A pilot study to investigate the effects of combined dehumidification and HEPA filtration on dew point and airborne mold spore counts in day care centers

Meteorological factors such as relative humidity directly correlate with airborne fungal levels outdoors and indoors. While dehumidification alone is effective at reducing moisture necessary for mold growth, it is inadequate as a single intervention as it does not remove viable and non-viable fungal spores that are potentially allergenic. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate whether dehumidification in combination with high-efficiency particulate arrestance (HEPA) filtration is effective at reducing airborne mold spore levels in day care centers. Two day care centers within a 2-mile radius of each other were selected. Day care center A was 2 years old with eight rooms while day care center B was 15 years old with six rooms. A high efficiency Santa Fe dehumidification unit equipped with a HEPA filter was installed in half the rooms (intervention) of each day care facility. Electronic HOBO data loggers continuously measured outdoor and indoor room dew point and temperature every 2 h throughout the study. Dew point and airborne fungal spore measurements from selected rooms with controlled air conditions were analyzed by comparing baseline measurements to those obtained at subsequent time periods over 1 year. Regression models accounted for correlations between measurements in the same room over time. Intervention resulted in a lowered average dew point from baseline by 8.8 degrees C compared with a decrease of 7.1 degrees C in non-intervention rooms across all time periods in both facilities (P<0.001). Fungal analyses demonstrated lower baseline (P=0.06) and follow-up means in intervention rooms (P<0.05), however the change from baseline to end of follow-up differed between intervention and non-intervention rooms in the two facilities. Log transformation was applied to approximate normality of fungal measurements. Dehumidification with HEPA filtration was effective at controlling indoor dew point in both facilities and at reducing airborne culturable fungal spore levels in one of the two facilities. These preliminary results provide a scientific rationale for using this intervention in future studies designed to investigate the impact of indoor mold exposure on health outcomes. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Poor indoor air quality is a recognized cause or contributing factor to health effects. Dampness and humidity have been linked to upper and lower respiratory symptoms in children and adults. This study indicates that reducing indoor relative humidity and airborne mold spore levels using high-efficiency dehumidification units equipped with HEPA filtration is feasible even in work facilities such as day care centers where traffic in and out of the building is difficult to regulate. Clinicians should emphasize to their patients the importance of dehumidification and HEPA filtration to improve indoor air quality in the home and workplace.     

A sporulation kinetic model for batch growth of B. thuringiensis

B. thuringiensis cells evolve from vegetative cells to sporulated cells during batch growth. As a result, the classical model based on an exponential binary fission and the Monod equation has intrinsic limitations to describe the biomass concentration. A new kinetic model accounting for the spore formation process is presented in this study. This model considers that only the cells without a spore are able to contribute to the cell growth. This model also incorporates the spore formation process using a spore formation step and a specific spore formation rate constant. Classical and new model predictions are compared with batch experimental data. Results demonstrate that the classical model is unable to predict the experimental data and this is particularly true from the middle of the transition stage on. In contrast, the new sporulation kinetic model is able to predict the experimental data more accurately for the complete time span of the batch culture.     

Continuous Versus Discontinuous Ultra‐High‐Pressure Systems for Food Sterilization with Focus on Ultra‐High‐Pressure Homogenization and High‐Pressure Thermal Sterilization: A Review

High‐pressure thermal sterilization (HPTS) and ultra‐high‐pressure homogenization (UHPH) are two emerging sterilization techniques that have not been implemented in the food industry yet. The two technologies apply different acting principles as HPTS uses isostatic pressure in combination with heat whereas UHPH uses dynamic pressure in combination with shear stress, cavitation, impingement, and heat. Both technologies offer significant benefits in terms of spore inactivation in food production with reduced thermal intensity and minimized effects on sensory and nutritional profiles. These benefits have resulted in relevant research efforts on both technologies over the past few decades. This state of the art of the discontinuous HPTS‐based and the continuous UHPH‐based sterilization concepts are assessed within this review. Further, various basic principles and promising future preservation applications of HPTS and UHPH for food processing, that are also applicable in the pharmaceutical, biochemical, and biotechnological sectors, are summarized. In addition, the applications and limitations of these technologies in terms of optimizations needed to overcome the identified challenges are emphasized.     

体外消化和贮藏条件对粗壮脉纹孢菌孢子中类胡萝卜素稳定性的影响

采用国标测定粗壮脉纹孢菌（Neurospora crassa）孢子壁的基本组成成分,扫描电子显微镜观察孢子形态 及颗粒大小,1,1-二苯基-2-三硝基苯肼和螯合金属离子法测定孢子中类胡萝卜素的抗氧化能力,分光光度法测定总 类胡萝卜素的含量,分别研究不同体外消化体系和贮藏条件对孢子中类胡萝卜素稳定性的影响。结果发现,粗壮脉 纹孢菌孢子壁中水分、粗纤维、粗脂肪、蛋白质、几丁质质量分数分别为（17.70±0.63）%、（29.90±0.03）%、 （0.32±0.11）%、（28.32±0.89）%、（0.66±0.13）%,孢子中总类胡萝卜素含量为（776.42±2.05）μg/g孢子。经 过口腔、胃和小肠消化后粗壮脉纹孢菌孢子壁局部均出现密集的小孔,孢子较未处理相比有一定程度的皱缩。消化过 程中孢子中类胡萝卜素的释放率显著提高,口腔（9.35%）＜胃（18.78%）＜小肠（32.58%）,消化液中抗氧化活性 显著升高,口腔＜胃＜小肠;贮藏9 d后类胡萝卜素的减少率分别为：4 ℃避光组2.24%,25 ℃避光组3.19%,25 ℃ 光照组5.79%。研究表明粗壮脉纹孢菌孢子壁是一种适合包埋不稳定物质的壁材,且利于消化吸收。     

醋糟酶解液的制备及其发酵生产枯草芽孢杆菌TS-02

采用水热处理技术对醋糟进行预处理,优化了醋糟的纤维素酶酶解条件,制得葡萄糖浓度27.00 g/L的醋糟酶解液. 以醋糟酶解液为基础培养基替代培养基中的葡萄糖,发酵生产枯草芽孢杆菌TS-02活菌制剂. 结果表明,在醋糟酶解液培养基中摇瓶发酵44 h时活菌数活菌数最高达4.64×1010个/mL, 7 L发酵罐中发酵周期为22 h,活菌数达6.16×1010个/mL,芽孢率达80%以上.     

拉曼光谱法检测灵芝孢子油氧化酸败

采用拉曼光谱法直接监测灵芝孢子油中氧化酸败过程中不饱和双键特征峰的变化规律,研究了特征峰的强度与孢子油氧化酸败程度的关系。结果表明,特征峰强度随孢子油酸值、过氧化值的增加而下降,特征峰的面积与孢子油酸值之间存在着良好的线性关系,并进一步测定了灵芝孢子油氧化酸败的动力学参数。建立了用拉曼光谱快速检测灵芝孢子油氧化酸败度的新方法。对该方法的有效性进行评估,并用该方法筛选出有效的灵芝孢子油抗氧化剂。     

Effect of different premilking manual teat-cleaning methods on bacterial spores in milk

Different teat-cleaning methods were evaluated to determine their effect on the presence of spores from anaerobic bacterial spore-formers in the milk. Artificial contamination was used to achieve uniform contamination of teats to reduce the number of cows and samples needed in the experiments and still obtain adequate power to detect differences among tested methods. Teats were contaminated experimentally with a large amount of Clostridium tyrobutyricum spores in a manure-water slurry. Various types of dry and moistened towels and different combinations of methods using soap or 2 types of towels, together with cleaning times of 10 or 20 s, were compared in 2 Latin square-designed experiments with 7 cows, 7 treatments, and 4 replications in each experiment. In comparison with control (no cleaning and no forestripping), cleaning teats with dry paper towels for 10 s reduced concentration of spores in milk by 45 to 50%. A 50 to 74% reduction was achieved using different types of moist towels for 10 s. Methods using 2 towels, soap, or a longer cleaning time reduced bacterial contamination by 85 to 91%. The most effective methods in reducing milk spore content (96% reduction) were use of a moist washable towel with or without soap followed by drying with a dry paper towel, for a total time of 20 s per cow. One of the best cleaning methods was studied in an additional experiment to determine the effect of different teat contamination mixtures. The Latin square-designed experiment with 8 cows, 8 treatments, and 2 replications showed that cleaning was independent of the tested contamination matrix (manure, soil, or sawdust), type of spores (Cl. tyrobutyricum and Bacillus cereus), or degree of contamination (manure or extra manure).     

灵芝孢子和抗性淀粉对糖尿病大鼠糖脂代谢及氧化应激的协同干预

目的：探讨灵芝孢子和抗性淀粉对Ⅱ型糖尿病大鼠糖脂代谢及氧化应激的作用和机制。方法：采用链脲佐菌素诱导的方法建立Ⅱ型糖尿病模型,考察灵芝孢子和抗性淀粉对糖尿病大鼠的血糖、血脂及氧化应激指标的影响。结果：抗性淀粉和灵芝孢子均可改善糖尿病大鼠血糖水平,对抗糖尿病引起的氧化应激损伤。抗性淀粉降血糖、抗氧化作用较强,灵芝孢子粉调节大鼠脂代谢紊乱效果明显,抗性淀粉和灵芝孢子协同作用可进一步改善脂代谢水平,增强二者抗氧化能力。结论：抗性淀粉和灵芝孢子粉协同干预模式和传送方式可有效降低糖尿病大鼠的血糖水平,改善脂代谢紊乱,提高抗氧化应激的能力,可作为一种较好的减缓糖尿病症状的有效饮食干预方法。     

β‐1,6‐glucan synthesis‐associated genes are required for proper spore wall formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The yeast spore wall is an excellent model to study the assembly of an extracellular macromolecule structure. In the present study, mutants defective in β ‐1,6‐glucan synthesis, including kre1? , kre6? , kre9? and big1? , were sporulated to analyse the effect of β ‐1,6‐glucan defects on the spore wall. Except for kre6? , these mutant spores were sensitive to treatment with ether, suggesting that the mutations perturb the integrity of the spore wall. Morphologically, the mutant spores were indistinguishable from wild‐type spores. They lacked significant sporulation defects partly because the chitosan layer, which covers the glucan layer, compensated for the damage. The proof for this model was obtained from the effect of the additional deletion of CHS3 that resulted in the absence of the chitosan layer. Among the double mutants, the most severe spore wall deficiency was observed in big1? spores. The majority of the big1?chs3? mutants failed to form visible spores at a higher temperature. Given that the big1? mutation caused a failure to attach a GPI‐anchored reporter, Cwp2‐GFP, to the spore wall, β ‐1,6‐glucan is involved in tethering of GPI‐anchored proteins in the spore wall as well as in the vegetative cell wall. Thus, β ‐1,6‐glucan is required for proper organization of the spore wall. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.