Described herein is a system and method for determining the presence and/or amount of a target in a sample. In some embodiments, a microfluidic device, such as a strip having a microfluidic network thereon, is inserted into an instrument to perform an assay therein. The strip may be configured to receive the sample from a porous member via capillary action, with minimal or no compression of the porous member. The instrument may include a gas bladder actuation assembly, actuated by an eccentric cam, to compress and decompress a gas bladder on the microfluidic device, thereby enabling fluid movement thereon. The instrument may further comprise a magnet disposed in a fixed location, so as to capture any complexes formed between the target and magnetic particles disposed within the microfluidic device. The magnet may be aligned with an optical detection assembly configured to detect the target captured with the magnetic particles.

An apparatus for enhancing phase contact and chemical reactions is provided. The apparatus comprises at least one first high-turbulence mixing stage and at least one second high-shear-stress and high-cavitation stage. The stages are adapted to cause an increase in the relative sliding speeds of the phases involved in a multiphase flow passing through the stages.

The invention provides a device for enhancing liquid-liquid emulsification. The device includes a jet part and a mixing part connected to the jet part. The jet part includes a feed tee for feeding major and dispersed phases, wherein the feed tee includes a first port, a second port, and a third port. The first port is used for feeding the major phase, and the second port is equipped with an ejector for feeding the dispersed phase. The ejector consists of an ejector housing and an ejector inlet section, as well as a spiral structure, a flow-guided structure, and an ejector pin structure that are connected sequentially. The mixing part includes a mixer comprising a cylindrical mixer shell, a mixer inlet section, a mixer outlet section, as well as a spiral section, a cavity section, and a variable diameter section for enhancing emulsion breakup and dispersion. A method for enhancing liquid-liquid emulsification is also disclosed. The emulsion produced by the device and method of the invention is uniformly dispersed, has long stability, and the device has a compact structure and low energy consumption. It is particularly suitable for liquid-liquid emulsification processes in fields such as chemical industry, food, coatings, and cosmetics.

A device for dispersing a water-soluble polymer includes a primary water inlet circuit that feeds an overflow, at the bottom end of the cone, an assembly including a chamber for grinding and draining the dispersed polymer, having a rotor driven by a motor provided with knives, a stator, over all or part of the periphery of the chamber, a ring fed by a secondary water circuit, the ring communicating with the chamber by way of slots for spraying pressurized water onto the stator The slots of the stator and/or the knives of the rotor are tilted at an angle of between 20 and 80 relative to the horizontal plane of the stator and the lateral face of the blade next to the stator is curved in such a way as to make the distance separating the two components substantially constant.

The invention provides a method for producing prion protein having an aggregated conformation by contacting native conformation prion protein with aggregated conformation prion protein in a liquid preparation and subjecting this to at least one cycle or to a number of cycles of application of shear-force for fragmenting aggregates of prion protein, wherein the shear-force applied is precisely controlled. In addition to this process for amplification of aggregated state prion protein from native conformation prion protein, the invention relates to the aggregated state prion protein obtained by the amplification process, which aggregated state prion protein has one conformation, which is e.g. identical within one batch and reproducible between batches, e.g. as detectable by proteinase resistance in a Western blot.

A stirring device of a plug-flow fermentation device includes a shaft rotatable about an axis of rotation which defines an axial direction. The stirring device further includes a boundary stirring element that defines the axial extent of a stirring volume covered by the stirring device. A nearest neighbor of the boundary stirring element in the axial direction has an axial maximum width which is smaller than an axial maximum width of the boundary stirring element and which is larger than an axial maximum width of a next-nearest neighbor of the boundary stirring element.

A foam production method includes mixing liquid nitrogen with a foaming material to produce foam. A gas is produced in situ from liquid nitrogen. As the ratio of the volume of the gas produced by gasification of liquid nitrogen to the volume of the liquid nitrogen is relatively high, when a large gas supply flow is needed to generate a large foam flow, a liquid nitrogen storage device of a small volume can be used instead of bulky air supply devices such as high-pressure gas cylinders, air compressors, air compressor sets and the like, reducing the volume of the air supply device. In addition, the liquid nitrogen used in foaming will release nitrogen gas after the foam blast, such that the nitrogen is also able to inhibit combustion on the surface of burning materials, accelerating the extinguishing of the fire.

The invention relates to mixing elements with a reduced structural depth for static mixers, to static mixers comprising at least two mixing elements with a reduced structural depth, and to a method for mixing fluids using a mixing element with a reduced structural depth or a static mixer comprising at least two mixing elements with a reduced structural depth. In the mixing elements, the thickness of the transverse strut at its thickest point is maximally 0.9 to 1.1 times the thickness of the webs multiplied by the cosine of half the opening angle O divided by the sine of the whole opening angle O.

A reaction of a fluid in a reaction chamber is satisfactorily performed.

A fluid control method includes: generating, in a reaction chamber (84) formed between an outer cylinder (61) and an inner cylinder (70) coaxially disposed in the outer cylinder (61), a reaction phase (30) having a ring shape and formed of a reaction target fluid (F1, F2) in which a Taylor vortex (V1) is generated, the reaction phases (30) arranged in an axis (R) direction, and an inhibiting phase (31) having a ring shape that is adjacent to the reaction phase (30) in the axis (R) direction and inhibits the reaction target fluid (F1, F2) in the reaction phase (30) from flowing out to an outside of the reaction phase (30).

An accept tank arrangement for mixing of pulped fiber suspension including sidewalls (3,4) including opposite arched ends (2) and an elongated section (1) between the arched ends (2). The accept tank has mixers (10) each located within one of the arched ends (2). The mixers (10) have axles (11) on which are mounted propellers (12). The mixers (10) are aligned horizontally and each axle points to a respective point on the elongated section (1) of the sidewall (3) which away from an end of the elongate section by at least 25% of the length of the elongated section (1). The propellers (12) are symmetrically positioned with respect to a center-point of the accept tank. Within the center of the elongated section is an elongated centerpiece (6) having rounded ends. The accept tank has a substantially flat bottom at least at the elongated section (1) of the accept tank.