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This technology comprises specific hepatitis E virus (HEV) antigenic polypeptides. HEV causes epidemic and sporadic cases of hepatitis outbreaks with a mortality rate as high as 20% for pregnant women. In order to address this problem, CDC scientists carried out thorough HEV antigen screenings and subsequently developed recombinant proteins that efficiently model major HEV neutralization epitope(s). These recombinant proteins may be considered as candidates for the development of an HEV subunit vaccine, as well as for the development of highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tests.

CDC researchers have developed a real-time PCR assay for the detection and viral-load quantitative estimations of human bocavirus (HBoV) from clinical specimens. At present, there have been few reports on the epidemiology, geographic distribution or clinical features of HBoV infection. Additionally, symptoms affiliated with bocavirus infections overlap with numerous other respiratory illnesses. This CDC assay provides sensitive, specific, and quantitative detection of HBoV in patients with respiratory illness by a method of real-time PCR targeting the HBoV NS1 and NP-1 genes.

CDC researchers have developed methods for detecting retroviruses within a patient blood sample and discriminating HIV-1 samples within serum specimens. HIV-1 can be genetically classified into two major groups, group M (major) and Group O (outlier) with group O comprising all divergent viruses that do not cluster with group M. The identification of group O infections raised public health concerns about the safety of the blood supply because HIV-1 screening by group M-based serologic tests does not consistently detect group O infection.

This CDC generated invention entails improved methods of analyzing microneutralization assays, especially for the purposes of determining specific antibody concentrations and optimizing vaccine formulation. More specifically, the invention is a set of SAS based programs using 4-parameter logistic curve fitting algorithms to interpolate between individual data points, allowing for enhanced accuracy and precision when establishing neutralization titers.

CDC researchers have developed a fabrication process to create bifunctional microparticles displaying two distinct proteins that are spatially segregated onto a single hemispheric surface. At present, there is no described way of producing biological microparticles with two distinct types of separated proteins. Bifunctional Janus particles generated by the CDC approach possess biologically relevant, native conformation proteins attached to a biologically unreactive and safe substrate.

This invention comprises monoclonal antibodies, proteins, and related nucleic acid coding sequences that identify all or part of the antigenic anthrose oligosaccharide of Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax toxicity in humans. It is imperative to identify virulent B. anthracis with speed and specificity, however there presently is substantial difficulty in early-stage recognition and diagnosis of anthrax inhalation.

A method of detecting DNase I hypersensitive sites ((DHS) in a single cell or very small number of cells, including cells recovered from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue slides of patient samples. DHS has revealed a large number of potential regulatory elements for transcriptional regulation in various cell types. The application of DNase-Seq techniques to patient samples can elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms of gene function in a variety of diseases as well as provide potentially important diagnostic and prognostic information.

The invention relates to fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) and their uses as fiducial markers for microscopy. FNDs are bright fluorescent probes that do not blink or bleach and have broad fluorescence excitation and emission peaks. The fluorescence intensity can be readily controlled by the size of the FND, the number of fluorescent centers produced in the nanodiamonds, or in situ through the application of a weak magnetic field.

The invention pertains to software processes, additions, and docking approaches to Autodock Vina that speeds the rate and efficiency of analyzing ligand interactions with a receptor by cognate ligands and rewards conformations in the scoring algorithm for residue interactions that are based on the biological data. The score is multiplied by a weighting factor to control the degree of ligand-residue interactions that are considered. This multiplier is then added to the docking score for confirmation.