Cortical Neuroprosthesis Merges Visible and Invisible Light Without Impairing Native Sensory Function.

Adult rats equipped with a sensory prosthesis, which transduced infrared (IR) signals into electrical signals delivered to somatosensory cortex (S1), took approximately 4 d to learn a four-choice IR discrimination task. Here, we show that when such IR signals are projected to the primary visual cortex (V1), rats that are pretrained in a visual-discrimination task typically learn the same IR discrimination task on their first day of training. However, without prior training on a visual discrimination task, the learning rates for S1- and V1-implanted animals converged, suggesting there is no intrinsic difference in learning rate between the two areas.

Feasibility of detecting aflatoxin B1 on inoculated maize kernels surface using Vis/NIR hyperspectral imaging.

The feasibility of using a visible/near-infrared hyperspectral imaging system with a wavelength range between 400 and 1000 nm to detect and differentiate different levels of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1 ) artificially titrated on maize kernel surface was examined. To reduce the color effects of maize kernels, image analysis was limited to a subset of original spectra (600 to 1000 nm). Residual staining from the AFB1 on the kernels surface was selected as regions of interest for analysis.

Detection by hyperspectral imaging of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli serogroups O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145 on rainbow agar.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service has determined that six non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroups (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145) are adulterants in raw beef.

Early expression profile of inflammatory markers and kidney allograft status.

Cellular rejection after renal transplantation, in general, occurs as a result of an interaction between immunologic processes that maintain graft tolerance versus allograft rejection. A potential mechanism that triggers such processes might be through the activation of the innate immune response initiated during organ procurement and ischemia/reperfusion injury, contributing to delayed graft function or graft dysfunction. Our goal was to test the impact of molecular markers that have key roles in innate immunity such as cytokines, Toll-like receptors (TLRs), and allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF- 1) at early times after transplantation.

Classification and structural analysis of live and dead Salmonella cells using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and principal component analysis.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to detect Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis food-borne bacteria and to distinguish between live and dead cells of both serotypes. Bacteria cells were prepared in 10(8) cfu/mL concentration, and 1 mL of each bacterium was loaded individually on the ZnSe attenuated total reflection (ATR) crystal surface (45° ZnSe, 10 bounces, and 48 mm × 5 mm effective area of analysis on the crystal) and scanned for spectral data collection from 4000 to 650 cm(-1) wavenumber. Analysis of spectral signatures of Salmonella isolates was conducted using principal component analysis (PCA).