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Microbial growth analyzer
Bioscreen C displays growth curves
and microbiological calculations in MS Excel.
Almost any strain can be used. 200 samples at time.
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How To.. - Microbiology Reader Bioscreen C
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How to
test whether a Bioscreen C itself is working correctly?
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How
to use an incubation temperature lower than a room temperature?
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How to
use Bioscreen C for expression of protein experiments?
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How to measure a
pH kinetically in wells?
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How to
change a measurement interval during a run?
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How to run an
experiment with Bioscreen C?
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How to
prevent an unexpected random stop of Bioscreen C run?
1. How to test whether a Bioscreen C itself is
working correctly?
Look instructions for testing of Bioscreen C in Bioscreen C
User's Manual section Installation. There are proper instructions of running Bioscreen
C service tests 21 and 22 on Bioscreen C own keyboard.
2. How to use an incubation temperature lower than a room temperature?
Bioscreen C peltier system can heat or cool samples. You only
need to set on software screen an incubation temperature to wanted value and Bioscreen
C starts to heat or cool a sample depending on the selected incubation
temperature. Bioscreen C peltier system cooling power is 6 șC
below room temperature. It means that if a room temperature is 25 șC then Bioscreen
C can set an incubation temperature to not less than 19 șC. To use lower
incubation temperatures e.g. 4 șC a whole Bioscreen C is needed to
place into a cool box or into a cool room where a temperature is not more than
10 șC.
3. How to use Bioscreen C for expression of protein
experiments?
Microorganisms are forced to produce proteins by temperature shock. You can
program a temperature shock (change of incubation temperature in middle of run)
before a run is started on sheet Run or you can change a new incubation
temperature at any time by selecting in incubation temperature drop down
selector a new temperature manually.
4. How to measure a pH
kinetically in wells?
It is done manually. Between OD measurement sessions there is a long idle
time when a system only incubates (and shakes periodically) a sample.
During that pre-measurement wait time covers can be opened and a pH of samples
can be measured manually by a needle-pH-meter (not belonging to a Bioscreen
C equipment). Later pH values can be input into an experiment workbook
and can be displayed on same graph together with growth curves if desired.
5. How to change a measurement interval during a run?
All measurement parameters (sample and cover temperature, shaking,
measurement interval, number of wells measured) can be changed at any time when
wanted manually simple by changing a its value on a Run sheet. New value (e.g.
new measurement interval) comes into effect during next few tens of seconds and
will remain valid until a new change is done or until and experiment is
finished.
6. How to run an experiment with Bioscreen C?
Start software Research Express.
Check that a hardware key (a mini dongle) is connected to a printer port of
your computer. You can see a proper position of a hardware key on one of
Bioscreen Technology pictures on software Research Express main screen. (If a
hardware key is absent then software Research Express works in demo mode and
only a limited amount of wells can be used for kinetic run).
Click on 'Start New Experiment' on Main Menu.
Use an automatic sample editor creation feature - insert a total number of
wells (on worksheets Sa or Run) into a pink cell and hit Enter.
Select MS Excel sheet 'Run' and input Measurement Parameters (incubation
temperature, measurement interval, total length and others).
Fill samples (outside a Bioscreen C) manually directly into
honeycomb plate(s) and put 1 or 2 honeycomb plates in Bioscreen C
incubation cassette, close all covers and click on 'Start Run' button on MS
Excel sheet 'Run'. Any microorganism culture and any broth or other liquid
growth medium can be used.
Switch ON a Microbiology Reader Bioscreen C and click on a
button 'Continue'.
Now incubation and kinetic OD measurement session will start. You can stop an
experiment at any time after growth curves on screen are ready (growth curves
will appear usually after 3..16 hours from start at 37 'C depending on used
strain. At low temperature or with autotrophic bacteria the growth curves will
appear during 1..3 weeks usually.
During run the growth curves are charted automatically and already during a
run you can perform microbiological calculations with MS Excel functions. There
are some ready illustrative microbiological calculation formulas in experiment
workbook but - a software manufacturer does not have any responsibility for
possible mistakes in these formulas. It is a user's own responsibility to check
that these illustrative formula are acceptable for scientific needs. A user can
modify existing formulas and graph and can create any amount of new ones.
7. How to prevent
an unexpected random stop of Bioscreen C run?
A random stop of a Bioscreen C run (when using a software BioLink, Growth
Curves or Research Express) is a known problem. Such stop is usually caused
because of low quality of a PC hardware; more specifically - because of low
quality of COM board inside PC - and not because of bugs in a PC software (MS
Windows, MS Office, Growth Curves or Research Express). PC manufacturers do not
give any warranty to a communication session via COM port. Even the newest PCs
can contain cheap COM boards of which some units can give problem. Replacement
of cheap COM board (which contains board + COM1 + COM2 + printer port) with
expensive and more reliable BOCA INC com board can be as expensive as the buying
of whole new PC.
This random stop problem is happening with other scientific equipment
(including microplate readers), too but as most of other equipment uses rarely a
long kinetic measurement then a stopping problem is not so visible there.
Transgalactic Ltd has improved a source code of a Bioscreen C software Research
Express to a maximum reliability but in cases when PC components are defective a
stop of run cannot be avoided by a software. Only a replacement of a whole PC or
a COM board inside a PC will remove such random stop problem.
During sudden freezing and random stop of a run any message can appear on
screen: e.g. Switch ON Vacuum pump (with software BioLink-Dos), Unknown error,
licence time over, error at line 23495924 etc. The computer which gives random
stop of Bioscreen C run usually works without any failure in normal office use
(where long session via COM boards are not used).
We know one occasion where a random stop was caused because of "auto
sleeping" or energy-saving feature of PC. It is recommended with a software
Research Express not to use a battery-saving features of a PC.
There is not an easy solution to avoid COM board problem. One possibility is
to "loan a PC from shop with a right to return" and to check a long kinetic
session via COM port with Bioscreen C before buying a computer (by running a
kinetic dry test for 24-48 hours).
Another possible reason of sudden stop of run can be a damaged MS Windows or
MS Excel.
Computer Requirements of
software Research Express
If a computer seems to be OK (has worked correctly with Bioscreen C earlier)
then a problem can be a damaged software (MS Windows, MS Excel or Research
Express). In this case format a hard disk and reinstall a MS Windows, a MS
Office and a Research Express. Do not install other software for now to be sure
that the other software e.g. virus scanners or network connection are not
interfering with a Research Express. After testing that long runs works well it
can be installed another software, too, step-y-step.
There is a very small possibility, too that a Bioscreen C itself in somehow
broken and causes a stop - we have heard only of one such happening. Please test
for any case a Bioscreen C general condition by running service tests 21 and 22
(look proper instruction for these tests in Bioscreen C User's Manual).
If a computer speed an memory are not below computer recommendations (of
Research Express) and a computer contains a freshly installed MS Windows, office
and Research Express software and does not contain any other software (virus
scanners, network, e-mail or Internet) then the work without breaks should
succeed.
If even then the stop of run happens then it is almost sure that the problem
is in a computer (bad quality of com board or memory chips) and the only way to
solve a problem is to change a computer. This is a way how most of Bioscreen C
users who had similar problem in past have solved their problem. A software
cannot respond to a situation where a computer has frozen and does not take any
commands. By our observation 2-5 % computers are defective in this meaning.
If a computer is not good for a kinetic run via COM ports then stops can
occur very randomly (once per day, once per week etc). If a computer gives the
random stop rarely then there could appear a false hope that something else than
changing the computer can be done.
A stop of run can happen also if a system is on boundaries. A quicker
computer or smaller xls file or removing unnecessary software on computer is
needed. A use of a continuous shaking, too steals a lot of processor time. If a
computer is connected to network then it is recommended to plug off a network
cable during a run to diminish a possibility that some external back-up or
administrating software is running during a run on a Bioscreen C computer.
A message "Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an
OLE action" (OLE message) is displayed by a software MS Excel (not by a software
Research Express) at moments when MS Excel is busy with recalculations or
with self-refreshment of MS Excel workbook and MS Excel cannot take remote commands (from a
human person or from a software Research Express).
Unfortunately a Microsoft Corp. has designed a MS Excel in a way that this
message "Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE
action" does not disappear by itself but needs a pressing of OK. Transgalactic
Ltd has solved a message non-disappearing problem by pressing OK of this message
programmatically whenever this message is found by software Research Express. A
software Research Express looks for this message several times per minute as a
mean (once per 2 minutes or so if a computer is very busy). At time when MS
Windows or MS Excel is busy (because of recalculations or refreshments of
windows or sheets) then all other software including Research Express are paused
and a Research Express cannot look for OLE messages. After MS Windows finishes
internal refreshments a MS Windows gives again a permission to other software
(to Research Express) to continue a run.
One should not worry when seeing an OLE message ("Microsoft Excel is waiting
for another application to complete an OLE action") on screen for a short time.
With today's quick computers these OLE messages are on screen only for a few
seconds. With older and slower computers or with new computers (when using too
large xls files i.e. too many workbook sheets or too many kinetic measurement
points) or when to use continuous shaking feature or when running other software
simultaneously (network cards or virus scanners) the OLE messages can appear and
stay on screen for a longer time. Eventually the OLE messages should disappear
when using healthy computers.
In case that an OLE message does not disappear a computer quality is bad for
a long kinetic run. Approximately 2-5% of all computers (new or old) of any
brand name are not suitable for kinetic run via COM ports and will stop randomly
by freezing the whole computer. Here the only solution is to replace a computer to
another one. An OLE message itself does not stop a run but if a computer was
stopped at time when an OLE message was displayed the OLE message will remain on
screen (screen is frozen).
Transgalactic Ltd is testing a software with freshly installed MS Windows where
are no other software than a MS Office and a Research Express. We cannot guarantee
the work together with other virus scanning or e-mailing etc software installed
on same computer (several other computer software can take system resources even
if these are not started). Also, MS Windows users know that a MS Windows itself gets bad after a long time of
operation (windows registry size and overall size grows continuously). It is
recommended that MS Windows drive will be restored from a fresh disk-image file once
per year or even more often. To repair a a damaged MS Windows in case that a
disk image is not taken after installation of MS Windows, a fresh
installation of windows together with a formatting of hard disk is needed -
a repair install often is not enough to repair a damaged MS Windows or MS Excel.
