Neonatal Streptococcus agalactiae infections cause significant morbidity and mortality, and antenatal screening is recommended. We compared three U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) to culture using 314 vaginal/rectal swabs after 18 to 24 h (recommended period) and 4 to 8 h (shortened period) of broth enrichment. Agreement of the NAATs with e...

The potential for a revolution in microbial testing can be perceived with the near on-line detection of indicator microorganisms. By definition, these are microorganisms present in significant numbers within a food which, while not pathogenic, can be related through increasing count to the increased probability of pathogen contamination. We have used recombinant lux+ bacteriophage to detect ent...

The development of novel and high-tech solutions for rapid, accurate, and non-laborious microbial detection methods is imperative to improve the global food supply. Such solutions have begun to address the need for microbial detection that is faster and more sensitive than existing methodologies (e.g., classic culture enrichment methods). Multiple reviews report the technical functions and stru...

Background: Salmonella is the most frequently reported cause of food borne illness in Ethiopia. Objective: The aim of this study was to screen food handlers in the Dilla area of Southern Ethiopia and to assess the scale of carriage of Salmonella species and to offer prophylaxis followed by re-testing and advice on personal and food hygiene as appropriate. Method: Stool samples were collected fr...

Detection of L. monocytogenes is often limited by the performance of the enrichment media used to support bacterial growth to detectable levels. Because Listeria may exist at extremely low levels in foods, sample enrichment protocols must amplify these low initial populations to detectable limits. Listeria may also exist in an injured state in food products as a result of processing treatments ...

Although many rapid and high throughput molecular methods have been developed in the recent years for the multiplex detection of foodborne pathogens, the simultaneous recovery and enrichment of sublethally injured cells is still a problem that needs to be considered. Combined with previous established multiplex real-time PCR assay, the capability of simultaneous recovery and enrichment of suble...

Enrichment (increasing K) destabilizes simple consumer /resource interactions, but increasing food web complexity in various ways can remove this paradox of enrichment. We varied resources and number of omnivorous predators (mosquitoes) and tested for effects on the stability (persistence and temporal variability) of microfaunal populations living in pitcher plants. Top-down (omnivorous) effect...

Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen are useful in the evaluation of food web dynamics and have been used extensively in the feeding studies. Barnacles are dominant component of the intertidal and biofouling communities. Life cycle of barnacles include planktonic naupliar stages followed by a nonfeeding pre-settling cyprid stage. Development success of the nauplii depends on the food availabl...

Two methods based on specific immunoaffinity enrichment followed by electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) have been developed for the specific analysis of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE)- and malondialdehyde (MDA)-modified proteins (Michael and Schiff base adducts, respectively). Anti-HNE antibodies were immobilized on CNBr-activated sepharose, and the immunosorbent produced was used f...