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Traumatic Brain injury (TBI) often results from head impact and is a major cause of death and disability. Brain injuries vary in severity and can be associated with hemorrhaging, swelling, inflammation, and death of brain tissue. Inventors at NINDS developed a novel approach to treating brain injuries that involves transcranial application of small molecules.

Due to the disorganized nature of blood vessels that run through tumors, chemotherapeutic agents often fail to penetrate tumors and kill cancer cells at the tumor’s center. This can lead to ineffective chemotherapeutic treatments, because tumors can quickly grow back if the entire tumor is not destroyed. NIH researchers have developed a therapeutic agent that solves this problem facing current chemotherapy treatments.

The invention pertains to a device and method for transcatheter correction of cardiovascular abnormalities, such as the delivery of prosthetic valves to the heart. Featured is a device implant for closing a caval-aortic iatrogenic fistula created by the introduction of a transcatheter device from the inferior vena cava into the abdominal aorta. The occlusion device includes an expandable transvascular implant with an elastomeric surface capable of extending between a vein and artery which conforms to the boundaries of an arteriovenous fistula tract between the artery and vein.

CDC scientists have developed a real-time PCR assay for diagnosing pneumococcal disease using amplification of the bacterial gene encoding pneumococcal surface adhesin A (PsaA). Pneumococcal isolation and identification is often complicated by 1) antimicrobial suppression of growth in culture and 2) contamination by normal flora alpha-streptococci. Further, pneumococcal detection by culture and serological methods can be time-consuming, relatively expensive, laborious and, ultimately, indeterminate.

This invention describes materials and methods of detecting novel influenza virus in a sample. As highlighted by the recent H1N1 pandemic strain, influenza viruses are constantly evolving and novel reassortments can quickly spread around the world.

The CDC developed a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Taqman assay and an RT-semi nested PCR (RT-snPCR) assay for the detection of parechoviruses. Similar to enteroviruses, parechoviruses are responsible for gastrointestinal, respiratory and central nervous system infections. All tests target conserved regions in the 5'-nontranslated region (5-'NTR) of the parechovirus genome and share forward and reverse primers. The Taqman probe and RTsnPCR nested primer target the same conserved site but vary in length.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare, fatal demyelinating disease of the brain caused by the polyomavirus JC (JCV) under immunosuppressive conditions. It is pathologically characterized by progressive damage of white matter of the brain by destroying oligodendrocytes at multiple locations. Clinically, PML symptoms include weakness or paralysis, vision loss, impaired speech, and cognitive deterioration. The prognosis of PML is generally poor. No effective therapy for PML has been established.

The invention is an enhanced vascular dilator that eliminates the vascular injury caused by the size mismatch between vascular introducer sheaths and vascular dilators, as the two are advanced into a blood vessel. The invention provides a “shoulder” to match the diameter of the introducer sheath so that there is a smooth transition, without size mismatch, between the dilator and the introducer sheath. The invention allows the dilator to be withdrawn in segments from the introducer sheath.

Methylmalonic Acidemia (MMA) is a metabolic disorder affecting 1 in 25,000 to 48,000 individuals globally. MMA is characterized by increased acidity in the blood and tissues due to toxic accumulation of protein and fat by-products resulting in seizures, strokes, and chronic kidney failure. About 60% of MMA cases stem from mutations in the methylmalonyl CoA mutase (MUT) gene encoding a key enzyme required to break down amino acids and lipids. Previous efforts to develop mice with null mutations in MUT have been unsuccessful, as such mutations result in neonatal death.

A novel low protein culture medium with defined chemical components that allows pluripotent stem cell maintenance and differentiation is disclosed. The present technology also provides for production of high quality cardiac cells from human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells in chemically defined medium conditions.