The present disclosure relates to approaches for assessing a sample or the presence of microorganisms. The sample, in certain implementations may be assessed for one or both of absence of microorganisms (sterility) and/or for concentration of said organisms (bio-burden). sample partition device may be employed that partitions the sample input volume into multiple discrete measurement zones with little or no loss of sample (e.g., zero-loss) and with little operator involvement, thereby reducing operator- and environment-based false positives.

Methods of production of edible filamentous fungal biomat formulations are provided as standalone protein sources and/or protein ingredients in foodstuffs as well as a one-time use or repeated use self-contained biofilm-biomat reactor comprising a container with at least one compartment and placed within the compartment(s), a feedstock, a fungal inoculum, a gas-permeable membrane, and optionally a liquid nutrient medium.

A scaffold for cell culture or tissue engineering is provided. The scaffold includes a fiber web having a three-dimensional network structure, which includes a biodegradable scaffold fiber. Therefore, a microenvironment suitable for migration, proliferation and differentiation of cells to be cultured is created, thereby improving a cell proliferation rate and cell viability. In addition, the scaffold may be easily removed from cells cultured therein without physical/chemical stimuli, and thus the cultured cells may be easily recovered, and is able to be grafted into the body while the cultured cells are included in the scaffold. Moreover, the cultured cells may be cultured to have a similar shape/structure to those of an actual animal body to make it more suitable to be applied in grafting into an in vitro experimental model or animal body.

Zebrafish are a powerful model for investigating cardiac repair due to their unique regenerative abilities, scalability, and compatibility with many genetic tools. However, characterizing the regeneration process in live adult zebrafish hearts has proved challenging because adult fish are opaque and explanted hearts in conventional culture conditions experience rapid declines in morphology and physiology. To overcome these limitations, we fabricated a fluidic device for culturing explanted adult zebrafish hearts with constant media perfusion that is also compatible with live imaging. Unlike hearts cultured in dishes for one week, the morphology and calcium activity of hearts cultured in the device for one week were largely similar to freshly explanted hearts. We also cultured injured hearts in the device and used live imaging techniques to continuously record the revascularization process over several days, demonstrating how our device enables unprecedented visual access to the multi-day process of adult zebrafish heart regeneration.

There is described a fermentation tank for the multiplication of microorganisms, particularly a vertical fermentation tank comprising aeration and agitation elements with low cost and high efficiency. Particularly, a fermentation tank for the multiplication of microorganisms (100) comprising an external structure (10) of longitudinal axis (L) and an inner container (20) which receives a mixture to be fermented, the fermentation tank (100) comprising an aeration and agitation element (30) arranged in the inner container (20) collinear with the longitudinal axis (L), the aeration and agitation element (30) comprising internally a plurality of sets of fins (40), each set of fins (40) being arranged axially parallel to each other along the longitudinal axis (L) to provide aeration and agitation of the mixture to be fermented.

A sample testing apparatus includes a sample tray defining a planar surface and a plurality of wells recessed relative to the planar surface, and a lid member configured to be sealed about the planar surface of the sample tray. The lid member includes an adhesive layer configured to be sealed to the planar surface of the sample tray, a breathable film layer disposed about the adhesive layer, and a backing layer disposed about the breathable film layer. Methods of using the sample testing apparatus for testing a sample and kits to facilitate such testing are also provided.

An apparatus comprising a culture dish and a removable lid, wherein the culture dish comprises a main body having a side wall defining a reservoir region for receiving a quantity of liquid media, and the removable lid is arranged to cover the reservoir region during normal use, wherein the lid comprises a gas permeable material and includes an engagement portion formed of a resilient material adapted to cooperatively engage with the side wall of the main body of the culture dish so as to compress a part of the engagement portion of the removable lid against the side wall to form a vapour-tight seal for the reservoir region when the removable lid is coupled to the culture dish. The lid fitted to the culture dish enables a substantial portion of the culturing media to remain in the environment enclosed between the reservoir and the lid without use of a cover media to limit evaporation while allowing gaseous exchange therethrough.

Provided is a cell culture vessel for culturing cells with a high density having excellent gas permeability and strength. A bag-shaped cell culture vessel of a closed system includes at least one port and mutually opposed planar substrates. At least one of the planar substrates is formed of a gas permeable film, the at least one gas permeable film has an outer surface provided with a protruding portion having a shape different from an inner surface shape of the gas permeable film, a culture space for culturing cells is provided in the inner surface side of the gas permeable film, and when the gas permeable film is brought in contact with a planar surface, a space enabling ventilation is formed between the gas permeable film and the planar surface by the protruding portion.

A method for producing a carbonate-containing species-rich, nitrogen-containing species-free solution from a urea-rich solution is proposed. The method comprising the steps of: providing a first reservoir comprising a first mixture including urea and a catalyser comprising an enzymatic catalyser and/or a microorganism; allowing an enzymatic reaction catalysed by the catalyser to decompose urea, thereby obtaining a second mixture comprising nitrogen-containing species and carbonate-containing species; converting at least some of the nitrogen-containing species into gaseous nitrogen-containing species to obtain a third mixture comprising the gaseous nitrogen-containing species and the carbonate-containing species; filtering the third mixture by a gas- permeable filter, thereby separating at least some of the gaseous nitrogen-containing species from the carbonate-containing species while keeping the catalyser away from the gas-permeable filter; and collecting the so-obtained carbonate-containing species-rich, nitrogen-containing species-free solution.

The disclosure generally relates to a test device that detects microorganism growth by detecting a gas metabolite (e.g., carbon dioxide) produced during the growth of bacteria or other microorganism in a tested sample. The test device can contain a culture growth media separated from a detection area by a gas-permeable membrane. The gas-permeable membrane permits carbon dioxide to permeate into the detection area. The detection area includes a solidified mixture of pH indicators and a gelling agent in the form of a semi-permeable matrix. The optical properties, including the absorbance of light at various wavelengths, of the detection solution change with alterations in carbon dioxide concentration. This test device can then be placed in an incubation and optical detection instrument to monitor changes in optical properties of the detection are induced during microorganism growth in the culture medium.