Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that if ingested can cause a variety of adverse effects on both humans and animals.Aflatoxins are cancerogenic compounds produced predominantly by certain strains of the Aspergillus genus. They have immunosuppressive, mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic effects, especially on the liver. A variety of physical, chemical and biological methods have b...

Terrorist attacks can cause devastating damage to a society through the use of chemical, biological, or radiological weapons. Biological attacks may cause contamination, infectious disease outbreaks, and significant loss of life. Information systems that can efficiently and effectively collect, access, analyze, and report infectious disease data can help prevent, detect, respond to, and manage ...

We have fabricated a cryogenic atomic force microscope that is designed for structural investigation of freeze-fractured biological specimens. The apparatus is operated in liquid nitrogen gas at atmospheric pressure. Freeze-fracturing, freeze-etching and subsequent imaging are carried out in the same chamber, so that the surface topography of a fractured plane is easily visualized without ice c...

LEVEL: ADVANCED M ycoplasmas and related bacteria in the class Mollicutes are parasitic organisms found not only on the external surfaces of a wide range of eukaryotic host cells, but also intracellularly. They are characterized by small size and lack of a rigid cell wall, which gives them resistance to β-lactam antibiotics and the ability to pass through 0.2-μm filters (1, 2). Contamination by...

A method is described for direct analysis of lead in blood utilizing the carbon rod atomizer. Aliquots of whole blood are analyzed without pre-treatment. Resuits are comparable to those for a similar non-flame technique in which whole blood samples were prediluted with “Triton X-100.” The small sample volumes required and the minimal sample preparation further diminish the possibility of spurio...