University of North Carolina at Greensboro 4 articles published in JoVE Biology The Cultivation, Growth, and Viability of Lactic Acid Bacteria: A Quality Control Perspective Raphael D. Ayivi1,2, Asia Edwards1, Deja Carrington1, Alaina Brock1, Albert Krastanov3, Abdulhakim S. Eddin1, Salam A. Ibrahim1 1Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA, 2Department of Nanoscience, Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, USA, 3Department of Biotechnology, University of Food Technologies, Plovdiv, Bulgaria The quality control assessment of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cultures has been confirmed as an effective way to enhance the viability and functionality of LAB strains for fermentation procedures. To buttress this assertion, we developed a protocol that elucidates how LAB cultures are activated and cultivated for fermentation and bioprocessing procedures. Chemistry A Study of the Complexation of Mercury(II) with Dicysteinyl Tetrapeptides by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Johanna Mazlo1, Maria Ngu-Schwemlein2 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2Department of Chemistry, Winston-Salem State University The characterization of complexes formed in different relative ratios of mercury(II) to dicysteinyl tetrapeptides by electrospray ionization orbitrap mass spectrometry is presented. Biology Comparative Analysis of Human Growth Hormone in Serum Using SPRi, Nano-SPRi and ELISA Assays Stephen Vance*1, Effat Zeidan*1, Vincent C. Henrich2, Marinella G. Sandros3 1Department of Nanoscience, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2Center for Biotechnology, Genomics, and Health Research, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 3HORIBA Scientific The proposed work assesses the diagnostic potential of direct and amplified surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi) assays, particularly for the detection of recombinant human growth hormone in spiked human serum, by comparing SPRi results directly with commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Chemistry Synthesis of Hypervalent Iodonium Alkynyl Triflates for the Application of Generating Cyanocarbenes I. F. Dempsey Hyatt1, Daniel J. Nasrallah1, Mitchell P. Croatt1 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro Herein is described the synthesis, isolation, and reactions of hypervalent iodonium alkynyl triflates (HIATs) with azides to generate cyanocarbenes. The procedures will involve air-sensitive and cryogen techniques, including cold filtration under an inert atmosphere. Handling and safety of the synthesized compounds will also be discussed.