Contamination by microscopic fungi and mycotoxins in high moisture corn (HMC) silages conserved by chemical additives was investigated. The samples were examined for the concentration and identification of microscopic fungi able to grow on Malt and Czapek-Dox agar and for mycotoxins content (deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin, zearalenone and total aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins) by direct competit...

Address correspondence to D.V. McCalley. here has been a wealth of recent interest in proteomics, which involves the global analysis of protein expression and function. Identification of complex protein mixtures is a difficult process that can first involve, for example, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to resolve individual proteins. These separated proteins then can be hydrolyzed with enzy...

The characterization of ink on paper is of importance for dating and comparing questioned ink entries in forensic document examination. Inks are commonly characterized by their colorant profile that is identified by well-established analytical methods. Numerous ink formulations show identical colorant profiles, though. In order to differentiate inks that are not distinguishable by colorant anal...

Commercial fruit baby food is a preserved fruit product usually made with fruit purees, sugar, water and variable additives (thickening agents, antioxidants, etc.). As the foodstuffs intended for particular nutritional uses, baby foods for infants and young children conforms to a set of strict guidelines e.g. maximum levels for pesticide residues, microbiological contamination, addition of addi...

Some innovative solutions are proposed to the problem of the unavoidable physical migration of antioxidants from plastic films for packaging, in order to minimize the consequent undesirable effect of food contamination. In previous exploratory tests, phenolic antioxidant co-units were achieved and incorporated into polyethylene chain and now the work is extended to create new families of polyme...

Phytophthora cinnamomi causes a severe root rot in avocado, Persea americana. Breeding tolerant rootstocks is thought to be the most promising method for phytophthora root rot disease control but breeding avocado is challenging. The avocado flowering syndrome (synchronous protogynous dichogamy), combined with high flowering and low fruit set, render controlled pollination exceedingly difficult....

Scatterometer Contamination Mitigation

Water contamination by viruses has an increasing worldwide impact on human health, and has led to requirements for accurate and quantitative molecular tools. Here, we report the first one-step reverse-transcription droplet digital PCR-based absolute quantification of a RNA virus (rotavirus) in different types of surface water samples. This quantification method proved to be more precise and mor...