Abstract: Apparatus for harvesting material from micro-culture plates comprises either a harvester plate or, in combination a harvester plate and a micro-culture plate, the harvester plate having a plurality of wells recessed into one surface thereof, these wells conforming in size, number and arrangement to the wells of the micro-culture plate, and the wells of the harvester plate being adapted to hold filter elements for absorbing liquid from corresponding wells of the culture plate when the wells of the culture plate, with the culture plate in an upside-down orientation, are contacted with corresponding wells of the harvester plate, and in which the harvester plate wells have fluid outlets at their bases. Also a new micro-culture plate comprises a plurality of wells recessed into a surface thereof each well comprising a fluid inlet passageway through the base thereof.

Abstract: A respiration sensor for use with a medical ventilator, suitably between the patient airway and the Y-piece where the expiratory and inspiratory flows separate, comprises a tube with a flap mounted therein, the flap being resiliently and magnetically biassed to a datum position extending transversely across the tube interior, but the flap being movable in opposite senses from its datum in response to gas flow from the tube, and means for selectively detecting such opposite movements. The flap preferably leaves a gap.