Award Data

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project investigates the rapid detection ofstaphylococcal contaminated foods. Staphylococcal food poisoning continues to be a major publichealth concern being the second leading cause of bacterial food poisoning in the United States. Thebacteria secrete staphylococcal enterotoxins and as little as 0.1¿g of SEA can produce the clinicalfeature of st ...

Many crop residues, feed byproducts, forages and other biomass have little or no nutritional value asanimal feed. Lignin in these materials is the most significant factor that limits the availability ofstructural carbohydrate (i.e., cellulose and hemicellulose) to microbial flora of ruminant animals.Many chemical treatment methods have been investigated and most result in the production ofundesir ...

Mycotoxins are compounds produced by certain species of fungi which infect grains such as corn and peanuts. Among the most common and most toxic of these are the aflatoxins (AF), with AFB1 and AFG1 recognized as potent carcinogens in addition to their other negative effects. Contamination results in large economic losses at all levels of food production. Few effective means of treating contamin ...

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HIGH LEVELS OF ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION ARE KNOWN TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR BIOLOGICALLY HARMFUL EFFECTS IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS. CONCERN ABOUT INTENSITY OF THE ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION AT THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH HAS GREATLY INCREASED SINCE THE DISCOVERY OF THE "OZONE HOLE" OVER ANTARCTICA IN 1985. THE TASK OF LONG TERM MONITORING OF UV LEVELS IS CURRENTLY MADE DIFFICULT BY INSTRUMENTATION NOT ADEQUATE TO TH ...

There is a continuing need for reliable cloud observations to drive climatic UV-B prediction models. Traditionally, observations such as cloud cover are made by human observers, and thus often suffer from uncertainties due to the subjectivity of the observer. Cloud cover data is especially important in UV-B hazard prediction, as well as storm prediction. It is generally accepted that UV-B doses ...

The energy from the sun is the overall engine that drives our climate. Widespread concern over thedepletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, and the effect that this may have on UV-B irradiance levelsat the surface of the Earth, has highlighted the need for improved technology for precisely measuringsolar ultraviolet radiation. Instruments deployed in the field require frequent calibration to e ...