Abstract: A heat pump that includes a thermoelectric device(s) and a heat sink having a raised portion with a top surface for thermally coupling with a planar face of the thermoelectric device(s). The raised portion of the heat sink includes an outer periphery and a raised central region surrounded by a void region to provide more uniform thermal conductivity when clamped within an assembly. The raised central region is shaped in an any shape corresponding to a shape of uneven thermal conductivity due to clamping pressure applied to the heat sink. The void region can be substantially contiguous and entirely circumscribe the central raised region. The device can optionally include discrete supports formed of a less thermally-conductive material within the void region. The supports can be elastomeric, such as O-rings, and disposed within pockets defined within the void region.

Abstract: The disclosure provides a highly sensitive assay to detect the presence of a target analyte in a sample.

Abstract: Systems and methods for contact imaging of stands with illumination are disclosed herein. A contact imaging system can include a contact imager. The contact imager can include a housing having a base and a lid. The lid can have a closed position against the base and an open position. The contact imager can include a contact area image sensor. The lid can shield the contact area image sensor from ambient light when the lid is in the closed position. The contact imager can include an illuminator that can illuminate at least a portion of a blot on the contact area image sensor when the lid is in the closed position.

Abstract: A heat pump that includes a thermoelectric device(s) and a heat sink having a raised portion with a top surface for thermally coupling with a planar face of the thermoelectric device(s). The raised portion of the heat sink includes an outer periphery and a raised central region surrounded by a void region to provide more uniform thermal conductivity when clamped within an assembly. The raised central region is shaped in an any shape corresponding to a shape of uneven thermal conductivity due to clamping pressure applied to the heat sink. The void region can be substantially contiguous and entirely circumscribe the central raised region. The device can optionally include discrete supports formed of a less thermally-conductive material within the void region. The supports can be elastomeric, such as O-rings, and disposed within pockets defined within the void region.

Abstract: A heat pump that includes a thermoelectric device(s) and a heat sink having a raised portion with a top surface for thermally coupling with a planar face of the thermoelectric device(s). The raised portion of the heat sink includes an outer periphery and a raised central region surrounded by a void region to provide more uniform thermal conductivity when clamped within an assembly. The raised central region is shaped in an any shape corresponding to a shape of uneven thermal conductivity due to clamping pressure applied to the heat sink. The void region can be substantially contiguous and entirely circumscribe the central raised region. The device can optionally include discrete supports formed of a less thermally-conductive material within the void region. The supports can be elastomeric, such as O-rings, and disposed within pockets defined within the void region.

Abstract: Methods and reference compositions for quantifying protein using tagged standards. In an exemplary method, a reference composition and a protein may be electrophoresed in respective lanes of a gel. The reference composition may include quantitation standards of different size and each including a tag present at a different concentration. The quantitation standards and the protein may be transferred from the gel to a solid support to create a blot. Luminescence may be detected from the blot to obtain respective luminescence values separately representing an abundance of the tag of each quantitation standard and an abundance of the protein. A quantity of the protein may be determined using the respective luminescence values.

Abstract: The invention relates to methods for characterizing the binding interactions between binding partners. The invention pertains to methods comprising contacting a first binding partner with a second binding partner that exhibits fast-off rate binding characteristics with the first binding partner to generate the binding interaction between the first binding partner and the second binding partner, wherein the first binding partner is immobilized onto a substrate that is designed to enhance the fluorescence signal of fluorescent molecules located near the substrate's surface, and wherein the second binding partner is a molecule that emits a fluorescent signal or is conjugated to molecule that emits a fluorescent signal. The interactions between the two binding partners can be analyzed based on multiple transient interactions between the two binding partners.

Abstract: A heat pump that includes a thermoelectric device(s) and a heat sink having a raised portion with a top surface for thermally coupling with a planar face of the thermoelectric device(s). The raised portion of the heat sink includes an outer periphery and a raised central region surrounded by a void region to provide more uniform thermal conductivity when clamped within an assembly. The raised central region is shaped in an any shape corresponding to a shape of uneven thermal conductivity due to clamping pressure applied to the heat sink. The void region can be substantially contiguous and entirely circumscribe the central raised region. The device can optionally include discrete supports formed of a less thermally-conductive material within the void region. The supports can be elastomeric, such as O-rings, and disposed within pockets defined within the void region.

Abstract: Once a binding assay design and sample is received from a scientist, an experiment design is automatically prepared for generating a binding-ready biological sample to be used by the binding assay. Materials usage and plate layout is then automatically optimized for generating the binding-ready biological sample. A robot method is chosen for generating the binding-ready biological sample and work instructions generated for preparing the binding-ready biological sample. The work instructions are based on the experiment design and the robot method. The work instructions are then transmitted towards a controller for execution by robot stations. From the robot method it is then determined whether pooling and/or splitting needs to occur. If pooling and/or splitting needs to occur, a worklist containing a set of instructions for pooling and splitting is generated and transmitted towards the controller for execution by the robot stations.