A system for sex sorting of mosquitoes generally comprises: (i) a plate or similar receptacle that includes multiple wells, with each of the multiple wells configured to receive a mosquito; and (ii) an imaging subsystem, including a camera for capturing images of the mosquito in each of the multiple wells and a computer for analyzing the captured images to determine whether each mosquito is male or female. Mosquitoes have distinct anatomical areas for identification, which are captured in the images and are used to determine if a mosquito is male or female. Furthermore, in some implementations, the system includes a suction device or other means for exterminating the unwanted mosquitoes after the determination of whether each mosquito is male or female.

A process for freeze drying a material. The process has the steps of (a) placing material to be freeze-dried in a vessel, the vessel comprising a container having a base, and at least one wall defining an opening at one end; (b) applying a membrane to the at least one wall to thereby cover the opening, wherein the membrane comprises an aperture which, in use, is aligned with the opening; and (c) subjecting the vessel to a lyophilisation procedure, wherein the membrane is in place on the container during the lyophilisation procedure.

A device for receiving, stacking, and removing microplates is presented and described. The device comprises a tower for stacking the microplates, wherein a microplate comprises a container and, optionally, a lid. There is a retaining device at the lower end of the tower, which has a first retaining tool and a second retaining tool, and preferably partially encompasses a microplate. The first retaining tool is designed to hold a microplate in a form-fitting manner. The second retaining tool is designed to fix a container in the microplate in place in a frictional manner. The first retaining tool is above the second retaining tool in the stacking direction. A system that comprises the device described above, a dispenser device, and a transport device, is also disclosed. The dispenser device is used to fill microplates, and the transport device is used to add and remove microplates to and from the device.

Provided is a cell culture test device including a plurality of well units. Each of the well units includes a first inlet portion through which a first fluid is introduced, a first accommodation space communicating with the first inlet portion to accommodate a flow of the first fluid introduced through the first inlet portion, a second inlet portion through which a second fluid is introduced, and a second accommodation space in which the second fluid is accommodated. The second accommodation space accommodates an island structure connected with an island-connecting structure extending from the wall surface of the second accommodation space. A third inlet portion through which an antibiotic is loaded is formed above the island structure. The antibiotic loaded through the third inlet portion is fixedly accommodated on the inner and outer surfaces of the island structure.

Devices and methods for multi-well plate liquid distribution are provided. Devices herein provide a plurality of dispensing stations configured to receive and dispense or disburse liquid to the wells of a multi-well plate. The dispensing stations include dispensing surfaces configured to receive liquid droplets dispensed by manual or automatic pipettes. The dispensing surfaces are configured to retain received liquids until force is applied and distribution to the wells of the multi-well plate occurs. Devices and methods provided herein increase the consistency of laboratory results in procedures requiring liquid distribution.

A heat sealing product suitable for seating one or more individual containers, said heat sealing product comprising: (i) a plurality of individual heat seals set out in a configuration substantially corresponding to the shape and configuration of the container(s) to be sealed, the size and shape of the individual heat seals corresponding substantially to the size and shape of the tops of the individual container(s) to be sealed; (ii) a peelable support film layer coated on one side with a low tack adhesive, the low tack adhesive serving to hold the individual heat seals in place on the support film layer in the desired configuration prior to the sealing process; (iii) alignment points in the sealing product adapted to enable the heat sealing product and therefore the individual heat seals of the heat sealing product to be aligned substantially exactly with respect to the individual containers to be sealed.

A system for processing a sample includes a unitary body. The unitary body including a snap lid, the snap lid having a capillary. The unitary body including a lysing container. The unitary body including a test element and a sliding actuator.

The present invention is directed to a method of measuring cell migration by measuring the invasion ratio of cells incubated on a pillar array inserted into a well structure, the method including steps of: preparing a pillar array having a plurality of micropillars and a well structure having a plurality of microwells into which the plurality of micropillars is insertable, respectively; forming cell spheroids by incubating cells in an extracellular matrix attached to the end contact surfaces of the micropillars; allowing the cells contained in the cell spheroids to invade the end contact surfaces; staining and scanning the cell spheroids, the cells contained in the cell spheroids, and the cells that invaded the end contact surfaces; and calculating the invasion ratio of cells by the following equation through a fluorescence image of the scanned cells:

[00001]$\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{Invasion}\mathrm{Ratio}=\frac{\mathrm{Invasion}\mathrm{cell}\mathrm{area}}{\mathrm{Total}\mathrm{cell}\mathrm{area}}=\frac{A_{\mathrm{Total}}-A_{\mathrm{spheroid}}}{A_{\mathrm{Total}}}& \left[\mathrm{Equation}\right]\end{array}$

wherein A.sub.total represents the total cell area, and A.sub.spheroid represents the spheroid area.

The invention relates to a method and a device for optically exciting a plurality of analytes (12) in an array of reaction vessels (14) and for sensing fluorescent light from the analytes (12), wherein excitation light from an excitation light source (38) is supplied to the analytes (12) and wherein fluorescent light from the analytes (12) is simultaneously supplied to a fluorescent detector (34), wherein a plurality of beams (30) of the excitation light is directed into the reaction vessels (14) below the cover (28) through an array of holes (26) in a cover (28) arranged above the array of reaction vessels (14) and a plurality of beams (32) of the fluorescent light from the reaction vessels (14) reaches the fluorescent detector (34). According to the invention it is suggested that the main beams (76) of the plurality of beams (30) of the excitation light diverge within and below the holes (26) into the reaction vessels (14) and/or that the main beams (78) of the plurality of beams (32) of the fluorescent light converge within and above the holes (26) toward the fluorescent detector (34).

Provided herein is a valve manifold comprising (a) an elastomer sheet attached to a plurality of magnetic pistons, wherein the magnetic pistons project from a first side of the elastomer sheet; (b) a foot component comprising a first surface and a plurality of shafts that orthogonally pass through the first surface; and (c) a body component comprising a second surface, a groove that laterally passes along the second surface, and a plurality of reservoir channels that orthogonally pass through the second surface, wherein the elastomer sheet is compressed between the foot component and the body component.