Investigation of the Efficacy of a Listeria monocytogenes Biosensor Using Chicken Broth Samples.

Foodborne pathogens are microbes present in food that cause serious illness when the contaminated food is consumed. Among these pathogens, Listeria monocytogenes is one of the most serious bacterial pathogens, and causes severe illness. The techniques currently used for L. monocytogenes detection are based on common molecular biology tools that are not easy to implement for field use in food production and distribution facilities. This work focuses on the efficacy of an electrochemical biosensor in detecting L. monocytogenes in chicken broth. The sensor is based on a nanostructured electrode modified with a bacteriophage as a bioreceptor which selectively detects L. monocytogenes using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The biosensing platform was able to reach a limit of detection of 55 CFU/mL in 1× PBS buffer and 10 CFU/mL in 1% diluted chicken broth. The biosensor demonstrated 83-98% recovery rates in buffer and 87-96% in chicken broth.

Experimentally Determined Hansen Solubility Parameters of Biobased and Biodegradable Polyesters.

Hansen solubility parameters (HSP) of 15 commercially relevant biobased and biodegradable polyesters were experimentally determined by applying a novel approach to the classic solubility study method. In this approach, the extent of swelling in polymer films was determined using a simple equation based on the mass difference between swollen and nonswollen film samples to obtain normalized solvent uptake (N). Using N and HSPiP software, highly accurate HSP values were obtained for all 15 polyesters. Qualitative evaluation of the HSP values was conducted by predicting the miscibility of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHB-co-HHx, 7 mol % HHx) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with a novel lignin-based plasticizer (ethyl 3-(4-ethoxy-3-methoxyphenyl)propanoate, EP) with a relative energy difference (RED) less than 0.4. Additionally, an HSP-predicted plasticizer (di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate, DA) with a larger RED (>0.7) was used to demonstrate the effects of less-miscible additives. Plasticized samples were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy (POM) to determine the Tg depression, with EP showing linear Tg depression up to 50% plasticizer loading, whereas DA shows minimal Tg depression past 10% loading. Further analysis by POM reveals that the DA phase separates from both polymers at loadings as low as 2.5% (PHB-co-HHx, 7 mol % HHx) and 5% (PLA), while the EP phase separates at a much higher loading of 50% (PHB-co-HHx, 7 mol% HHx) and 30% (PLA).

Substituted Ortho-Benzynes: Properties of the Triple Bond.

Ortho-benzyne has been well studied by both experiment and theory. Its substituted variants, however, have been less carefully examined. Benchmark data are computed for unsubstituted ortho-benzyne using several density functional theory functionals and basis sets, up to cc-pVQZ. Optimized geometries for the substituted ortho-benzyne as well as harmonic vibrational frequencies and singlet-triplet splittings are computed using the benchmarked functionals. A proximal (syn)OH substitution causes a mean θ1 distortion of +8.1 ± 1.4° from ortho-benzyne. Substituting in the proximal position with F shifts the singlet-triplet splitting by +4.5 ± 0.4 kcal mol-1 from ortho-benzyne. Natural bond orbital analysis, including natural Coulomb electrostatics, elucidates the presence of three influences from the selected substituents: hyperconjugative, resonance, and electrostatic effects.

VISA--Vector Integration Site Analysis server: a web-based server to rapidly identify retroviral integration sites from next-generation sequencing.

BACKGROUND: Analyzing the integration profile of retroviral vectors is a vital step in determining their potential genotoxic effects and developing safer vectors for therapeutic use. Identifying retroviral vector integration sites is also important for retroviral mutagenesis screens. RESULTS: We developed VISA, a vector integration site analysis server, to analyze next-generation sequencing data for retroviral vector integration sites. Sequence reads that contain a provirus are mapped to the human genome, sequence reads that cannot be localized to a unique location in the genome are filtered out, and then unique retroviral vector integration sites are determined based on the alignment scores of the remaining sequence reads. CONCLUSIONS: VISA offers a simple web interface to upload sequence files and results are returned in a concise tabular format to allow rapid analysis of retroviral vector integration sites.