Abstract: The invention provides antagonistic and agonistic anti-human VISTA antibodies and antibody fragments. These antagonist antibodies and antibody fragments may be used to inhibit or block VISTA's suppressive effects on T cell immunity and thereby promote T cell immunity. These agonist antibodies and antibody fragments may be used to potentiate or enhance or mimic VISTA's suppressive effects on T cell immunity and thereby suppress T cell immunity. These antagonist antibodies and antibody fragments are especially useful in the treatment of cancer and infectious conditions. These agonist antibodies and antibody fragments are especially useful in the treatment of autoimmunity, allergy, inflammatory conditions, GVHD, sepsis and transplant recipients. Screening assays for identifying these agonists are also provided.

Abstract: Systems and methods detect cortical arousal events from a single time-varying ECG signal that is obtained via single-lead ECG. A pre-trained deep neural network transforms the ECG signal into a sequence of cortical-arousal probabilities. The deep neural network includes an inception module, a residual neural network, and a long short-term memory neural network to identify structure in the ECG signal that distinguishes periods of cortical arousal from periods without cortical arousal.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for the detection of microbes in liquids, in air and on non-living surfaces in which samples are exposed to frequency-modulated electromagnetic radiation of specific energies capable of exciting various metabolites, cofactors and cellular and spore components, with the microbial cells to be sampled (and more specifically the excited metabolites, cofactors and/or other cellular components) contained therein emit fluorescence that can be measured that is similarly frequency-modulated provided that the excitation frequencies are longer than the fluorescence lifetime of the excited intrinsic microbial fluorophore.

Abstract: The present invention describes a method for the rapid binding of pathogenic microorganisms and their toxic proteins with ligands that have been covalently tethered at some distance from the surface of a substrate. Ligands directed to microbes are covalently attached to the substrate surface by tethers that are between 35 ? and 50 ? in length for optimal binding efficacy. Ligands directed to capture and concentrate proteinaceous materials are covalently attached to the substrate surface by tethers that are between 35 ? and 50 ? in length for optimum assay kinetics. The ligands described herein include heme compounds, siderophores, polysaccharides, and peptides specific for toxic proteins, outer membrane proteins and conjugated lipids. Non-binding components of the solution to be analyzed are separated from the bound fraction and binding is confirmed by detection of the analyte via microscopy, fluorescence, epifluorescence, luminescence, phosphorescence, radioactivity, or optical absorbance.

Abstract: The present invention describes a method for the binding of pathogenic microorganisms and their toxic proteins with ligands that have been covalently tethered at some distance from the surface of a substrate: distances of at least fifteen ? are required for microorganism binding ligand tethers and at least six ? are required for protein binding ligand tethers. The ligands described herein include heme compounds, siderophores, polysaccharides, and peptides specific for toxic proteins, outer membrane proteins and conjugated lipids. Non-binding components of the solution to be analyzed are separated from the bound fraction and binding is confirmed by detection of the analyte via microscopy, fluorescence, epifluorescence, luminescence, phosphorescence, radioactivity, or optical absorbance. By patterning numerous ligands in an array on a substrate surface it is possible to taxonomically identify the microorganism by analysis of the binding pattern of the sample to the array.

Abstract: The present invention describes a method for the binding of pathogenic microorganisms and their toxic proteins with ligands that have been covalently tethered at some distance from the surface of a substrate: distances of at least fifteen ? are required for microorganism binding ligand tethers and at least six ? are required for protein binding ligand tethers. The ligands described herein include heme compounds, siderophores, polysaccharides, and peptides specific for toxic proteins, outer membrane proteins and conjugated lipids. Non-binding components of the solution to be analyzed are separated from the bound fraction and binding is confirmed by detection of the analyte via microscopy, fluorescence, epifluorescence, luminescence, phosphorescence, radioactivity, or optical absorbance. By patterning numerous ligands in an array on a substrate surface it is possible to taxonomically identify the microorganism by analysis of the binding pattern of the sample to the array.

Abstract: The present invention describes a method for the binding of pathogenic microorganisms and their toxic proteins with ligands that have been covalently tethered at some distance from the surface of a substrate: distances of at least fifteen ? are required for microorganism binding ligand tethers and at least six ? are required for protein binding ligand tethers. The ligands described herein include heme compounds, siderophores, polysaccharides, and peptides specific for toxic proteins, outer membrane proteins and conjugated lipids. Non-binding components of the solution to be analyzed are separated from the bound fraction and binding is confirmed by detection of the analyte via microscopy, fluorescence, epifluorescence, luminescence, phosphorescence, radioactivity, or optical absorbance. By patterning numerous ligands in an array on a substrate surface it is possible to taxonomically identify the microorganism by analysis of the binding pattern of the sample to the array.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for the detection of aerobic microbes on non-living surfaces in which electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength greater than 350 nm is directed onto the surface to cause excitation of pyridine nucleotides present in microbial cells to emit radiation having a higher wavelength. That higher wavelength radiation and reflected radiation is then sensed as a measure of the amount of microbial cells on the surface.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for the detection of aerobic microbes on non-living surfaces in which electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength greater than 350 nm is directed onto the surface to cause excitation of pyridine nucleotides present in microbial cells to emit radiation having a higher wavelength. That higher wavelength radiation and reflected radiation is then sensed as a measure of the amount of microbial cells on the surface.