The selected-ion flow tube (SIFT) technique has been employed in the study of reactions of carbon monoxide with the polyatomic carbon cations C+n(n=1−6) and CnH+(n=2–5) at 296±2 K in helium buffer gas at ∼0.34 Torr and 1.1×1016 atoms cm−3. The polyatomic carbon cations were generated by electron impact on a suitable parent molecule. Carbon monoxide was observed to add rapidly to C+n(n=2–6) twice in succession to form polyatomic carbon monoxide and dioxide cations, and once to CnH+ to form polyatomic carbon monoxide cations. Further additions did not occur with measurable specific rates. This remarkable behavior is attributed to double bond formation at the terminal carbon atoms of the polyatomic carbon cations. The specific rate for the addition of CO was observed to vary with the size of the polyatomic carbon cation, increasing to a maximum for reactions with five atoms in the reacting ion. This trend is attributed to an increase in the lifetime of the intermediate addition complex.

In 2001, envelopes loaded with Bacillus anthracis spores were mailed to Senators Daschle and Leahy as well as to the New York Post and NBC News buildings. Additional letters may have been mailed to other news agencies because there was confirmed anthrax infection of employees at these locations. These events heightened the awareness of the lack of understanding of the mechanism(s) by which objects contaminated with a biological agent might spread disease. This understanding is crucial for the estimation of the potential for exposure to ensure the appropriate response in the event of future attacks. In this study, equipment to simulate interactions between envelopes and procedures to analyze the spread of spores from a "payload" envelope (i.e., loaded internally with a powdered spore preparation) onto neighboring envelopes were developed. Another process to determine whether an aerosol could be generated by opening contaminated envelopes was developed. Subsequent generations of contaminated envelopes originating from a single payload envelope showed a consistent two-log decrease in the number of spores transferred from one generation to the next. Opening a tertiary contaminated envelope resulted in an aerosol containing 10 3 B. anthracis spores. We developed a procedure for sampling contaminated letters by a nondestructive method aimed at providing information useful for consequence management while preserving the integrity of objects contaminated during the incident and preserving evidence for law enforcement agencies.

A rapid fluorogenic medium was evaluated for the detection of Escherichia coli in dairy products. The medium was capable of detecting Esch. coli after 7-5 h incubation at 41 -5 °C. Samples of pasteurized milk (136), raw milk (63), soft cheese (60) and pasteurized cream (39) were examined with media based on 4-methylumbelliferyl-/?-D-glucuronide (MUG-7) and Violet red bile agar and there were no significant differences between the numbers of Esch. coli detected on the two media. MUG-7 medium had a specificity of 98-6% and the small number of organisms giving a false positive reaction were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae. The incidence of false negative results was ~ 2%. MUG-7 medium was suitable for pour plate, spread plate and membrane filtration methods. Possible applications of the method are discussed.

Infrared spectroscopy has been demonstrated as a powerful tool for taxonomic classification of bacteria when the microbes are grown and sampled under carefully controlled conditions. Infrared spectroscopy affords limited information about relative proportions of certain chemical functional groups in whole microbial cells. The objective of this work is to elucidate the ability of infrared spectroscopy to identify and speciate Bacillus spp. regardless of sample history. Spectrometers utilize different scanning methods to collect infrared absorption spectra. We employed three; transmission through a thin film, transmission infrared microscopy, and Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR). Target organisms include Bacillus anthracis, and several near neighbors. Each strain was cultured at 24°C and 35°C on three solid media. Microorganisms were incubated for up to ten days to include vegetative cells, spore formation and mature spores. Triplicate microbe samples were prepared and analyzed according to instrument requirements using the three measurement modes. Triplicate samples of BSL-3 organisms were analyzed only by the thin film transmission method. Spectral data was analyzed using the cluster analysis function of OPUS software. We report that infrared spectrometry is capable of discerning Bacillus spores from vegetative cells and the phylogenic clustering of Bacillus species according to pathogenicity levels via infrared spectral analysis.

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