Abstract: The present disclosure describes a field flow fractionator (FFF). In an embodiment, the FFF includes a spacer including a core, and a coating covering the core. In an embodiment, the FFF includes a spacer including a core, and a coating covering the core, a bottom block including pins, and a top block including mating holes to receive the pins, where the spacer is configured to be positioned between the top block and the bottom block. In an embodiment, the FFF includes a spacer including a core including an opening, a top side, and a bottom side, a first coating covering the top side, and a second coating covering the bottom side, a top block configured to press on the first coating along a first periphery of the opening, and a bottom block configured to press on the second coating along a second periphery of the opening.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes a method, a system, and a computer program product of indicating a status of an analytical instrument on a screen of the analytical instrument. In an embodiment, the method, the system, and the computer program product include receiving data from an analytical instrument monitoring a liquid sample, segmenting the received data into data segments for at least two characteristics of at least one of the instrument, the sample, and an operating environment of the instrument, analyzing each of the data segments for the at least two characteristics, retrieving threshold values for the at least two characteristics from a computer data source, calculating at least one status of at least one of the instrument, the sample, and the operating environment, with respect to the analyzed data segments and the threshold values, and displaying the at least one status on a display of the instrument.

Abstract: An apparatus for the high throughput measurement of optical properties of liquid samples placed into the wells of a multiwell plate is disclosed. An optical fiber within a fiber bundle containing no corrective optics between the fiber ends and the well plate bottom illuminates the sample in order to induce fluorescence, and multiple fibers collect emission radiation and transmit it to a fluorescence detector such as a spectrometer. Other embodiments involve a light scattering illumination source with detection fibers located in either the same bundle containing the fluorescence monitoring fibers or an independent light scattering detection bundle for the measurement of static and/or dynamic light scattering. Some embodiments of the invention permit the measurement of phase analysis light scattering. Thus the measurement of multiple optical properties of a liquid sample may be made simultaneously or in succession. A method for these measurements is also disclosed.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes a field flow fractionator including (1) a top plate assembly including (a) a first non-corrosive material, and (b) at least three fluid fittings machined (simpler) into the material, (2) a spacer, (3) a membrane, (4) a bottom plate assembly including (a) a second non-corrosive material, (b) a cavity machined into the second non-corrosive material, (c) a frit configured to be placed into the cavity, and (d) at least one bottom plate o-ring configured to seal the bottom plate assembly to the spacer, and (5) where the top plate assembly, the spacer, the membrane, and the bottom assembly define a separation channel. In an embodiment, the at least three fluid fittings including a fitting for an in-flow, a fitting for an out-flow, and a fitting for a cross-flow.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes an apparatus of measuring light scattering of a sample. In an embodiment, the apparatus includes (1) at least one display logically coupled to an enclosure housing a light scattering measurement instrument, where the at least one display is configured to allow for operating the instrument to acquire light scattering data from the sample and for accessing the data, (2) an indicator connected to an outside surface of the enclosure, where the indicator is configured to indicate at least one status of the instrument, (3) a sample chamber configured to accommodate at least one sample cell, where each of the at least one sample cell has a unique size and a unique shape, and (4) and a sample door connected to the enclosure, where the sample door is configured to seal the sample chamber, thereby providing thermal insulation to the sample chamber.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes an apparatus, method, system, and computer program product of detecting bubbles in images of a sample in wells of a well plate. In an exemplary embodiment, In an exemplary embodiment, the computer implemented method, the system, and the computer program product include receiving, by a computer system, at least one image of at least one well of a well plate containing a liquid sample, executing, by the computer system, a set of logical operations cropping the image to include a well of interest, and executing, by the computer system, a set of logical operations processing, by a trained convolutional neural network, the cropped image, resulting in a probability that the image depicts at least one bubble.