An improved bicarbonate determination with variability of apparent dissociation constant in Henderson-Hasselbach equation or Henderson equation with Henry’s law is described. This ensures that the regulating device is substantially protected against the effects of the environment and the diameter of the pole is increased to a lesser degree. The devices may have one or more inlets, and may be configured for use with an injection device, such as a syringe, andor with a pump. Thus, engagement of the connector assembly and the lap anchor is stable, and disengagement of the connector assembly and the lap anchor is prevented. The binder composition is particularly useful for bonding mineral fiber products. Reagents for assaying DNA are described herein which include a plurality of encoded particles having attached amplicons amplified from a template DNA sequence.