Determining whether estimated spore release rates for Aspergillus fumigatus are compatible with their measured growth rates in composting systems

The composting process like other waste management activities has the potential to generate large concentrations of bioaerosols which can be widely dispersed into the surrounding environment. There has been considerable interest in the literature of the effect of bioaerosols and in particular Aspergillus fumigatus on the health of plant operators and those living in close proximity to composting plants (Olver, 1994; Fischer et al., 1999; Fischer et al., 2000; Bunger et al., 200). Although bioaerosols can be generated through a range of operational procedures it has also been suggested that large numbers of Aspergillus fumigatus spores can be emitted from static compost piles through the action of natural air movements across the surface of the biodegrading material. Through the use of a portable wind tunnel apparatus researchers have determined the rate of emission of Aspergillus fumigatus spores as a result of air movement across the surface of the material (Taha et al., 2004; 2005; 2006 & 2007). The aim of this work was to use controlled laboratory experiments using compost samples and Aspergillus fumigatus spores to determine the sporulation rate of Aspergillus fumigatus. Using this data it would then be possible to verify whether bioaerosol emission rates from static compost windrows calculated and quoted in the literature can in fact be maintained over longer time periods. A series of experiments were carried out using Aspergillus fumigatus spores on agar plates and small samples of green waste compost to determine the number of spores that could be generated by each existing spore over a seven day period. From the experiments the sporulation rate determined from the agar plates varied with averages of either 4.48x104 or 2.83 spores/day depending upon the date set used and from the compost experiments it was 1.33 spores/day. Using this data and making a number of assumptions for moisture content (50%), bulk density (650 kg/m3) and the wind penetration depth (10-25mm) the potential release rates were calculated. The data from the agar experiments yielded a potential release rate at 10mm up to 5 orders of magnitude in excess of that quoted by Taha et al. (2004 & 2005. Using the trimmed data set the agar release figures are between 6.17 x 103 and 1.23 x 104 cfu/m2/s depending upon the wind penetration depth used and are comparable to those quoted in the literature. The release rate calculated using the compost experiments was slightly lower than the agar 2 data and consequently the release rates even at a wind penetration depth of 25mm are just outside the range quoted by Taha et al. (2004 & 2005). Although the data presented in this paper were determined from controlled laboratory experiments they show that it is possible for Aspergillus fumigatus to generate spores at a sufficient rate to allow the release of significant numbers of spores. The calculated sporulation rates would allow spores to be released at the rates quoted in the literature and suggest that the fugitive release rates quoted in the literature would be able to be maintained over long periods of time. However it is recognised that the data is affected greatly by the assumptions one makes, in particular the existing concentration of Aspergillus fumigatus. Despite the limitations the original intention of the work was to attempt to establish the long term applicability of the fugitive release rates for Aspergillus fumigatus from green waste compost quoted in the literature and it has achieved this objective

Determining whether estimated spore release rates for Aspergillus fumigatus are compatible with their measured growth rates in composting systems

The composting process like other waste management activities has the potential to generate large concentrations of bioaerosols which can be widely dispersed into the surrounding environment. There has been considerable interest in the literature of the effect of bioaerosols and in particular Aspergillus fumigatus on the health of plant operators and those living in close proximity to composting plants (Olver, 1994; Fischer et al., 1999; Fischer et al., 2000; Bunger et al., 200). Although bioaerosols can be generated through a range of operational procedures it has also been suggested that large numbers of Aspergillus fumigatus spores can be emitted from static compost piles through the action of natural air movements across the surface of the biodegrading material. Through the use of a portable wind tunnel apparatus researchers have determined the rate of emission of Aspergillus fumigatus spores as a result of air movement across the surface of the material (Taha et al., 2004; 2005; 2006 & 2007). The aim of this work was to use controlled laboratory experiments using compost samples and Aspergillus fumigatus spores to determine the sporulation rate of Aspergillus fumigatus. Using this data it would then be possible to verify whether bioaerosol emission rates from static compost windrows calculated and quoted in the literature can in fact be maintained over longer time periods. A series of experiments were carried out using Aspergillus fumigatus spores on agar plates and small samples of green waste compost to determine the number of spores that could be generated by each existing spore over a seven day period. From the experiments the sporulation rate determined from the agar plates varied with averages of either 4.48x104 or 2.83 spores/day depending upon the date set used and from the compost experiments it was 1.33 spores/day. Using this data and making a number of assumptions for moisture content (50%), bulk density (650 kg/m3) and the wind penetration depth (10-25mm) the potential release rates were calculated. The data from the agar experiments yielded a potential release rate at 10mm up to 5 orders of magnitude in excess of that quoted by Taha et al. (2004 & 2005. Using the trimmed data set the agar release figures are between 6.17 x 103 and 1.23 x 104 cfu/m2/s depending upon the wind penetration depth used and are comparable to those quoted in the literature. The release rate calculated using the compost experiments was slightly lower than the agar 2 data and consequently the release rates even at a wind penetration depth of 25mm are just outside the range quoted by Taha et al. (2004 & 2005). Although the data presented in this paper were determined from controlled laboratory experiments they show that it is possible for Aspergillus fumigatus to generate spores at a sufficient rate to allow the release of significant numbers of spores. The calculated sporulation rates would allow spores to be released at the rates quoted in the literature and suggest that the fugitive release rates quoted in the literature would be able to be maintained over long periods of time. However it is recognised that the data is affected greatly by the assumptions one makes, in particular the existing concentration of Aspergillus fumigatus. Despite the limitations the original intention of the work was to attempt to establish the long term applicability of the fugitive release rates for Aspergillus fumigatus from green waste compost quoted in the literature and it has achieved this objective

A laminar flow model of aerosol survival of epidemic and non-epidemic strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from people with cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited multi-system disorder characterised by chronic airway infection with pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Acquisition of P. aeruginosa by patients with CF is usually from the environment, but recent studies have demonstrated patient to patient transmission of certain epidemic strains, possibly via an airborne route. This study was designed to examine the survival of P. aeruginosa within artificially generated aerosols. Survival was effected by the solution used for aerosol generation. Within the aerosols it was adversely affected by an increase in air temperature. Both epidemic and non-epidemic strains of P. aeruginosa were able to survive within the aerosols, but strains expressing a mucoid phenotype had a survival advantage. This would suggest that segregating individuals free of P. aeruginosa from those with chronic P. aeruginosa infection who are more likely to be infected with mucoid strains may help reduce the risk of cross-infection. Environmental factors also appear to influence bacterial survival. Warming and drying the air within clinical areas and avoidance of humidification devices may also be beneficial in reducing the risk of cross-infection

Bactericidal action of positive and negative ions in air

In recent years there has been renewed interest in the use of air ionisers to control of the spread of airborne infection. One characteristic of air ions which has been widely reported is their apparent biocidal action. However, whilst the body of evidence suggests a biocidal effect in the presence of air ions the physical and biological mechanisms involved remain unclear. In particular, it is not clear which of several possible mechanisms of electrical origin (i.e. the action of the ions, the production of ozone, or the action of the electric field) are responsible for cell death. A study was therefore undertaken to clarify this issue and to determine the physical mechanisms associated with microbial cell death. In the study seven bacterial species (Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium parafortuitum, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii, Burkholderia cenocepacia, Bacillus subtilis and Serratia marcescens) were exposed to both positive and negative ions in the presence of air. In order to distinguish between effects arising from: (i) the action of the air ions; (ii) the action of the electric field, and (iii) the action of ozone, two interventions were made. The first intervention involved placing a thin mica sheet between the ionisation source and the bacteria, directly over the agar plates. This intervention, while leaving the electric field unaltered, prevented the air ions from reaching the microbial samples. In addition, the mica plate prevented ozone produced from reaching the bacteria. The second intervention involved placing an earthed wire mesh directly above the agar plates. This prevented both the electric field and the air ions from impacting on the bacteria, while allowing any ozone present to reach the agar plate. With the exception of Mycobacterium parafortuitum, the principal cause of cell death amongst the bacteria studied was exposure to ozone, with electroporation playing a secondary role. However in the case of Mycobacterium parafortuitum, electroporation resulting from exposure to the electric field appears to have been the principal cause of cell inactivation. The results of the study suggest that the bactericidal action attributed to negative air ions by previous researchers may have been overestimated

A New Deformation of W-Infinity and Applications to the Two-loop WZNW and Conformal Affine Toda Models

We construct a centerless W-infinity type of algebra in terms of a generator of a centerless Virasoro algebra and an abelian spin-1 current. This algebra conventionally emerges in the study of pseudo-differential operators on a circle or alternatively within KP hierarchy with Watanabe's bracket. Construction used here is based on a special deformation of the algebra $w_{\infty}$ of area preserving diffeomorphisms of a 2-manifold. We show that this deformation technique applies to the two-loop WZNW and conformal affine Toda models, establishing henceforth $W_{\infty}$ invariance of these models.Comment: 8 page

A pot of gold at the end of the cosmic "raynbow"?

We critically review the common belief that ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are protons or atomic nuclei with masses not exceeding that of iron. We find that heavier nuclei are indeed possible, and discuss possible sources and acceleration mechanisms for such primaries. We also show detailed simulations of extensive air showers produced by ``superheavy'' nuclei, and discuss prospects for their detection in future experiments.Comment: Talk to be presented at the International Symposium on Very High Energy Cosmic Ray Interactions X

Confronting models on cosmic ray interactions with particle physics at LHC energies

Inelastic pp collisions are dominated by soft (low momentum transfer) physics where perturbative QCD cannot be fully applied. A deep understanding of both soft and semi-hard processes is crucial for predictions of minimum bias and underlying events of the now coming on line pp Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Moreover, the interaction of cosmic ray particles entering in the atmosphere is extremely sensitive to these soft processes and consequently cannot be formulated from first principles. Because of this, air shower analyses strongly rely on hadronic interaction models, which extrapolate collider data several orders of magnitude. A comparative study of Monte Carlo simulations of pp collisions (at the LHC center-of-mass energy ~ 14 TeV) using the most popular hadronic interaction models for ultrahigh energy cosmic ray (SIBYLL and QGSJET) and for collider physics (the PYTHIA multiparton model) is presented. The most relevant distributions are studied including those observables from diffractive events with the aim of discriminating between the different models.Comment: 8 pages revtex, 8 figures, added reference

Text Line Segmentation of Historical Documents: a Survey

There is a huge amount of historical documents in libraries and in various National Archives that have not been exploited electronically. Although automatic reading of complete pages remains, in most cases, a long-term objective, tasks such as word spotting, text/image alignment, authentication and extraction of specific fields are in use today. For all these tasks, a major step is document segmentation into text lines. Because of the low quality and the complexity of these documents (background noise, artifacts due to aging, interfering lines),automatic text line segmentation remains an open research field. The objective of this paper is to present a survey of existing methods, developed during the last decade, and dedicated to documents of historical interest.Comment: 25 pages, submitted version, To appear in International Journal on Document Analysis and Recognition, On line version available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/k2813176280456k3