into a mouth of the vacuum container. The vacuum shipper may then be conveyed by commercial express freight to its destination within an effective endurance time.

The present disclosure relates to a thermocycling unit for use with a conventional smartphone, as well as methods for the amplification of nucleic acid using the same. The thermocycling unit makes use of several built-in features of the smartphone and thus requires relatively little complexity on the thermocycling unit itself.

The present invention describes a versatile, robust and environmentally controlled platform with a linear temperature gradient for massively parallel chemical or biochemical processing. This apparatus is capable of probing the phase transition behavior of macromolecules in solution, both thermodynamically and kinetically. This includes- but is not limited to- liquid/liquid phase transition behavior of antibody solutions and in situ gelation of thermo-responsive polymers. The device can be operated in a multiplex fashion using a controlled temperature gradient architecture and visualized by dark field microscopy or by other optical intensity measurements.

This disclosure describes various microfluidic devices that may be used in thermal cyclic fluid samples. Some of these devices may include a plurality of microwells that may be coupled by interconnected fluidic channels. These microwells may not be physically separated and yet may include features allowing for effective isolation of target molecules within each microwell. Other devices may include a plurality of microwells that may not be interconnected. The devices may also include mechanisms for causing a fluid to flow across the device. The devices may also include light-absorbing films for converting light energy to heat so as to allow for thermal cycling of samples within the microwells.

A microscope slide staining system has a chamber, a plurality of slide support elements, a plurality of spreading devices positionable in association with microscope slides supported on the slide support elements so the spreading devices define a gap between the spreading device and the microscope slide and so the spreading device and the microscope slide are movable relative to one another to spread at least one reagent on the microscope slide independent of the other spreading devices and microscope slides.