Food and Beverage Analysis – Multimedia

This poster reports the development of a triple ionization source consisting of ESI, APCI and APPI sources. The source uses two probes, one for ESI and a nebulizer/vaporizer for APCI and APPI.

Antimicrobial activity of Irish Brassica vegetables were evaluated against a number of food spoilage and pathogenic micro-organisms. Methanolic extracts from York Cabbage showed the best activity against Listeria monocyotgenes and Salmonella abony.

A triplex qPCR assay was developed to screen for three major food-borne pathogens in fish. The assay is based on simultaneous qPCR amplification of specific target genomes using fluorophore labelled locked nucleic acid (LNA) TaqMan probes. The detection limit of the qPCR is 1 colony forming unit (cfu) per 1ml and the detection limit of the assay with 24h general enrichment is 1 cfu per 25g of fish meat.

Natural Vibrio cholerae infection generates a robust B-cell response that wanes for T-cell independent antigens, suggesting that B-cell responses may be mediated in a T-cell dependent manner. Patients with cholera develop a memory-effector T-cell response to cholera antigens, and B-cell activation occurs after T-cell population expansion, suggesting that T-cells may play an important role in the development and maintenance of memory B-cell responses to T-cell dependent antigens.