The present disclosure provides antibodies that specifically bind to botulinum neurotoxins. The antibodies and derivatives thereof that specifically bind to the neutralizing epitopes provided herein can be used in methods to specifically bind and, in some embodiments, neutralize, botulinum neurotoxin and are therefore also useful in the treatment.

The present invention relates to a method for detecting a pathogenic strain having resistance to carbapenem antibiotics in a biological sample. According to the present invention, it is possible to directly identify carbapenemases, specifically KPC, OXA, NDM, IMP, VIM and/or GES protein, by mass spectrometry, thereby making it possible to quickly determine not only whether a pathogenic strain has resistance to antibiotics, but also the type of protein involved in the resistance. According to the present invention, the physical and chemical properties of each carbapenemase in vivo, such as the unique N-terminal truncation length, methionine residue oxidation and disulfide bond formation in each type of carbapenemase, are identified and are reflected on reference mass values. Accordingly, it is possible to more closely detect the presence of an antibiotic-resistant strain with high reliability, and thus the present invention may be advantageously used to establish an appropriate strategy for antibiotic administration at an early stage of infection.

Medical devices and methods thereof for determining bacterial infections in blood. The medical devices and methods thereof can utilize a coating including an antibody conjugated to a reporter protein configured to indicate a bacterial infection in a patient's blood by way of an antigen thereof. Exemplary medical devices include, but are not limited to, a catheter assembly, an AV fistula needle set, an extension set for either a catheter assembly or an AV fistula needle set, and a hemodialysis tubing set. The medical devices and methods thereof can utilize immunochromatographic separation of the antibody and an antigen-antibody complex to indicate a bacterial infection in a patient's blood.

A method of detecting an analyte in a fluid sample includes exposing a sensor including a substrate and a sensor medium on the substrate to the fluid sample for a period of time. The sensor medium includes a plurality of nanostructures and one or more of at least one agent selected from the group consisting of an antibody, an antigen receptor or an antigen immobilized upon at least a portion of the plurality of nanostructures. The at least one agent is an antibody or an antigen receptor if the analyte is an antigen and is an antigen if the analyte is an antibody. An electrolyte liquid having a known ionic strength which is less than the fluid sample is added over the sensor medium subsequent to exposing the sensor to the fluid and a variable providing a measure of change in at least one property of the sensor medium which is dependent upon the presence of the analyte is measured in presence of the electrolyte liquid.

The present invention relates to the field of medicine and in particular to Parkinson's disease (PD). Specifically the present invention relates to methods and means for early detection of PD. The invention relates also to methods and means for treatment or prophylaxis of PD. In the method of the invention a probability of a subject developing or having Parkinson's disease (PD) is determined by measuring the relative abundances of one or multiple microbial taxa in a sample from a subject; and the probability of the subject developing or having PD is determined based on the measured abundances. The present invention provides a novel approach for the diagnostics of PD.

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.

Methods of determining infection type are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises measuring the amount of a determinant which is set forth in Tables 1 or 2 in a sample derived from the subject, wherein said amount is indicative of the infection type.

The invention provides compositions (e.g., peptide compositions) useful for the detection of antibodies that bind to Borrelia antigens. The peptide compositions comprise polypeptide sequences comprising variants in the IR6 domain of the Borrelia VlsE protein. The invention also provides devices, methods, and kits comprising such peptide compositions and useful for the detection of antibodies that bind to Borrelia antigens and the diagnosis of Lyme disease.

The present invention relates to a reagent kit for detecting biofilm in test tissue, the reagent kit comprising: (a) a pretreatment liquid comprising at least one surfactant selected, from the group consisting of nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, and cationic surfactants, (b) a staining liquid comprising a dye, and (c) a decolorizing liquid comprising at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, and cationic surfactants; wherein after a membrane is brought into contact with the test tissue and released from contact, the pretreatment liquid (a), the staining liquid (b), and the decolorizing liquid (c) are brought into contact with the contact surface of the membrane in this order.

A magnetic separation device has a membrane having a plurality of pores, a magnetically soft material layer disposed on the membrane, and a passivation layer disposed on the magnetically soft material layer. The magnetic separation device may be part of a microfluidic device having a lateral flow channel and a vertical flow magnetic separation filter. The magnetic separation device may be used to separate magnetically tagged particles, such as cells.