In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been an increased need for personal and environmental decontamination aid in curbing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Products used this purpose include sanitizers hands disinfectants surfaces. The active chemical ingredients these products, termed antimicrobials, can enter waste streams after application may be emerging as more pro...

In information retrieval, query auto completion (QAC), also known as typeahead [Xiao et al., 2013, Cai et al., 2014b] and auto-complete suggestion [Jain and Mishne, 2010], refers to the following functionality: given a prefix consisting of a number of characters entered into a search box, the user interface proposes alternative ways of extending the prefix to a full query. Ranking query complet...

BACKGROUND Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) is a quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) toxic to microorganisms. Inhalation is one of the major possible routes of human exposure to BAC. MATERIALS AND METHODS Experiments were performed on female Wistar rats. The rats were exposed to aerosol of BAC water solution at the target concentration of 0 (control group) and 35 mg/m(3) for 5 days (6 h/day) and, a...

To provide the possibility of developing objective image quality assessment (IQA) algorithms for THz security images, we constructed the THz security image database (THSID) including a total of 181 THz security images with the resolution of 127×380. The main distortion types in THz security images were first analyzed for the design of subjective evaluation criteria to acquire the mean opinion s...

Streptococcus mutans, a Gram-positive organism, is the primary causative agent in the formation of dental caries in humans. To persist in the oral cavity, S. mutans must be able to tolerate rapid environmental fluctuations and exposure to various toxic chemicals. However, the mechanisms underlying the ability of this cariogenic pathogen to survive and proliferate under harsh environmental condi...

Low-level plasmid-mediated resistance to cationic biocides such as chlorhexidine (CHX), quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), amidines, and acridines has been observed in antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis (1, 4, 5), and it has been postulated that strains in which qac genes are present might have enhanced survival in the clinical environment. E...

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of 3 rd generation quaternary ammonium compounds and formaldehyde for fumigation of operation theatres. Materials and Methods: Fumigation and fogging of operation theatres by formaldehyde and 3 rd generation quaternary ammonium compounds respectively were done by standard procedures. A total of 144 samples (swabs as well...

In Vietnam, commercial disinfectants containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are commonly used in pig and poultry farms to maintain hygiene during production. We hypothesized that sustained exposure to sub-bactericidal concentrations of QAC-based disinfectants may result in increased levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among Enterobacteriacea due to the increase of efflux pump expr...

Ternary mixtures of Bromocresol Green (BCGH), Benzethonium Chloride (BZ(+)Cl(-)), and Quinine (Q) in dichloromethane (CH(2)Cl(2) for ratios 1:>/=1:>/=1 (BCGH(2):BZ(+)Cl(-):Q) generate species BCGH(-)BZ(+), BZ(+)BCG(-)-H-Q) and BCG(2-) (BZ(+))(2) in chemical equilibrium; whose thermodynamic parameters are determined. A new method to study ternary mixtures in a non-polar solvent has been given an...

Staphylococci are frequently isolated from food processing environments, and it has been speculated whether survival after cleaning and disinfection with benzalkonium chloride (BC)-containing disinfectants is due to biofilm formation, matrix composition, or BC efflux mechanisms. Out of 35 food associated staphylococci, eight produced biofilm in a microtiter plate assay and were identified as Stap...