A microfluidic device for detection of an analyte in a fluid is described. The microfluidic device comprises a substrate having a first surface defining entrances to one or more chambers defined in the substrate, surfaces of the chambers defining a second surface of the substrate, the first surface being modified for selective targeting and capture of at least one analyte to operably effect a blocking of the entrance to at least one of the chambers, and wherein a response characteristic of the microfluidic device is operably varied by the blocking of the entrance to the at least one of the chambers, thereby providing an indication of the presence of the analyte within the fluid.

A method of analysis using mass spectrometry and/or ion mobility spectrometry is disclosed. The method comprises: using a first device to generate smoke, aerosol or vapour from a target comprising or consisting of a microbial population; mass analysing and/or ion mobility analysing said smoke, aerosol or vapour, or ions derived therefrom, in order to obtain spectrometric data; and analysing said spectrometric data in order to analyse said microbial population.

Methods and compositions are provided herein for treating type 2 diabetes in a subject, using one or more bacterial strains such as Alistipes sp. HGB5, Atopobium parvulum type strain (IPP 1246), Bacteroides clarus DSM 22519, Butyrivibrio crossotus T9-40 A, Eubacterium hadrum B2-52, Prevotella stercorea CB35, Roseburia inulinivorans A2-194, Ruminococcus sp. 5.1.39BFAA, and Zinderia insecticola CARI.

The invention relates to bacterial compositions useful in the treatment of cancer. In particular, the compositions can be used as a co-therapy with an immune checkpoint therapy. The invention also relates to methods for identifying a subject that will respond to therapy with an immune checkpoint inhibitor comprising determining the abundance of bacteria in a biological sample from said subject.

Provided is a cell structure including: a connective tissue structure; and an epithelial structure placed on the connective tissue structure, in which the connective tissue structure contains a fragmented extracellular matrix component and first cells including mesenchymal cells, at least a part of the fragmented extracellular matrix component is placed between the first cells, and the epithelial structure contains epithelial cells.

The invention enables efficient, rapid, and sensitive enumeration of living cells by detecting microscopic colonies derived from in situ cell division using large area imaging. Microbial enumeration tests based on the invention address an important problem in clinical and industrial microbiology—the long time needed for detection in traditional tests—while retaining key advantages of the traditional methods based on microbial culture. Embodiments of the invention include non-destructive aseptic methods for detecting cellular microcolonies without labeling reagents. These methods allow for the generation of pure cultures which can be used for microbial identification and determination of antimicrobial resistance.

The present disclosure features portable wide field fluorimeter systems, e.g., in the form of low-cost mobile platforms, and methods to perform fluorometric assays to detect a change in fluorescence intensity in liquid samples, e.g., caused by the presence of a target analyte, e.g., a protein, e.g., an enzyme (e.g., β-lactamase) expressed by a target pathogen in a liquid sample in a point-of-care setting. In some implementations, a portable system for detecting a change in fluorescence intensity in a liquid sample includes a microfluidic device, an optical assembly including an emission filter and one or more lenses, and an analyzer device that collects and processes a fluorescent signal for the detection of a target analyte produced by the target pathogen present in the liquid sample.

A rapid assay for determining the presence of bacteria in a sample, such as a contaminated food sample, is disclosed. The assay comprises contacting the sample with a bacteria-specific ligand associated with a substrate, wherein bacteria present in the sample bind the ligand; contacting the bound bacteria with a detection agent; detecting the presence of bacteria in the sample by measuring the quantity of detection agent associated with the sample.

This disclosure relates generally to detection of pathogens from a gaseous mixture associated with secretions. Conventional methods typically involve invasive or biohazardous techniques, the requirement of quantity limits utility of several natural secretions, there is a dependency on immunological reactions to develop in a subject being monitored resulting in long time taken for detecting pathogens, which increases risk to health and environment. There is also reduced specificity and sensitivity considering the dependency on signature identification or training of machine learning models. Again, prior art focusses on designing antibodies for a particular type of sensor which is challenging when dealing with natural immunoglobulin. The present disclosure addresses these challenges by enabling identification of a most viable sensor for the natural immunoglobin, the viability being based on mathematical representations of the relationship between a sensor and the immunoglobulin using an ontology of domain knowledge associated with pathogens, technology, processing and detection.

The present invention relates to a low-cost, thermally reversible valve for paper-fluidic diagnostic devices. In particular, this invention demonstrates a tunable valve mechanism fabricated by wax-ink printing and localized heating via thin-film resistors to sequentially release liquids through a cellulose or nitrocellulose membrane. The wax-ink valve can obstruct fluid flow for a sustained time and are thermally actuated to release a controlled amount of liquid past the valve. This integrated paper-fluidic diagnostic assay device requires minimal user involvement, can be easily manufactured and tuned to meet various fluid delivery timing and incubation needs.