An environmental testing device includes a heat insulation chamber that includes a test chamber and is formed using a heat insulation panel that is electrically conductible. The heat insulation chamber includes a chamber body having an entrance and a door that opens and closes the entrance. A heat insulation panel forming the chamber body includes an outer panel and an inner panel. A radiation-absorbent material is disposed between the outer panel and the inner panel. The heat insulation panel forming the chamber body and a heat insulation panel forming the door are connected to each other in an electrically conductible manner.

Disclosed are dielectric cavity arrays with cavities formed by pairs of dielectric tips, wherein the cavities have low mode volume (e.g., 7*10.sup.−5λ.sup.3, where X is the resonance wavelength of the cavity array), and large quality factor Q (e.g., 10.sup.6 or more). Applications for such dielectric cavity arrays include, but are not limited to, Raman spectroscopy, second harmonic generation, optical signal detection, microwave-to-optical transduction, and as light emitting devices.

In one configuration, a handheld compound tester to process and detect presence of a compound in a tablet is disclosed. The handheld compound tester may include a sampling chamber configured to receive a tablet and a lid couplable with the sampling chamber. The coupling of the lid with the sampling chamber may cause cutting of the tablet. A liquid may be added inside the sampling chamber to create a mixture with segments of the tablet. The mixture may be then received by a housing adjoining the sampling chamber. A test strip disposed within the housing, upon contacting the mixture, may be configured to indicate a presence of the compound in the mixture.

An apparatus for gene amplification includes a gene amplification chip including a well configured to accept a sample that is loaded into the well; the gene amplification chip being configured to: thermally dissolve the sample in the well so that a microbe present in the sample is thermally dissolved in the well to release genes in the microbe; and amplify the released genes in the well. The apparatus for gene amplification also includes a temperature controller configured to control a thermal dissolution temperature and a gene amplification temperature of the well.

There is provided a well plate including a plate and a well which is opened in an upper surface of the plate, wherein the well includes a flat bottom surface part and a circumferential wall part rising upward from the circumferential edge of the bottom surface part; the circumferential wall part has a stepped part in the circumferential direction at an arbitrary height position; an upper circumferential wall part, which is located above the stepped part in the circumferential wall part, is larger in a cross sectional area than a lower circumferential wall part located below; and the stepped part indicates the lower limit of the liquid level height of a liquid sample contained in the well.

A method for processing particles contained in a liquid biological sample is presented. The method uses a rotatable vessel for processing particles contained in a liquid biological sample. The rotatable vessel has a longitudinal axis about which the vessel is rotatable, an upper portion comprising a top opening for receiving the liquid comprising the particles, a lower portion for holding the liquid while the rotatable vessel is resting, the lower portion comprising a bottom, and an intermediate portion located between the upper portion and the lower portion, the intermediate portion comprising a lateral collection chamber for holding the liquid while the rotatable vessel is rotating. The method employs dedicated acceleration and deceleration profiles for sedimentation and re-suspension of the particles of interest.

A microfluidic device for cell culture and screening, including a covering element with a plurality of openings configured for introducing and collecting fluids, and a central through hole; an intermediate element with a plurality of microchannels, a plurality of supply tanks and at least one waste tank, and a blind bottom cavity; a lower element, with a collecting tank and a recessed central portion; and a slide housed in a housing pocket. The intermediate element is interposed between the covering element and the lower element to form an upper optical window and at least one culture chamber. The plurality of microchannels puts in fluid communication the plurality of supply tanks, the at least one culture chamber and the waste tank.

Methods and apparatus for long read, label-free, optical nanopore long chain molecule sequencing. In general, the present disclosure describes a novel sequencing technology based on the integration of nanochannels to deliver single long-chain molecules with widely spaced (>wavelength), ˜1-nm aperture “tortuous” nanopores that slow translocation sufficiently to provide massively parallel, single base resolution using optical techniques. A novel, directed self-assembly nanofabrication scheme using simple colloidal nanoparticles is used to form the nanopore arrays atop nanochannels that unfold the long chain molecules. At the surface of the nanoparticle array, strongly localized electromagnetic fields in engineered plasmonic/polaritonic structures allow for single base resolution using optical techniques.

Provided herein are devices, systems, and methods for particle sorting, including cell sorting, using microfluidics cartridges and microchips and the manufacture of the microfluidics cartridges and microchips by high-throughput approaches. Such methods, devices, and systems can be used to identify, sort, and collect a subset of particles or a single particle from a sample. The capability to manufacture such microfluidic tools in high volume may lower production costs and allow for the microfluidic tools to be used as consumables.

A microfluidic sensing assembly may include a first structure supporting a sensor array, a second structure joined to the first structure and forming a microfluidic passage and a flat lens to focus light, following reflection of the light back and forth across the microfluidic passage, from the microfluidic passage onto the sensor array.