Abstract: The present invention relates to methods, devices and systems for associating consumable data with an assay consumable used in a biological assay. Provided are assay systems and associated consumables, wherein the assay system adjusts one or more steps of an assay protocol based on consumable data specific for that consumable. Various types of consumable data are described, as well as methods of using such data in the conduct of an assay by an assay system. The present invention also relates to consumables (e.g., kits and reagent containers), software, data deployable bundles, computer-readable media, loading carts, instruments, systems, and methods, for performing automated biological assays.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for aligning a restored parent environment to its child environments with minimal data loss is disclosed. The method and apparatus achieve the alignment by re-executing the transactions affecting the objects in the child environments and the revisions of the objects in the parent environment in their order of execution, thereby, allowing the restored parent to further recover loss data from its child environments. The transactions are enhanced to facilitate collection of information regarding the transactions during normal operation, and to adjust their actions during their re-execution based on the information collected. As a result of further data recovery by the restored parent environment, alignment may be achieved with substantially less data loss.