Abstract: A method and apparatus for assaying to detect the presence or quantity of an analyte in a test sample, comprising: forming an unbounded aqueous mixture of a first test sample with a defined amount of a nanosphere probe which is conjugate of an analyte capturing member and a long emission fluorescent label, contacting a contacting zone of a test strip with the aqueous mixture, the test area having bound thereat a test binding moiety that for a competition assay binds any sample in competition with the analyte capturing member; or for a sandwich assay binds any sample analyte non-competitively with the analyte capturing member, the control area having bound a control binding moiety to nanosphere probe, selectively measuring long emission fluorescence at the test and control areas, and for a given test strip, determining a test zone value normalized with the total of test and control area signals.

Abstract: The present invention provides a reactor for the biological processing of fluid such as domestic or industrial waste water or the like, the reactor comprising a plurality of substantially horizontal layers of growth medium stacked one above the other, and having a colonizing biofilm thereon during use, the reactor being arranged to cause the path of flow of the fluid to reverse from one layer to the next, in order to maximize the length of the path of flow for a given footprint of the reactor.

Abstract: The present invention provides a reactor for the biological processing of fluid such as domestic or industrial waste water or the like, the reactor comprising a plurality of substantially horizontal layers of growth medium stacked one above the other, and having a colonizing biofilm thereon during use, the reactor being arranged to cause the path of flow of the fluid to reverse from one layer to the next, in order to maximize the length of the path of flow for a given footprint of the reactor.