Discontinued Operations - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Apr. 03, 2009	Sep. 30, 2011
Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from the sale of business	$ 0.4
Total loss from discontinued operations		9.7
Tax effect on total losses of Research Instruments		0
Revenues, reported in discontinued operations		$ 0

Overall income (loss) from a disposal group that is classified as a component of the entity, before income tax, reported as a separate component of income before extraordinary items. Includes the following (before income tax): income (loss) from operations during the phase-out period, gain (loss) on disposal, provision (or any reversals of earlier provisions) for loss on disposal, and adjustments of a prior period gain (loss) on disposal.

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Tax effect allocated to a disposal group that is classified as a component of the entity reported as a separate component of income before extraordinary items. Includes the tax effects of the following: income (loss) from operations during the phase-out period, gain (loss) on disposal, provision (or any reversals of earlier provisions) for loss on disposal, and adjustments of a prior period gain (loss) on disposal.

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