Abstract: The present invention concerns a spectrometric technique to determine microorganism detection and identification by taking advantage of the inherent extracellular enzymes present in living organisms, as opposed to dead, non-enzyme producing organisms. These enzymes are harnessed in the in vivo reactions with a non-fluorescent dye containing a select organic functional group that is known to be cleaved or hydrolyzed by the certain enzyme. The dye is tailored such that one of the products fluoresces, so that by employing a conventional spectrofluorimeter, the rate of fluorescence can be determined. By subjecting a plurality of samples having different cellular concentrations of viable microorganisms to the same non-fluorescent dye, or by subjecting the same bacterial sample to a number of different non-fluorescent dyes, a pattern of fluorescent rates emerge.

Abstract: An improved starch-based adhesive includes an adhesive of the carrier, no-carrier or carrier-no-carrier type and a quantity of fibers dispersed in the adhesive in an amount of from about 2.2 to about 22 pounds of fiber per 100 gallons of adhesive. The fibers may be selected from any of a large variety of natural or synthetic materials having desired properties for adhesion and dispersion, and yielding improved adhesive characteristics including increased waterproofness, dry strength, viscosity and adhesiveness.