Viral diseases can spread through a variety of routes including aerosols. Yet, limited data are available on the efficacy of aerosolized chemicals to reduce viral loads in the air. Bacteriophages (phages) are often used as surrogates for hazardous viruses in aerosol studies because they are inexpensive, easy to handle, and safe for laboratory workers. Moreover, several of these bacterial viruses display physical characteristics similar to pathogenic human and animal viruses, like morphological size, type of nucleic acids, capsid morphology, and the presence of an envelope. In this study, the efficacy of four chemicals was evaluated on four airborne phages at two different relative humidity levels. Non-tailed bacteriophages MS2 (single-stranded RNA), ϕ6 (double-stranded RNA, enveloped), PR772 (double-stranded DNA), and ϕX174 (single-stranded DNA) were first aerosolized in a 55L rotative environmental chamber at 19°C with 25% and 50% relative humidity. Then, hydrogen peroxide, Eugenol (phenylpropene used in commercial perfumes and flavorings), Mist® (automobile disinfectant containing Triethylene glycol), and Pledge® (multisurface disinfectant containing Isopropanol, n-Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Amonium Chlorides, and n-Alkyl Dimethyl Ethylbenzyl Ammonium Chloride) were nebulized with the phages using a separate nebulizer. Aerosols were maintained in suspension during 10 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours. Viral aerosols were sampled using an SKC BioSampler and samples were analyzed using qPCR and plaque assays. The resistance levels of the four phages varied depending on the relative humidity (RH) and germicidal products tested. Phage MS2 was the most stable airborne virus under the environmental conditions tested while phage PR772 was the least stable. Pledge® and Eugenol reduced the infectivity of all airborne phages tested. At 25% RH, Pledge® and Eugenol were more effective at reducing infectivity of RNA phages ϕ6 and MS2. At 50% RH, Pledge® was the most effective agent against phage MS2. These findings illustrate that various airborne viruses should be tested to demonstrate the effectiveness of germicidal treatments. This research also provides a set of parameters for testing germicidal products in large-scale settings to reduce the risk of virus transmission.
At first blush, the role of neurobiology may not obviously fit in a volume focused on suicidal patients and the therapeutic alliance, which mostly deals with the psychology of these behaviors. Yet since Kandel's (1999) seminal work on the biological basis of memory, we have come to accept that psychological phenomena are intimately linked to biological phenomena. Neurobiology cannot replace an empathic understanding of the suicidal individual from clinical experience. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the patient's subjective experience of a suicidal crisis has a neurobiological correlate. It would clearly be shortsighted not to integrate biological considerations into models that eventually guide psychotherapists in our understanding of the suicidal person. Because the neurosciences have brought light into the black box paradigm of the brain, we must ask ourselves how our models of suicidal behavior fit in with findings from neurobiological research. What are the biological correlates of the anguish and mental pain the suicidal individual experiences? What are the neural correlates of the cognitive distortion postulated by cognitive therapists?In Chapter 10 of this volume, David Rudd and Gregory Brown argue that models of suicide used in therapy should be simple and easy to grasp by the patient (and the therapist). Could it be that by integrating aspects of altered brain function, our models of suicide will become more accurate? Will insights Suicide cannot be prevented until it is properly conceptualized.- Maris (1981, p. 339)
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