Abstract: A weak organic acid is used to effect the release of CaDPA from Bacillus or Clostridium endospores, rapidly and at room temperature, to enable detection and measurement of DPA and thereby the assessment of risk associated with exposure to Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum, and like spores. The method can be applied to airborne, food-borne, and water-borne spores, as well as to spores collected from surfaces or contained in body fluids, and analysis is advantageously carried out using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Abstract: The method and apparatus rapidly separate drugs and their metabolites from saliva and, in a continuous sequence of steps, rapidly detect, identify and quantify them through surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Abstract: The method and apparatus rapidly separate drugs and their metabolites from saliva and, in a continuous sequence of steps, rapidly detect, identify and quantify them through surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Abstract: A method for obtaining quantitative surface-enhanced Raman (SER) spectra that corrects for deficiencies of, and variations in, the materials and devices employed, especially the SER-active media utilized, employs a reference chemical, having an effective surface-enhanced Raman factor, of known concentration within the same SER experimental field of view as the analyte chemical being measured. Knowledge of the relative amounts of SER-scattering for the reference chemical and analyte chemical allows calculating the concentration of the latter to a high degree of accuracy and precision.