A tongue sponge for improving oral care includes a wand, a carrier, and a sponge head. The wand has an attachment post positioned at one end thereof. The carrier is for removably and replaceably coupling to the attachment post of the wand. The sponge head has a receptacle for receiving the carrier in a fixed position, with an outwardly facing surface of the sponge extending outwardly around the entire carrier.

An orthodontic chew for use with braces includes an elongated tubular member made of a chewable food grade silicone and including an ingredient that improves oral health during usage of braces. A comfort tape for use with braces includes a strip of flexible and stretchable material that is infused with an ingredient to improve oral care during treatment with braces.

A biosensor having a core/shell nanocomposite of TiO2/rGO formed by hydrothermally coating reduced graphene oxide (rGO) flakes on titanate nanowires.

Devices and methods for automated liquid handling and reagent processing to provide labelling and detection of bacteria and viruses are provided. Labelling reactions are performed rapidly and with essentially no generation of hazardous waste or use of consumables. Highly sensitive detection is performed by measuring fluorescence on a rotating sample plate.

Methods and devices for continuous flow monitoring of a liquid sample for presence of an airborne microbial pathogen are provided. The liquid sample can be derived from environmental air. The methods and devices provide for continuous labeling of a targeted pathogen in the liquid sample with a fluorescent probe. A customized fluorescence detector is provided that can detect labeled pathogens during continuous flow.

The present invention is directed to a method for making a solid substrate for conducting biological and chemical assays and to the solid substrate made by the method.

This invention provides methods of diagnosis, predicting and diagnosing susceptibility to, predicting disease progression and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease and/or subtypes of Crohn's disease (CD) and/or Ulcerative Colitis (UC). In one embodiment, a method of the invention is practiced by determining the presence or absence of the genetic variants NOD2, TLR8, TLR2, CARD8, CARD15 and/or JAK3 to diagnose, predict and diagnose susceptibility and predict disease progression in an individual. In another embodiment, a method of the invention is practiced by determining the presence or absence of anti-Cbir1, anti-OmpC, ASCA, anti-I2 and/or pANCA in an individual. In another embodiment, the invention further associates the presence or absence of the risk variants with the expression of anti-Cbir1, anti-OmpC, ASCA, anti-I2 and/or pANCA for the diagnosis, prediction of susceptibility, prediction of disease progression and/or treatment of IBD, including CD and/or UC.

Binding agents able to disrupt bacterial biofilms of diverse origin are described, including monoclonal antibodies secreted by human B lymphocytes. Methods to prevent formation of or to dissolve biofilms with these binding agents are also described. Immunogens for eliciting antibodies to disrupt biofilms are also described.

The present specification discloses SNAP-25 compositions, methods of making α-SNAP-25 antibodies that bind an epitope comprising a carboxyl-terminus at the P.sub.1 residue from the BoNT/A cleavage site scissile bond from a SNAP-25 cleavage product, α-SNAP-25 antibodies that bind an epitope comprising a carboxyl-terminus at the P.sub.1 residue from the BoNT/A cleavage site scissile bond from a SNAP-25 cleavage product, methods of detecting BoNT/A activity, and methods of detecting neutralizing α-BoNT/A antibodies.

A polymer nanoparticle includes a polymer having repeating units of formula (I)

##STR00001##

wherein X, L.sup.1, and R.sup.1 are as defined herein. Methods of preparing the polymer nanoparticles and compositions comprising the nanoparticles are also disclosed. The polymers nanoparticles described herein are particularly useful for the treatment of bacterial biofilms.