A Petri dish (100) base (300) and lid (200) each having a substantially circular, substantially flat region from which sidewalls extend perpendicular to the flat region (312) forming a corner (326), (230). The base may have a base stacking ring (325) extending from the base (300) at the corner (326), and an internal channel (330) around the inside of the base (300) at the corner (326). The base (300) may have a uniform cross-sectional thickness (350) and may also have vents (322) in the base stacking ring (325). The lid (200) may have a uniform cross-sectional thickness (250). The lid (200) may have a lid stacking ring (225) at the corner (230), which forms a groove (240) in the interior (212) of the lid (200) at the corner (230). The lid may also have ribs (295) and vents (222) to enable multiple dishes to be stacked without forming a vacuum.

An imaging system and method for microbial growth detection, counting or identification. One colony may be contrasted in an image that is not optimal for another type of colony. The system and method provides contrast from all available material through space (spatial differences), time (differences appearing over time for a given capture condition) and color space transformation using image input information over time to assess whether microbial growth has occurred for a given sample.

An apparatus for conveying a plurality of articles includes a transport belt, a bumper stopper, and a rotator. A motor moves the transport belt which is adapted to rotate the rotator as the belt conveys the plurality of articles. The stopper can move between first and second positions relative to the transport belt wherein the bumper stopper guides one article toward the rotator when the bumper stopper is in the first position. The bumper stopper allows the article to be conveyed to another location when the bumper stopper is in the second position. The transport belt can continue to convey other articles while the one article is temporarily held in place by the bumper stopper. The rotator is configured to rotate the article conveyed by the transport belt. The article can remain in contact with the transport belt while the rotator is rotating the article.

Treatment of wastewater and particularly relates to a technique for wastewater treatment using renewable energy (RE) which is sole solar energy (SE). In bench scale experiment, a device is constructed to consist of two fixed upper and lower glass Petri dishes. Another device consists of plastic containers and both devices with the same volume of wastewater in the upper and distilled water in the lower container. The first device is placed on the bench beside window to be exposed to sunlight at room temperature and the other device is put outdoors under direct sunlight during daytime. A build-up of small circular water droplets starts to appear on the external bottom of upper container. Water droplets are allowed to fall freely in the lower container, pH of droplets water is about 7.1. Yield of freshwater is at a rate of approximately 300 ml freshwater from 400 ml wastewater per 48 hours.

One or more light sources may apply stimuli to a colony of organisms. The stimuli may include visible and non-visible light. The stimuli, taken together, may tend to favor survival of organisms that are adapted to perform photosynthesis which involves absorbing energy from infrared or ultraviolet light. In some cases, the set of stimuli may include illuminating the entire colony of organisms with green light, illuminating only a first portion of the colony with pulsed ultraviolet light, and illuminating only a second portion of the colony with pulsed infrared light.

A culture material including a 4-methyl-1-pentene polymer for cells, tissues, or organs, the culture material having a water contact angle at a culture surface of 50° to 100°, a sagging distance by a test method described below of 0 to 5 mm, and an oxygen permeation rate at a temperature of 23° C. and a humidity of 0% of 4500 to 90000 cm.sup.3/(m.sup.2×24 h×atm). A test piece having the same material as the culture material and the same thickness as the culture surface of the culture material and having a flat plate shape of 100 mm long and 10 mm wide is made. The test piece is fixed onto a test board in a state where the test piece protrudes lengthwise in a horizontal direction from a top surface of the test board, the top surface being horizontal.

Cell culture devices are described herein that have notched lids, notched lids with corresponding gripping pads included on their bases, or gripping tabs included on their bases to minimize or eliminate the need for a user to contact a lid when attempting to lift or move a lidded cell culture device. In addition, methods for using the cell culture devices are also described herein.

The invention provides a device for growing cells—referred to as a cassette. The cell culturing device includes a housing that contains a lid having an optically clear window; a fluid distribution channel; a sample injection port fluidically connected to the fluid distribution channel; a base housing a porous media pad; and a media injection port fluidically connected to the media pad. The lid mates to the base to form a sterile seal; the fluid distribution channel is disposed over the media pad, which is viewable through the optical window; and sample fluid introduced into the fluid distribution channel is distributed evenly to the media pad, e.g., via a plurality of channels. The invention also provides kits that include cassettes of the invention and a tube set.

A device for performing a cell study. The device comprises a plate having a plurality of wells, each configured for containing aqueous solution and having a well bottom with a plurality of picowells and a plurality of biosensors each configured for measuring at least one cell characteristic while being in contact with the aqueous solution in a respective the well. The position of each the biosensor in a respective the well is limited by at least one pin.

The present invention relates to a novel bioactivity testing structure for single cell tracking using a gelling agent and a bioactivity testing system including the testing structure. The present invention also relates to bioactivity testing, drug susceptibility testing, antibiotic screening, and diagnostic methods using the testing structure. The bioactivity testing structure of the present invention enables very rapid and simple drug susceptibility testing of bacteria, particularly Mycobacterium tuberculosis, drug screening, and bacterial diagnosis. Particularly, the use of the testing structure enables DST and diagnosis of bacteria only by pretreatment without the need to concentrate human sputum samples irrespective of inoculum effect, ensuring rapid, accurate, and simple testing compared to conventional tuberculosis diagnosis or DST systems. In addition, the testing structure of the present invention simultaneously enables the diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing of tuberculosis. Therefore, the present invention provides an effective alternative to the prior art.