Abstract: A corrosive environment sensor comprises an elongate member having a pair of elongate beam portions and a crack growth portion formed between the pair of beam portions so as to extend axially, and a wedge inserted between the pair of beam portions, wherein the crack growth portion has width thereof defined by quadratic curves extending axially so as to decrease from an axially intermediate portion of the sensor member to an axially intermediate portion of the crack growth portion and increase from the axially intermediate portion of the crack growth portion toward an end of the sensor member. The quadratic curves each consist of a first circular arc with first radius between the axially intermediate portion of the sensor member and the axially intermediate portion of the crack growth portion and a second circular arc with second radius less than the first radius between the axially intermediate portion of the crack growth portion and around the second end of the sensor member.

Abstract: Methods for blood sample preparation using reagent compositions which include a zwitterionic surfactant for sphering of cells to eliminate orientational noise. When the reagent composition including a for staining a subset of cells is reacted with an anticoagulated blood sample, and the reaction mixture is passed through the sensing region of a flow cytometer, the light scattered and absorbed by each cell is measured, the stained cells can be distinguished from the unstained cells, and when the cells are reticulocytes and mature erythrocytes, respectively, the volume and hemoglobin concentration of each reticulocyte or erythrocyte, and the hemoglobin content, mean cell volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and mean cell hemoglobin of the reticulocytes or erythrocytes are calculated from the measured cell-by-cell volume and hemoglobin concentration.