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International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2023Planting plants to increase soil carbon input has been widely used to achieve carbon neutrality goals. Tartary buckwheat not only has good barren tolerance but is also...
Planting plants to increase soil carbon input has been widely used to achieve carbon neutrality goals. Tartary buckwheat not only has good barren tolerance but is also rich in nutrients and very suitable for planting in barren areas. However, the effects of different genotypes of Tartary buckwheat roots and rhizosphere microorganisms on soil carbon input are still unclear. In this study, ozone sterilization was used to distinguish the sources of soil organic acids and C-transforming enzymes, and the contribution of root and rhizosphere microorganisms to soil carbon storage during the growth period of two genotypes of tartary buckwheat was studied separately to screen suitable varieties. Through the analysis of the experimental results, the conclusions are as follows: (1) The roots of Diqing tartary buckwheat have stronger carbon sequestration ability in a barren environment than Heifeng, and the microorganisms in Diqing tartary buckwheat soil will also increase soil carbon input. Therefore, Diqing tartary buckwheat is more suitable for carbon sequestration than Heifeng tartary buckwheat in barren soil areas. (2) In the absence of microorganisms, the rhizosphere soil of tartary buckwheat can regulate the storage of soil organic carbon by secreting extracellular enzymes and organic acids. (3) The structural equation model showed that to promote carbon sequestration, Heifeng tartary buckwheat needed to inhibit microbial action when planted in the barren area of Loess Plateau, while Diqing tartary buckwheat needed to use microbial-promoting agents. Adaptive strategies should focus more on cultivar selection to retain carbon in soil and to assure the tolerance of fineness in the future.
Topics: Soil; Fagopyrum; Carbon; Carbon Sequestration
PubMed: 36673719
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20020959 -
Genes Dec 2022Pathogenic bacteria and viruses in medical environments can lead to treatment complications and hospital-acquired infections. Current disinfection protocols do not...
Pathogenic bacteria and viruses in medical environments can lead to treatment complications and hospital-acquired infections. Current disinfection protocols do not address hard-to-access areas or may be beyond line-of-sight treatment, such as with ultraviolet radiation. The COVID-19 pandemic further underscores the demand for reliable and effective disinfection methods to sterilize a wide array of surfaces and to keep up with the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). We tested the efficacy of Sani Sport ozone devices to treat hospital equipment and surfaces for killing , , , and by assessing Colony Forming Units (CFUs) after 30 min, 1 h, and 2 h of ozone treatment. Further gene expression analysis was conducted on live immediately post treatment to understand the oxidative damage stress response transcriptome profile. Ozone treatment was also used to degrade synthetic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA as assessed by qPCR CT values. We observed significant and rapid killing of medically relevant and environmental bacteria across four surfaces (blankets, catheter, remotes, and syringes) within 30 min, and up to a 99% reduction in viable bacteria at the end of 2 h treatment cycles. RNA-seq analysis of revealed 447 differentially expressed genes in response to ozone treatment and an enrichment for oxidative stress response and related pathways. RNA degradation of synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA was seen an hour into ozone treatment as compared to non-treated controls, and a non-replicative form of the virus was shown to have significant RNA degradation at 30 min. These results show the strong promise of ozone treatment of surfaces for reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infections and as a method for degradation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; RNA, Viral; Disinfection; Ozone; Escherichia coli; Pandemics; Ultraviolet Rays; Bacteria; Cross Infection
PubMed: 36672826
DOI: 10.3390/genes14010085 -
Scientific Reports Jan 2023Dining tables may present a risk to diners by transmitting bacteria and/or viruses. Currently, there is a lack of an environmental-friendly and convenient means to...
Dining tables may present a risk to diners by transmitting bacteria and/or viruses. Currently, there is a lack of an environmental-friendly and convenient means to protect diners when they are sitting together. This investigation constructed far-UVC excimer lamps to disinfect dining-table surfaces. The lamps were mounted at different heights and orientations, and the irradiance on table surfaces was measured. The irradiation doses to obtain different inactivation efficiencies for Escherichia coli (E. coli) were provided. In addition, numerical modeling was conducted for irradiance and the resulting inactivation efficiency. The surface-to-surface (S2S) model was validated with the measured irradiance. The germicidal performance of far-UVC irradiation, the far-UVC doses to which diners were exposed, and the risk of exposure to the generated ozone were evaluated. The results revealed that an irradiation dose of 12.8 mJ/cm can disinfect 99.9% of E. coli on surfaces. By varying the lamp irradiance output, the number and positions of the lamps, the far-UVC irradiation can achieve a 3-log reduction for a dining duration of 5 min. Besides, the far-UVC lamp has a low damage risk to diners when achieving an effective inactivation rate. Moreover, there is virtually no ozone exposure risk in a mechanically ventilated dining hall.
Topics: Escherichia coli; Disinfection; Bacteria; Ultraviolet Rays; Viruses
PubMed: 36611088
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-27380-2 -
Ozone disinfection efficiency against airborne microorganisms in hospital environment: a case study.Arhiv Za Higijenu Rada I Toksikologiju Dec 2022Even though ozone has shown its potential for air disinfection in hospital environment, its more frequent use has earned attention only with the COVID-19 pandemic due to...
Even though ozone has shown its potential for air disinfection in hospital environment, its more frequent use has earned attention only with the COVID-19 pandemic due to its proven antimicrobial effect and low cost of production. The aim of this study was to determine its antimicrobial efficiency against the most common bacterial species in a real-life setting, that is, in the air of one postoperative room of the General Hospital Dr Ivo Pedišić (Sisak, Croatia). Air was sampled for aiborne bacteria before and after treatment with the ozone concentration of 15.71 mg/m for one hour. The most dominant Gram-positive bacteria of the genera , and were reduced by 33 %, 58 %, and 61 %, respectively. The genus proved to be the most resistant. Considering our findings, we recommend longer air treatment with higher ozone concentrations in combination with mechanical cleaning and frequent ventilation.
Topics: Humans; Ozone; Disinfection; Pandemics; Air Microbiology; COVID-19; Bacteria; Hospitals
PubMed: 36607720
DOI: 10.2478/aiht-2022-73-3651 -
International Journal of Environmental... Dec 2022SARS-CoV-2 RNA is frequently identified in patient rooms and it was speculated that the viral load quantified by PCR might correlate with infectivity of surfaces. To...
SARS-CoV-2 RNA is frequently identified in patient rooms and it was speculated that the viral load quantified by PCR might correlate with infectivity of surfaces. To evaluate Ct values for the prediction of infectivity, we investigated contaminated surfaces and Ct-value changes after disinfection. Viral RNA was detected on 37 of 143 investigated surfaces of an ICU. However, virus isolation failed for surfaces with a high viral RNA load. Also, SARS-CoV-2 could not be cultivated from surfaces artificially contaminated with patient specimens. In order to evaluate the significance of Ct values more precisely, we used surrogate enveloped bacteriophage Φ6. A strong reduction in Φ6 was achieved by three different disinfection methods. Despite a strong reduction in viability almost no change in the Ct values was observed for UV-C and alcoholic surface disinfectant. Disinfection using ozone resulted in a lack of Φ6 recovery as well as a detectable shift in Ct values indicating strong degradation of the viral RNA. The observed lack of significant effects on the detectable viral RNA after effective disinfection suggest that quantitative PCR is not suitable for predicting the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 on inanimate surfaces. Ct values should therefore not be considered as markers for infectivity in this context.
Topics: Humans; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; RNA, Viral; Trust; Patients' Rooms; Disinfection
PubMed: 36554950
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192417074 -
The Science of the Total Environment Mar 2023The large-scale global COVID-19 has a profound impact on human society. Timely and effectively blocking the virus spread is the key to controlling the pandemic growth.... (Review)
Review
The large-scale global COVID-19 has a profound impact on human society. Timely and effectively blocking the virus spread is the key to controlling the pandemic growth. Ozone-based inactivation and disinfection techniques have been shown to effectively kill SARS-CoV-2 in water, aerosols and on solid surface. However, the lack of an unified information and discussion on ozone-based inactivation and disinfection in current and previous pandemics and the absence of consensus on the main mechanisms by which ozone-based inactivation of pandemic causing viruses have hindered the possibility of establishing a common basis for identifying best practices in the utilization of ozone technology. This article reviews the research status of ozone (O) disinfection on pandemic viruses (especially SARS-CoV-2). Taking sterilization kinetics as the starting point while followed by distinguishing the pandemic viruses by enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, this review focuses on analyzing the scope of application of the sterilization model and the influencing factors from the experimental studies and data induction. It is expected that the review could provide an useful reference for the safe and effective O utilization of SARS-CoV-2 inactivation in the post-pandemic era.
Topics: Humans; Disinfection; Ozone; Pandemics; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Viruses
PubMed: 36496014
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160711 -
ACS Omega Nov 2022With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a global incentive for applying environmentally sustainable and rapid sterilization methods, such as...
With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a global incentive for applying environmentally sustainable and rapid sterilization methods, such as ultraviolet-C radiation (UVC) and ozonation. Material sterilization is a requirement for a variety of industries, including food, water treatment, clothing, healthcare, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals. It becomes inevitable when devices and items like protective equipment are to be reused on/by different persons. This study presents novel findings on the performance of these sterilization methods using four microorganisms ( and ) and six material substrates (stainless steel, polymethyl methacrylate, copper, surgical facemask, denim, and a cotton-polyester fabric). The combination of both ozone and UVC generally yields improved performance compared to their respective applications for the range of materials and microorganisms considered. Furthermore, the effectiveness of both UVC and ozone was higher when the fungi utilized were smeared onto the nonabsorbent materials than when 10 μL droplets were placed on the material surfaces. This dependence on the contaminating liquid surface area was not exhibited by the bacteria. This study highlights the necessity of adequate UVC and ozone dosage control as well as their synergistic and multifunctional attributes when sterilizing different materials contaminated with a wide range of microorganisms.
PubMed: 36467929
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c05264 -
Materials Today. Proceedings 2022Personnel protective equipment, N95 masks, and filtering facepiece respirators such as goggles, face shields, played a very important rolein the safety of...
Personnel protective equipment, N95 masks, and filtering facepiece respirators such as goggles, face shields, played a very important rolein the safety of bothvirus-affected persons and as well as medical staff, health workers. As the coronavirus (Covid-19) was increasing exponentially worldwide, healthcare has been the demand for this basic equipment especiallyface protection shields have critical issues. There has been an effort to find out the different ways to conserve PPE kits, to use after the sterilization process. The current work focused onthe fabrication of the Portable PPE Kit Sterilizer model using UV Ozone Sanitization Processto utilize for recycling of N95 masks, goggles. Due to its miniature structure, can be used in public health sectors like the hospital, research centers, schools, and laboratories also. The method adopted was cheap, reuse, well suited for mass sanitization.
PubMed: 36415847
DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2022.01.021 -
Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences Dec 2022The use of disease-free seeds or bulbs is very crucial to ensure sustainable and profitable agricultural production. Seed-borne pathogens which are responsible for...
The use of disease-free seeds or bulbs is very crucial to ensure sustainable and profitable agricultural production. Seed-borne pathogens which are responsible for significant yield losses in various crops need to be successfully eliminated with appropriate seed treatments. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of gaseous ozone (O) and ozonated water treatments on the inactivation of seed-borne fungal and bacterial pathogens of widely cultivated vegetable and cereal seeds, and ornamental bulbs. We demonstrated that O application to tomato and cucumber seeds inactivates f. sp. , f. sp. -, subsp. , pv. , and pv. , respectively, with no negative effect on seed germination rate. The sterilization capacity of O has substantially increased when the seeds were soaked in water before the treatments. The saprophytic fungal load and the infection rate of subsp. on several species and cultivars of ornamental bulbs were suppressed by O treatment. A strong decrease in the infection rate of was also shown in O-treated wheat seeds under field conditions. Overall, the current study indicated that O treatment has great potential in ensuring the use of disease-free seeds or other propagation materials, which is indispensable at the beginning of crop production.
PubMed: 36389212
DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.103480 -
Annali Di Igiene : Medicina Preventiva... 2023The COVID-19 emergency has highlighted the importance of prevention systems and environ-mental microbiological monitoring as fundamental elements in the response to...
BACKGROUND
The COVID-19 emergency has highlighted the importance of prevention systems and environ-mental microbiological monitoring as fundamental elements in the response to epidemics and other such threats to individual and collective health. The use of automated "No-touch" room disinfection systems eliminates or reduces the dependence on operators, thus allowing an improvement in the effectiveness of terminal disinfection.
STUDY DESIGN
In the present study, we focused on possible SARS-CoV-2 contamination of surfaces of com-mercial services, and the effectiveness of ozone treatment on the virus.
METHODS
Analyses were conducted on 4-7 October and 27-30 December 2021 in four supermarkets in an Apulian city; supermarkets A and B were equipped with an ozonisation system, while C and D were without any environmental remediation.
RESULTS
SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected by real-time RT-PCR only in December, in 6% of the surfaces tested, and all examined samples were found to be negative after viral culture, since no cytopathic effect was observed. A statistically significant difference emerged from the comparison of October vs. December (p = 0.0289), but no statistically significant difference (p = 0.6777) emerged from the comparison between supermarkets with and without the ozonisation system.
CONCLUSIONS
Although no important changes were observed by treating the environments with ozonisation systems, further studies are needed to validate the effectiveness of environmental treatments with airborne disinfectants.
Topics: Humans; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; RNA, Viral; Disinfection; Ozone
PubMed: 36222607
DOI: 10.7416/ai.2022.2547