Environmental Microorganisms Research Articles

Bioaerosol size as a potential determinant of airborne E. coli viability under ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and ozone disinfection

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) and ozone disinfection are crucial methods for mitigating the airborne transmission of pathogenic microorganisms in high-risk settings, particularly with the emergence of respiratory viral pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 and avian influenza viruses. This study quantitatively investigates the influence of UVGI and ozone on the viability of E. coli in bioaerosols, with a particular focus on how E. coli viability depends on the size of the bioaerosols, a critical factor that determines deposition patterns within the human respiratory system and the evolution of bioaerosols in indoor environments. This study used a controlled small-scale laboratory chamber where E. coli suspensions were aerosolized and subjected to varying levels of UVGI and ozone levels throughout the exposure time (2–6 s). The normalized viability of E. coli was found to be significantly reduced by UVGI (60–240 μW s cm−2) as the exposure time increased from 2 to 6 s, and the most substantial reduction of E. coli normalized viability was observed when UVGI and ozone (65–131 ppb) were used in combination. We also found that UVGI reduced the normalized viability of E. coli in bioaerosols more significantly with smaller sizes (0.25–0.5 μm) than with larger sizes (0.5–2.5 μm). However, when combining UVGI and ozone, the normalized viability was higher for smaller particle sizes than for the larger ones. The findings provide insights into the development of effective UVGI disinfection engineering methods to control the spread of pathogenic microorganisms in high-risk environments. By understanding the influence of the viability of microorganisms in various bioaerosol sizes, we can optimize UVGI and ozone techniques to reduce the potential risk of airborne transmission of pathogens.

Label-free comparative proteomic analysis of Pleurotus eryngii grown on sawdust, bagasse, and peanut shell substrates

The white rot fungi Pleurotus eryngii are environmental microorganisms that can effectively break down lignocellulosic biomass. However, understanding of the mechanisms by which P. eryngii is effective in degrading lignocellulose is still limited. This work aimed to examine the extracellular secretory proteins implicated in the breakdown of lignocellulose in P. eryngii and identify degradation tactics across various cultivation substrates. Thus, a comparative analysis of the secretory proteins based on Nanoliquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry was conducted among P. eryngii cultivated on sawdusts, bagasse, peanut shells, and glucose. In total, 647, 616, 604, and 511 proteins were identified from the four samples, respectively. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis of protein expression differences identified pathways (hydrolytic enzymes, catalytic activity, metabolic processes, cellular processes, and response to stimuli) significantly enriched in proteins associated with lignocellulose degradation in P. eryngii. An integrated analysis of proteome data revealed specifically or differentially expressed genes secreted by P. eryngii in different cultivation substrates. The most prevalent carbohydrate-active enzymes involved in lignocellulose degradation in the secretome of the four samples were laccase (Lac), manganese peroxidase (MnP), aryl alcohol oxidase (AaO), and copper radical oxidase (CRO). Among them, Lac 2 mainly involved in the lignin degradation of sawdust peanut shells, and bagasse by P. eryngii, and Mnp 3 was mainly involved in the degradation of peanut shells. AaO and Lac 4 were mainly involved in glucose substrate defense and oxidative stress. It was found that exogenous addition of sawdust and peanut shells significantly increased lignolytic enzyme abundance. These findings provide insight and guidance for improving agricultural waste resource recovery.In this study, the secretomes of P. eryngii grown on four different carbon sources were compared. The findings revealed the extracellular enzymes implicated in the degradation of lignocellulose, offering avenues for further investigation into the biotransformation mechanisms of P. eryngii biomass and the potential utilization of agricultural wastes. SignificanceThe cost of the substrate for mushroom cultivation has increased as the production of edible fungus has risen year after year. Therefore, the use of these locally available lignocellulosic wastes as substrates offers a cost-cutting option.Further, the overuse of wood for the cultivation of edible mushrooms is also detrimental to the conservation of forest resources or the ecological environment.Consequently, the use of other agricultural wastes as an alternative to sawdust or other woody substrates is a viable approach for cultivating P. eryngii.The distribution of extracellular lignocellulosic degrading enzymes, inferred in the present study could help improve the cultivation efficiency of P. eryngii vis-à-vis managing agricultural waste.

Chromosome-scale genome assembly of an acidophilic microalga Tetratostichococcus sp. P1 isolated from a tropical peatland in Malaysia.

Tetratostichococcus sp. P1 shows an acidophilic phenotype which could allow mass-scale monoculture of this green microalga without severe contamination by environmental microorganisms. In this study, we report a chromosome-scale genome assembly for Tetratostichococcus sp. P1.

Potential influence of bacterial community structure on the distribution of brGDGTs in surface sediments from Yangtze River Estuary to East China Sea

Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) are special components of bacterial membrane lipids and are ubiquitously found in diverse terrestrial and marine environments. Acidobacteria have been recently evidenced as one of their source microorganisms in terrigenous environments, such as acidic soils and peats. However, the biological sources of brGDGTs, their distributions and ecophysiological responses, and these biotic impacts on the relationships between brGDGT-based proxies and environmental variables (e.g., ambient temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen content) in the marine realm are poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed C5- and C6-methylated brGDGTs as well as bacterial communities in the surface sediment samples from the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE) to the East China Sea (ECS), aiming to explore the relationship between brGDGT distribution and bacterial composition and to examine how benthic conditions and bacterial communities jointly influence the spatial patterns of brGDGTs from marine sediments. Substantial differences in the spatial distribution of brGDGTs from coast to shelf were observed. The increase in the proportion of brGDGTs with cyclopentyl and C6-methyl moieties (e.g., Ic and IIc’) and #ringstetra values of >0.7 indicate the occurrence of marine-sourced brGDGTs in the shelf. Statistical analyses suggest that the bacterial community structure and the geochemical and environmental variables may contribute 43.56% and 29.97% to the brGDGT distribution, respectively. Multiple significant correlations between bacterial groups at the order level and brGDGT compounds suggest that bacteria such as Gemmatimonadetes, Planctomycetes and Proteobacteria may potentially contribute to the brGDGT production in marine environments. With the consideration of benthic environmental changes, the shift in bacterial community structure could further result in the variations of brGDGT-based proxies incorporating cyclopentyl and C6-methyl moieties that are likely to be produced by benthic marine bacteria. Overall, in addition to environmental conditions of the ocean bottom, the potential influence of bacterial community structure on the distribution of brGDGTs highlights the caution of using brGDGT-based proxies as terrestrial indicators in coastal oceans.

Diversity and Screening of Cellulolytic Microorganisms from Mangrove Forests, Natural Parks, Paddy Field, and Sugarcane Plantation in Panay Island, Philippines.

Cellulolytic microorganisms secrete cellulase, which plays a crucial role in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into value-added products with diverse applications in industries, such as biofuel, healthcare, and agriculture. As the world transitions to a bioenergy future, cellulase demand is likely to expand. However, the high cost and low catalytic activity of cellulase hinder the commercialization of biorefineries. Searching for cellulase-producing microorganisms in different environments through bioprospecting can aid in broadening the range of cellulases that are currently available. Meanwhile, the cellulolytic activity of marine microorganisms remains largely unexplored, making it difficult to compare the cellulolytic activity of terrestrial and marine environments. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the diversity and activity of culturable cellulolytic microorganisms in four terrestrial and three marine sites within Panay Island, Philippines. The results showed that the cellulolytic microbial load was tenfold higher in the terrestrial sites than in the marine sites, possibly due to the dynamic mangrove environment. Out of the 42 isolates with a high cellulolytic index (CI) of ≥3.0, 36 were from terrestrial and 6 from marine habitats. The CMCase, Avicelase, and FPase activities were then tested on the 18 isolates with the highest CI. It was observed that many isolates had a high CI, but few exhibited high enzyme activities. Marine isolates showed higher CMCase and Avicelase activities, with comparable FPase activity to their terrestrial counterparts. Isolates S1ACP6B from a sugarcane field and MS1OMP2A from a mangrove site exhibited the highest cellulase activities at 0.41 and 0.29 U/mg, respectively, and were identified as Enterobacter roggenkampii and Rhodococcus erythropolis, respectively. Among the 18 identified isolates, three are resistant to chloramphenicol and three isolates are potentially new species of Halomonas sp. MS1ACP1B, Albirhodobacter sp. MP2ACP3B, and Saccharomycetaceae sp. B1CZP10A. Overall, this study provides an insight on the composition of cellulolytic microbial load and their activities among various habitats.

Genomic and physiological properties of Anoxybacterium hadale gen. nov. sp. nov. reveal the important role of dissolved organic sulfur in microbial metabolism in hadal ecosystems.

Hadal zones account for the deepest 45% of the oceanic depth range and play an important role in ocean biogeochemical cycles. As the least-explored aquatic habitat on earth, hadal ecosystems contain a vast diversity of so far uncultured microorganisms that cannot be grown on conventional laboratory culture media. Therefore, it has been difficult to gain a true understanding of the detailed metabolic characteristics and ecological functions of those difficult-to-culture microorganisms in hadal environments. In this study, a novel anaerobic bacterial strain, MT110T, was isolated from a hadal sediment-water interface sample of the Mariana Trench at 10,890 m. The level of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity and percentage of conserved proteins between strain MT110T and the closest relatives, Anaerovorax odorimutans DSM 5092T (94.9 and 46.6%) and Aminipila butyrica DSM 103574T (94.4 and 46.7%), indicated that strain MT110T exhibits sufficient molecular differences for genus-level delineation. Phylogenetic analyses based on both 16S rRNA gene and genome sequences showed that strain MT110T formed an independent monophyletic branch within the family Anaerovoracaceae. The combined evidence showed that strain MT110T represents a novel species of a novel genus, proposed as Anoxybacterium hadale gen. nov. sp. nov. (type strain MT110T = KCTC 15922T = MCCC 1K04061T), which represents a previously uncultured lineage of the class Clostridia. Physiologically, no tested organic matter could be used as sole carbon source by strain MT110T. Genomic analysis showed that MT110T had the potential capacity of utilizing various carbon sources, but the pathways of sulfur reduction were largely incomplete. Our experiments further revealed that cysteine is one of the essential nutrients for the survival of strain MT110T, and cannot be replaced by sulfite, leucine, or taurine. This result suggests that organic sulfur compounds might play an important role in metabolism and growth of the family Anaerovoracaceae and could be one of the key factors affecting the cultivation of the uncultured microbes. Our study brings a new perspective to the role of dissolved organic sulfur in hadal ecosystems and also provides valuable information for optimizing the conditions of isolating related microbial taxa from the hadal environment.

Development of a method for collecting bronchoalveolar lavage from calves for microbiological diagnosis of bronchopneumonia

A serious problem for the health of cattle, especially in highly productive animals, is infectious bronchopneumonia, which occurs when exposed to numerous adverse environmental factors and opportunistic microorganisms. Infectious bronchopneumonia is an important problem in the livestock industry and remains a major cause of significant economic losses in dairy herds and feedlots due to high morbidity and mortality rates, in addition to negatively affecting growth, reproductive performance and life expectancy. Therefore, the development of a new method for intravital minimally invasive diagnosis of calves with acute catarrhal bronchopneumonia using bronchoalveolar lavage sampling for subsequent microbiological studies is relevant. The invention relates to veterinary medicine and can be used in intravital diagnostics of bronchopneumonia in calves by isolating microorganisms that initiate the purulent-inflammatory process from samples of bronchoalveolar contents taken in the area of the tracheal bifurcation. A method for intravital diagnosis of bronchopneumonia in calves includes transnasal introduction to a sick animal of a sterile silicone medical tube with a diameter of 4 mm (the internal diameter of the hole is 3 mm), a wall thickness of 1.0 mm and a length of 150 cm, until slight resistance and a repeated cough reflex appear, upon reaching in the area of the tracheal bifurcation, the nasogastric tube is moved back 1 cm, a disposable syringe with a volume of 50 ml is attached to the free end, and with its help, 30-40 ml of sterile isotonic saline solution (0.9% NaCl solution, 37° C) is injected into the trachea, and then immediately aspirate up to 10 ml of bronchoalveolar contents.

A Robust Method to Perform In Vitro and In Planta Interbacterial Competition Assays: Killing Plant Pathogens by a Potent Biocontrol Agent.

Interbacterial competition assays have become an essential tool for understanding the interactions between bacteria and their ability to outcompete one another in natural environments. This is especially relevant when studying the type VI secretion system (T6SS), a contact-dependent bacterial weapon that can be used to kill or inhibit the growth of other competing bacteria. Some beneficial environmental microorganisms such as Pseudomonas putida rely on the T6SS as their primary biocontrol mechanism to eliminate resilient plant pathogens. Competition assays are an essential methodology in this field that allows us to understand the efficacy of this bacterial nanoweapon. This chapter outlines the methodology for conducting in vitro and in planta competition assays between P. putida, a well-known biocontrol agent, and phytopathogenic bacterial species of economic and scientific interest.

Characterization of O2 uncoupling in biodegradation reactions of nitroaromatic contaminants catalyzed by rieske oxygenases.

Rieske oxygenases are known as catalysts that enable the cleavage of aromatic and aliphatic C-H bonds in structurally diverse biomolecules and recalcitrant organic environmental pollutants through substrate oxygenations and oxidative heteroatom dealkylations. Yet, the unproductive O2 activation, which is concomitant with the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is typically not taken into account when characterizing Rieske oxygenase function. Even if considered an undesired side reaction, this O2 uncoupling allows for studying active site perturbations, enzyme mechanisms, and how enzymes evolve as environmental microorganisms adapt their substrates to alternative carbon and energy sources. Here, we report on complementary methods for quantifying O2 uncoupling based on mass balance or kinetic approaches that relate successful oxygenations to total O2 activation and ROS formation. These approaches are exemplified with data for two nitroarene dioxygenases (nitrobenzene and 2-nitrotoluene dioxygenase) which have been shown to mono- and dioxygenate substituted nitroaromatic compounds to substituted nitrobenzylalcohols and catechols, respectively.

An Explainable Deep Learning Network for Environmental Microorganism Classification Using Attention-Enhanced Semi-Local Features

An Explainable Deep Learning Network for Environmental Microorganism Classification Using Attention-Enhanced Semi-Local Features

Host factor RBMX2 promotes epithelial cell apoptosis by downregulating APAF-1's Retention Intron after Mycobacterium bovis infection.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis variant bovis (M. bovis) is a highly pathogenic environmental microorganism that causes bovine tuberculosis (bTB), a significant zoonotic disease. Currently, "test and culling" is the primary measure for controlling bTB, but it has been proven to be inadequate in animals due to their high susceptibility to the pathogen. Selective breeding for increased host resistance to bTB to reduce its prevalence is feasible. In this study, we found a vital host-dependent factor, RBMX2, that can potentially promote M. bovis infection. By knocking RBMX2 out, we investigated its function during M. bovis infection. Through transcriptome sequencing and alternative splicing transcriptome sequencing, we concluded that after M. bovis infection, embryo bovine lung (EBL) cells were significantly enriched in RNA splicing associated with apoptosis compared with wild-type EBL cells. Through protein/molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and real-time quantitative PCR, we demonstrated that RBMX2 promotes the apoptosis of epithelial cells by upregulating and binding to apoptotic peptidase activating factor 1 (APAF-1), resulting in the alternative splicing of APAF-1 as a retention intron. To our knowledge, this is the first report of M. bovis affecting host epithelial cell apoptosis by hijacking RBMX2 to promote the intron splicing of downstream APAF-1. These findings may represent a significant contribution to the development of novel TB prevention and control strategies.

Long-Term Monitoring Studies of the Mycorrhizal Colonization of Aesculus hippocastanum L. Roots and the Vitality of Soil Microorganisms in Urban and Non-Urban Environments

Stress factors typical in urban environments adversely affect the productivity and vigor of trees and may limit the development of tree roots with associated soil fungi and bacteria. Studies on mycorrhizal symbiosis and the activity of soil microorganisms are important in monitoring the adaptation of trees to urban conditions. We compared the symbiotic activity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) living in the rhizosphere of mature white chestnut trees (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) in an urban ecosystem at sites with varying degrees of anthropopressure and in a rural area. We used two methods: (1) direct analysis of the root samples, (2) assessment of the colonization of trap plants grown in the soil taken from under selected white horse chestnut trees. The seasonality of mycorrhizal colonization and soil microbial respiration based on the enzyme activity of nonspecific dehydrogenase (DHA) was studied over several growing seasons. The concentrations of macronutrients in the soil from all study sites were in the ranges accepted as normal for the upper soil layer. However, the C/N ratio indicated carbon limitation in the soil at urban and rural study sites. The results showed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi indigenous in the rhizosphere of A. hippocastanum developed a functioning mycorrhizal symbiosis at all research sites, including at highly disturbed urban locations, and that the mycorrhizal colonization varied between the study sites and the research term. The trap culture method confirmed the high biological potential of the soil microbial community, including AMF in urban ecosystems, which was comparable to that at the reference site in the rural environment. Soil moisture strongly affected the overall soil microbial vitality. This research showed that the mycorrhizal status of A. hippocastanum is more strongly influenced by climatic conditions and seasonal rhythms of trees than by urban/non-urban locations.

Hawaiian Volcanic Ash, an Airborne Fomite for Nontuberculous Mycobacteria.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are environmentally acquired opportunistic pathogens that can cause chronic lung disease. Within the U.S., Hawai'i shows the highest prevalence rates of NTM lung infections. Here, we investigated a potential role for active volcanism at the Kīlauea Volcano located on Hawai'i Island in promoting NTM growth and diversity. We recovered NTM that are known to cause lung disease from plumbing biofilms and soils collected from the Kīlauea environment. We also discovered viable Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium abscessus, and Mycobacterium intracellulare subsp. chimaera on volcanic ash collected during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption. Analysis of soil samples showed that NTM prevalence is positively associated with bulk content of phosphorus, sulfur, and total organic carbon. In growth assays, we showed that phosphorus utilization is essential for proliferation of Kīlauea-derived NTM, and demonstrate that NTM cultured with volcanic ash adhere to ash surfaces and remain viable. Ambient dust collected on O'ahu concurrent with the 2018 eruption contained abundant fresh volcanic glass, suggestive of inter-island ash transport. Phylogenomic analyses using whole genome sequencing revealed that Kīlauea-derived NTM are genetically similar to respiratory isolates identified on other Hawaiian Islands. Consequently, we posit that volcanic eruptions could redistribute environmental microorganisms over large scales. While additional studies are needed to confirm a direct role of ash in NTM dispersal, our results suggest that volcanic particulates harbor and can redistribute NTM and should therefore be studied as a fomite for these burgeoning, environmentally acquired respiratory infections.

Designing and Manufacturing the Cryoconcentration Equipment (Cold Concentrator) and Apply It to Concentrate a High-quality Product from Dragon (Hylocereus) Fruit Juice

Dragon (Hylocereus) fruit juice is a nutrient-rich solution that can be easily infected by environmental microorganisms, causing fermentation and spoilage, leading to a short preservation time. Fruits and other food Have been preserved by methods – cold storage, concentration, or vacuum concentration – that are energy-intensive or lead to a quick reduction in the product's quality. The cryoconcentration method used in dragon fruit is one of the reasonable ways to preserve vitamins, bioactive compounds, and nutritional ingredients. However, there is no widespread usage or production of equipment specifically designed for a cold concentrator. This study aims to calculate, design, and manufacture the concentrator equipment named CCE-03. The manufactured equipment has a capacity of 5L per batch, with a -10 to -35 °C concentration ambient, a concentration-time from 1.5 to 6 hours, a defrosting temperature of 10 to 25 °C, and is controlled by an automatic measuring device operated through a computer, and works stably. The concentrating process takes 1.6 hours; the energy cost is 0.48kWh/L of the product. The product concentration is 46.6%, and the loss of vitamin C content is 11.3%. The concentrated dragon juice is high-quality.

EMViT-Net: A novel transformer-based network utilizing CNN and multilayer perceptron for the classification of environmental microorganisms using microscopic images

Environmental microbes are certainly present in our surroundings since they are essential to the growth and survival of human advancement. The detailed analysis of environmental microorganisms (EMs) is very important to recognize, understand and make use of microbes as well and prevent damage. Extracting the discriminatory features from a limited-size dataset is very challenging for a deep learning model and a pure transformer-based network cannot achieve good classification results on a limited-size dataset due to the lack of muti-scale features. In this study, a novel vision transformer-based deep neural network is proposed by integrating the transformer with CNN for the classification of EM using microscopic images. The proposed network EMViT-Net has three main modules: a transformer module, a CNN module and a multilayer perceptron module. The transformer model extracted multiscale features to generate more discriminatory information from the images. A new separable convolutional parameter-sharing attention (SCPSA) block is integrated with the CNN module in the core of EMViT-Net, which makes the model robust to capture the local and global features, and simultaneously reduces the computational complexity of the model. The data augmentation is performed to introduce the variability in the dataset and counter the problem of overfitting and data imbalance. After extensive experiments and detailed analysis, it has been determined that the proposed model EMViT-Net outperforms the other existing methods and achieves state-of-the-art results with an accuracy of 71.17% which proves the effectiveness of the model for the classification of environmental microbes.

Ecological performance of an integrated ex-situ rice-fish co-culture system

Rice-fish co-culture system (RFCS) is an eco-friendly agricultural mode, but traditional RFCS has revealed many deficiencies. In this study, we constructed a new system of ex-situ rice-fish co-culture (ESRF) and evaluated its performance in ecological advantages. Chemical environmental factors, plankton and microorganisms, as well as ecology and economic benefits, were analyzed in the ESRF system. Results showed that 23.6% fertilizer and 47.5% water were saved in ESRF compared with rice monoculture. After wastewater in the fish ponds flowed through the paddy fields, the concentrations of TN, TP, CODMn, NH4+-N, NO2−-N and DIP decreased 72.78%, 63.81%, 53.32%, 45.54%, 51.31% and 44.05%, respectively through the absorption by rice. The phytoplankton abundance of cyanobacteria in wastewater, mainly Microcystis and Merismopedia tenuissima decreased significantly in ESRF system in July. Rotifer was the most dominant zooplankton in all samples and its abundance decreased significantly in ESRF system. After the aquaculture wastewater flowed through the paddy fields, the relative abundance of several bacteria with the ability of transforming nitrogen and phosphorus increased, such as Vogesella, Comamonadaceae, Flavobacterium, Sphingobium, Brevundimonas and Sphingomonas. These results suggest that ESRF is an eco-friendly and economical agricultural production mode and worthy of application in agriculture production.

Comamonas testosteroni as the cause of mortality in embryonated chicken eggs of breeding broiler hens in Costa Rica

ABSTRACT Mortality of chicken embryos and first-week chickens was reported in a commercial incubator company in Costa Rica. Six 1-day-old Cobb chickens and twenty-four embryonated chicken eggs were examined in the Laboratory of Avian Pathology and the Laboratory of Bacteriology of the National University of Costa Rica. Twelve dead-in-shell embryos showed maceration and were immersed in a putrid, turbid, slightly thick brown liquid. Additionally, the other 12 embryonated eggs had milky yellow-orange content. The livers of those embryos had congestion, haemorrhages and multifocal cream foci of necrosis. Granulocytic infiltration was observed in the bursa of Fabricius, myocardium, liver, lung and kidney. Livers and egg yolks from six embryonated chickens and all 1-day-old chickens were aseptically collected and cultured. In addition, tissues from six better conserved embryos and all 1-day-old chickens were fixed in buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin. Biochemical and molecular tests identified Comamonas testosteroni as the cause of the early, middle and late embryo mortality. As all the eggshells from the sampled embryonated eggs were dirty with soiled a fecal matter, contamination after manipulating the eggs was considered the source of infection. C. testosteroni is an environmental microorganism that has rarely been reported to cause human disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. testosteroni causing mortality in a hatchery. Cleaning and disinfection using ozone were implemented in the hatchery to eliminate the embryo mortality associated with C. testosteroni.

МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ ПРОЦЕСІВ СТВОРЕННЯ СВІТЛОВОГО ПРОСТОРУ У БАКТЕРИЦИДНИХ УЛЬТРАФІОЛЕТОВИХ СВІТЛОДІОДНИХ УСТАНОВКАХ

The pandemic continues, as does the issue of preventing environmental pollution with harmful substances, viruses and bacteria. In these conditions, lighting technology and disinfection technologies based on the use of radiation in the ultraviolet spectral range open up wide opportunities. The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that modern events, namely pandemics, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and wars, cause a large amount of environmental pollution with harmful substances, various viruses and bacteria. Unfortunately, these problems have affected the entire population of our planet, and in the future, without solving the issue of high-quality disinfection of various environments, they may lead to new, larger-scale disasters. The research was carried out in O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv was allowed to establish the possibility of using ultraviolet LEDs for the treatment of various environments infected with harmful microorganisms and Covid-19, to develop a method for modeling the curve of light intensity of a light device and an algorithm for calculating LED installations, which will provide the possibility of calculating and designing such installations for the disinfection of various environments, in particular, water environments and environments infected with Covid-19. Thus, studies have confirmed the possibility of using ultraviolet LEDs to disinfect the environment from particles of the Covid-19 virus, harmful microorganisms in 193various environments and to establish requirements for bactericidal installations in these conditions. And the developed method can be applied to any arbitrarily selected observation points, bases of LEDs and their environment, which makes the algorithm suitable for calculating light distribution from LED systems for bactericidal disinfection of various environments, including water or infected with Covid-19, from harmful microorganisms.

E. coli cotransport with composite colloid in unsaturated porous media: Multi-risk on migration and biomolecular response

The diversity of colloidal types and the differences in the composite ratios in porous media are important factors governing the migration and biological risk of pathogenic microorganisms in the subsurface environment. In this study, E. coli O157:H7 was subjected to co-migration experiments with different compositions of the composite colloid montmorillonite (MMT)-Fe2O3, and the biomolecular response of E. coli under the action of colloids was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy to quantify the risk of E. coli under the action of composite colloids based on both. The results showed that Fe2O3 colloids inhibited E. coli migration mainly by electrostatic adsorption and reduced E. coli metabolism. MMT colloid inhibited E. coli migration mainly by blockage, and E. coli metabolism increased, and surface macromolecules decreased to reduce E. coli adhesion. MMT-Fe2O3 complex colloids inhibited migration through electrostatic attraction between the two and formation of cohesive colloids, with reduced E. coli metabolism and insignificant biomolecular response. It was briefly assessed that the composite colloids reduced E. coli risk less strongly than single colloids, stemming from the difference in the mechanism of influence and the actual need to consider colloid interactions. This conclusion can inform the management and control of pathogen risk in porous media environments.

Revolutionizing the Major Threat Challenges in Pharmaceutical Industries by Monitoring Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems

The environmental as well as personal individuals are mainly influenced by the air ventilation. In pharmaceutical industry the efficacy of substances including raw materials, in-process ingredients, finished products and machineries in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is mainly influenced by the air ventilation quality in interior area of the industry. Heating, ventilation and airconditioning system plays a vital role in ensuring the quality pharmaceutical drug substances as well as drug products. It also protects the pharmaceutical products from contamination and cross contamination from various contaminants like dust or dirt particles and environmental other microorganisms. HVAC system design impacts the architectural design layout of the building as these sequentially have an influence on the room pressure, pressure cascades, pressure differentials, contamination and cross-contamination control. So, the design of the system must be considered carefully at the primary design period of the pharmaceutical industrial plant.It also controls a variety of operating functions which are involved in regulating the acceptance criteria, quality assurance, validation and qualification of the building facility, operational documents and the documentation for maintenance. These protocols are mainly followed and performed for new equipment’s, utilities, premises and systems, at periodic intermissions, as soon as major variations have been completed. This chapter provides insight into the superlative necessities of HVAC system on the environmental protection in pharmaceutical industries and also about the role of it in manufacturing of drug substances and products in the production unit of the industrial plant. In addition, it summarizes existing information about the validation, qualification, maintenance, risk assessment and also highlights about the automation of HVAC system in the pharmaceutical industries.