BACKGROUND Influenza A viruses have an envelope made of a lipid bilayer and two surface glycoproteins, the hemagglutinin and the neuraminidase. The structure of the virus is directly dependent on the genetic makeup of the viral genome except the glycosylation moieties and the composition of the lipid bilayer. They both depend on the host cell and are in direct contact with the environment, such...

BACKGROUND Healthcare laundry-related infection is rare, and pulmonary zygomycosis due to contaminated hospital linens has never been reported. METHODS We reported an outbreak investigation of zygomycosis in a university-affiliated teaching hospital. Air samplers, sponge swabs and Replicate Organism Detection and Counting (RODAC) contact plates were used for environmental sampling. The fungal...

Natural attenuation of petroleum hydrocarbons in polar and subpolar soils is limited by low nutrients, low temperatures, and water availability. This study investigated three sites contaminated with diesel fuel and the use of aeration to remediate one of the sites at sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. These sites were of differing ages and had different soil–water regimes. The most recent spill (N...

UNLABELLED Infectious diseases endanger all dental personnel during treatment, especially when spatter and aerosols are produced. Therefore, there is a strong need for better infection control principles during all treatments. The purpose of this in-vitro pilot study was to measure the environmental spatter contamination through a fluorescence technique. Scaling was performed using different po...

AIMS We assessed the levels of airborne bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria (GNB), and fungi in six hospital lobbies, and investigated the environmental and hospital characteristics that affected the airborne microorganism levels. METHODS An Andersen single-stage sampler equipped with appropriate nutrition plate agar was used to collect the samples. The three types of microorganisms were repeate...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cleaning procedures for air-abraded zirconia after contamination with two silicone disclosing agents. Air-abraded zirconia ceramic specimens (IPS e.max ZirCAD) were contaminated with either GC Fit Checker white or GC Fit Checker II. Untreated zirconia specimens were used as control. Afterwards the surfaces were cleaned either with water...

Contaminated groundwater is a widespread problem often requiring innovative technologies to remediate. In this study, physical models of the air-sparging process are developed, and contaminant recoveries are compared with predictions from a mathematical model. Initial tests used a very fine, porous media (a glass bead-packed column) to represent relatively homogeneous soil samples. Subsequent t...

An in situ co-metabolic air sparging (CAS) study was carried out at McClellan Air Force Base (MAFB), Sacramento, CA, USA, in a trichloroethene- (TCE) and cis-dichloroethene (cis-DCE)-contaminated aquifer where one test zone received 2% propane in air and the other served as a control and received only air. As part of that study, bacterial population shifts were evaluated by length heterogeneity...

This project is to develop a low-temperature microwave catalytic oxidation system that will effectively decontaminate air containing aerosolized or gaseous chemical agents (CWAs). To protect personnel in shelters, catalytic oxidation systems should (1) destroy CWAs in air at low temperatures to avoid NOx formation, (2) remove sulfur dioxide produced from the oxidation of CWAs containing sulfur ...

We determined polychlorinated dibenzodioxin (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) levels in breast milk of 143 primiparae living around the three most dioxin-contaminated areas of Vietnam. The women sampled lived in the vicinity of former U.S. air bases at Bien Hoa (n=51), Phu Cat (n=23), and Da Nang (n=69), which are known as dioxin hotspots. Breast milk samples from Bien Hoa City, wh...