Comparison of visual immunoassay and chromogenic culture medium for the presence of Listeria spp. in foods

Two rapid screening methods [the TECRA Listeria Visual Immunoassay (LIS-VIS) kit, an AOAC-approved 48 h visual test, which detects Listeria through colorimetry, and BCM Listeria isolation and differentiation plating agar] were used to screen U.S. Food and Drug Administration-regulated commodities for the presence of Listeria spp. Seventy-four different food samples were screened for the presence of Listeria spp. by using both protocols. Test results for the TECRA LIS-VIA showed 66 negative samples and 1 false positive, with 4 confirmed as L. monocytogenes and 3 as L. innocua. With the BCM agar, 67 samples were negative, 4 were confirmed as L. monocytogenes, and 3 were confirmed as L. innocua. Both methods showed similar results and were effective screening tools for Listeria spp. in foods. The BCM agar method proved to be a rapid, sensitive, and excellent tool for early screening and differentiation of Listeria spp. present in foods.     

Design and synthesis of a fluorescent reporter of protein kinase activity

There is widespread interest in developing fluorescent reporters of protein kinase activity, species that can furnish a visual readout of both when and where intracellular kinases are activated in response to a stimulus. We have constructed and identified, via a combination of rational design, library synthesis, and screening, a difluorofluorescein-appended peptide-based species that responds to protein kinase C phosphorylation in a fluorescently sensitive fashion. The phosphorylation-induced divalent metal ion-mediated 265% enhancement in fluorescence proceeds with a V(max) of 8.5 micromol/min.mg and a K(m) of 20.5 microM.     

Two energy scales and slow crossover in YbAl3

Experimental results for the susceptibility, magnetization, specific heat, 4f occupation number, Hall effect, and magnetoresistance for single crystals of the intermediate valence (IV) compound YbAl3 show that, in addition to the Kondo temperature scale T(K) approximately 670 K, there is a low temperature scale T(coh) approximately 30-40 K for the onset of Fermi liquid coherence. Furthermore, the crossover from the low temperature Fermi liquid regime to the high temperature local moment regime is slower than predicted by the Anderson impurity model. We suggest that these effects are generic for IV compounds and we discuss them in terms of the theory of the Anderson lattice.     

Monoidal Categories and Multiextensions

We associate to a group-like monoidal grupoid a principal bundle E satisfying most of the axioms defining a biextension. The obstruction to the existence of a genuine biextension structure on E is exhibited. When this obstruction vanishes, the biextension E is alternating and a trivialization of E induces a trivialization of . The analogous theory for monoidal n-categories is also examined, as well as the appropriate generalization of these constructions in a sheaf-theoretic context. In the n-categorial situation, this produces a higher commutator calculus, in which some interesting generalizations of the notion of an alternating biextension occur. For n=2, the corresponding cocycles are constructed explicitly, by a partial symmetrization process, from the cocycle describing the n-category.     

Continuous wave laser wavelength measurement using the travelling Michelson interferometer

The general design, operating principles, and accuracy limitations of cw laser wavemeters based on the Michelson interferometer are discussed. Device construction and operating practicalities are illustrated by reference to an automatic system built to monitor the wavelength of a Coherent 599-21 single-mode dye laser.     

Photochemistry and Photophysical Properties of Novel, Unsymmetrically Substituted Metallophthalocyanines

Abstract— A series of novel, unsymmetrically substituted metallophthalocyanines was synthesized, along with their symmetrically substituted analogs, and the effects of structure and metal substitution on their photophysical and photoredox properties were investigated. The macrocy-cles were synthesized using a mixed-condensation method followed by chromatographic separation of the resulting soluble products. They possess a catechol "active site" and three tert-butyl groups for enhanced solubility. The ground- and excited-state photophysical properties of the free-base, Zn(II) and Pd(II) macrocycles were measured and compared with their symmetrically substituted (tetra[ tert -butyl]) analogs. The efficiency with which these macrocycles sensitize the formation of singlet oxygen was determined and discussed in the context of the excited-state photophysical properties. Several examples of photoinduced electron transfer reactions with one- and two-electron acceptors are demonstrated and discussed. These soluble molecules can be tuned to optimize their photochemical and redox properties by varying the central metal, axial ligands and other substituents, thereby providing a series of molecules for the investigation of photodynamic therapy and photoinduced electron transfer mechanisms.