Assessment of Airborne Bacteria and Fungi

Assessment of Airborne Bacteria and Fungi Quantitative Assessment of Fungi and bacteria in air inside Bradford Apartment Abstract The experiment was conducted from the week from 10/26/2014 to 11/02/2014 at the Bradford apartments. Different types of agar media were used to estimate and quantitatively assess fungi and bacteria in air within an air-conditioned apartment unit. Fungi are essential to our environment, due to their function of decomposing organic materials. Nevertheless, airborne fungal spores can cause irritations and allergies and can even compromise the human immune system in less maintained buildings. Inappropriate humid control or water damage, as seen in the apartment used for this experiment, can lead to high loads of fungal spores. Thus, this study focuses on the qualitative assessment of Fungi and bacteria in air inside a Bradford Apartment by using different agar media, which were incubated at two different temperatures corresponding to human body temperature (37 °C) and room temperature (25 °C) . Noticeable is that almost all agars incubated at 25 °C show a greater count of colonies than those incubated at 37 °C. Introduction The Apartment of interest is on the top floor and recently experienced some water damage due to a leak in the roof structure. It currently houses an Oceanic 29 gallon Biocube, which evaporates about one gallon of water within a week. The Apartment temperature was set to 25 C while conducting the experiment. The building contains vaulted ceilings and central air conditioning, which creates various microclimates favorable by fungi and bacteria. In addition, the living room and bedroom of the apartment contains carpet. Airborne fungal spores can cause irritations and allergies and can even compromise the human immune system in less maintained buildings (Taylor et al. 2014). The kingdom Fungi includes funguses or fungi, which represent a large group of eukaryotic organisms. All fungi are heterotrophs, which means they absorb nutrients through their cell walls and cell membranes. They are essential to our environment, because they decompose organic material and therefore, recycle nutrients essential for plant growth. Besides yeast, all fungi consist of elongated filaments, also called hyphae. When the hyphae grows bigger in size, it creates a network called mycelium. Once fruiting, they become mushrooms or molds. Fungi are abundant everywhere, such as dead matter, air, and soil but also in symbiosis with plants, animals and/or with other fungi (Van De Graaff, Kent M. et al, 2009). Bacteria belong to prokaryotic microorganisms, which lack a true nucleus and bounded organelles. They appear in different shapes such as spiral, spherical or rod-shaped. It is believed that bacteria were the first life form on our planet and are therefore present in soil, water, deep in the earth crust, and extreme conditions such as nuclear reactors. Most bacteria are harmless and can be found on and in the human body like the gastrointestinal tract. They also live in symbiosis with other animals and plants. One of their roles is to break down surrounding organic materials by converting them into absorbable compounds. (Van De Graaff, Kent M. et al, 2009). The media for this lab includes Rose Bengal Agar (RBA), Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and trypticase soy Agar (TSA). In past research experiments PDA and RBA have been used to cultivate fungi. TSA is used for Bacterial growth (Neogen 2011). Frequent sinus infections were traced back to severe allergic irritations in eyes and sinuses, which compromised the renter’s immune system and caused illness. Therefore, this experiment focuses on bacterial and fungi abundance in air regarding different locations with three different growth media. Due to the structure of the apartment, greater fungal counts should be expected at 25oC than at 37oC. Methods Experiment was conducted from 10/26/2014 until 11/02/2014. Each agar was prepared with 500 ml deionized water, which was added into three different 1 liter conical flasks. Each dehydrated medium was weighed according to each Agar type: 16 g of Rose Bengal Agar, 39 g of Potato Dextrose Agar, and 40 g of Trypticase Soy Agar. Each dehydrated media was added into its own flask, it was well shaken and mixed. After sealing each flask with aluminum foil and autoclave tape, all three flasks were autoclaved at 15 PSI (120 °C) for 20 minutes. Once safe to open the autoclave machine, the flasks were taken out and allowed to cool down. Meanwhile, 4 petri dishes were labeled for each location, Patio, Bedroom, Living room and bathroom. Each flask was tilted sideways before removing the aluminum foil to prevent contamination through air entering the flask. The solution was then poured into 24 petri dishes. All dishes were left out for about 30 minutes to cool down and solidify. After sealing each petri dish, there were transported to the location of interest. Two petri dishes of each agar were exposed for 15 minutes at each location besides the patio location, which were exposed for only 5 minutes. Of the two petri dishes from each location, one was incubated at 25 °C while the other one was incubated at 37 °C. All petri storage units were sterilized before exposed petri dishes were placed upside-down inside of it. The first storage united only contained petri dishes incubated of 25oC, where as the second unit contained only dishes incubated for 37 °C. Each united was labeled accordantly and placed in its according incubation set to 25 °C or 37 °C. After a week, plates were examined and number of colonies were noted. Only fungi colonies were recorded on Rose Bengal and Potato Dextrose agar, while Trypticase Soy Agar only noted Bacteria colonies. Results Note that high numbers of 35 and 26 fungi colonies have been counted on RBA and PDA which were exposed outside for 5 minutes and incubated at 25 °C. In contrast, TSA only showed 7 bacterial colonies at the same conditions. TSA shows great numbers of 19 bacterial colonies at 25 °C in the bathroom, while Rose bengal only counts fungi colony for the same location. On the other hand, Potato Dextrose counts 4 fungal colonies. Noticeable is that almost all agars incubated at 25 °C show a greater count of colonies than those incubated at 37 °C, except PDA for the bathroom (Table 1). Discussion Fungi are present everywhere in great numbers and play an important role in decomposing organic matter. Our subtropical climate outside contains heat and moisture, which can affect the building structure. Furthermore, the apartment houses a 29 gallon Oceanic Biocube, which evaporates approximately one gallon within a week. The greatest amount of colonial growth was noted outside on my patio in PDA and RBA. PDA is composed of Potato Starch and Dextrose that encourages fungal growth, because dextrose and starch are a sugar unit called glucose. It functions as an energy source for fungal sporulation. This explains why 26 fungi colonies have been noted on PDA. The final pH of PDA is 5.6 +/- 0.2 which inhibits most bacterial growth but provides a good base for fungi. Some of the components in Rose Bengal Agar are soy pentose and dextrose. These substances provide nitrogen, vitamins, and energy encouraging fungal growth. Rose Bengal is a major ingredient in the Agar to avoid rapidly growin g molds and inhibits bacterial growth. Another ingredient is Magnesium Sulfate, providing trace elements essential for good fungal growth. All the ingredients provide a perfect base for fungal growth, explaining the 35 colonies counted. On the other hand, the air inside the apartment is filtered, dried, cooled down, and distributed by the air conditioner. Nevertheless, the water vapor from the aquarium causes high humidity within the apartment and changes the air conditions within the rooms. Some fungi and bacteria live in symbiosis within the human gastrointestinal tract. This explains why the greatest number of bacterial colonies were present in the bathroom. One ingredient in TSA is Pancreatic Digestion of casein, which provides nitrogen, vitamins and carbons for good bacterial growth. A majority of bacteria and fungi are known to survive very harsh conditions known to humans. Therefore, even though the bathroom is frequently cleaned, some bacteria and fungi are able to survive. As a result, 19 colonies in the bathroom were collected and incubated. Bacteria and fungi grow in many environments with different temperatures, from the cold arctic to hot springs. Therefore, the optimum growth temperatures vary. Bacteria can be psychrophilic, mesophilic, or thermophilic, with wide ranges of temperatures. Bacteria living within the human digestive system are exposed to a temperature of 37 °C, explaining the colonial count at 37 °C (Eddleman 1998). Fungi can live in different ranges of temperatures just as Bacteria, but the ranges differ. Most fungi are mesophilic, which lay between 18 °C-22 °C. Some fungi are tolerant to temperature changes, meaning they can survive or even grow in higher or lower temperatures varying from their optimum temperature. On the one hand, if the temperatures rise below the optimum temperature range, it can slow down or even inhibit chemical reactions, which can slow down growth. On the other hand, higher temperatures lead to denaturation of enzymes causing death of the cell. Therefore, the petri dishes incubated at 25 °C have a greater number of colonies than the ones incubated at 37 °C (Neogen 2008). References Dr. Burge, Harriet. â€Å"How Does Heat Affect Fungi.† The Environmental Reporter. Environmental Mircobiology Laboratory, Inc. March, 2006. Web. 19 September, 2013. 1-13. Ph. D. Eddleman, Harold. â€Å"Optimum Temperature for Growth of Bacteria.† Indiana Biolab, Palmyra IN. Revision #3. 23 January 1998. Web. 19 September, 2013. 1-5. Neogen. â€Å"POTATO DEXTROSE AGAR.† Acumedia. 4 April, 2011. Web. 19 September, 2013. 1-2. Neogen. â€Å"ROSE BENGAL CHLORAMPHENICOL AGAR.† Acumedia. 2 January, 2012. Web. 19 September, 2013. 1-2. Neogen. â€Å"TRYPCTIC SOY AGAR.† Acumedia. 6 November 2010. Web. 19 September, 2013. 1-3. Van De Graaff, Kent. Crawley, John L. â€Å"A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory.† Morton Publishing Company. 6th Edition. Englewood, Colorado, 2009. 63-76. 27-28. Print. Taylor, Michael. Gaskin, Sharyn. Bentham, Richard. Pisaniello, Dino. â€Å"Airborne fungal profiles in office buildings in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia: Background levels, diversity and seasonal variation.† Indoor and Built Environment. 14 August 2013.

Comparing the treatment of outsiders Essay

   In The Outsiders, the book is constantly written in a first person perspective, where Ponyboy Curtis is telling the story. Unlike in Frankenstein, it is written in a far more informal manner and uses a lot of modern American slang. This because this book was written in the late 1960s whereas Frankenstein was written in the early 1800s. An example of the different styles of language from Frankenstein is, â€Å"I resolved to quit the place that I had hitherto inhabited†. A typical line from The Outsiders is, â€Å"Man, I though New York was the only place I could get mixed up in a murder rap†. This language is far more informal and ‘chatty’ compared to Frankenstein. Ponyboy Curtis reports first-hand experiences, and some times reports on events that occurred without him being there. In both books, the reader feels many emotions that the character is feeling. It is usually the outsider who is the victim of such bad emotions. In Frankenstein, I felt emotions for Frankenstein when he about to be married to his fianci e but the monster waits until Frankenstein is gone, and then the monster murders Frankenstein’s wife. At this moment, a lot of tension builds up as the wife begins to shriek and wail as she is being murdered. The monster runs away from the dead bride and Frankenstein returns to the room, finding her dead. Frankenstein immediately knew the monster has killed her. Another incident where the reader is meant to feel pity for Frankenstein is when he creates the monster and gives it life. When he created the monster he realised what a vile mutant he had created. When the monster was given life, he was treated very poorly by Frankenstein, which reflected on his future crimes. Frankenstein stated in the book how he felt about his creation by saying, â€Å"How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch to whom with such infinitive pains and care I had endeavoured o form? † At this point, Frankenstein is almost feeling sorry for himself as he is so depressed about putting time and effort into a creation which took him two years to create, and it ended up as a catastrophe. There us also a scene of emotion aroused in The Outsiders. This emotion is aroused when Darry, the brother of Ponyboy and Soda Pop was shot after robbing a grocery store. Dally was so upset and depressed about the death of Johnny (a very good friend of Ponyboy) who had died from being burned and drastically injured from saving a group of small children who were on a filed trip to a church, which set alight because Ponyboy and Johnny didn’t put out one of their cigarettes properly. Dally was so depressed he went and robbed a grocery store, and shortly after the police were in point blank range with him and demanded for him to hand himself in to the police. He decided not to hand himself in and pulled out a gun that was not loaded, but the police did not realise this, and shot him, thinking he had a loaded gun. At this point, the reader’s emotions are aroused because a key character that the majority of the reader had probably started to ‘bond’ a relationship with had been shot and died shortly after. The main characters in both books are usually the victims of an unfortunate event. The main characters in Frankenstein were Frankenstein and the monster. These two characters played the largest role in the book as it mainly revolved around them. There were other sub-characters such as the captain and the wife of Frankenstein whose role became quite important in areas of the book. In The Outsiders there are quite a lot of characters in the book who all play quite a large role. The main character is Ponyboy, however the sub-characters are Soda Pop, Dally, Darry, Johnny and Cherry – these roles are not as important as Ponyboy however they do build a ground for the story line to run along. Also, most of these characters, except for Cherry are outsiders and are part of the greaser gang. Both books have a purpose for the reader to think about. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley had written the novel to warn scientists about going too far with their projects and should never take their work as far as â€Å"playing God† as it most probably end up as a catastrophe. The key plot that links to two novels together is the fact that you should never judge people by appearance. Both plots focus on this social matter but have expanded on it and created a story that has a subtle background revolving around this matter. In Frankenstein the monster is rejected from society because of his appearance, he doesn’t look appealing so people immediately conclude that he is evil or means harm to them. This prejudice matter also is linked to The Outsiders. The greasers are a gang who are from the very poor side of town. Because they dress cheaply, most people immediately assume that they are hooligans and are going to harm them. This was not true as they were humans, like everyone else and never really intentionally meant harm, but the only reason they fought was because the Socials (the richer gang) started to intimidate them first. The obvious difference is that the language used in Frankenstein is far more complex because it was written so long ago. Frankenstein is aimed at an audience of greater intelligence, whereas The Outsiders uses a very laid-back language. The common usage of slang makes the book more authentic to the 1950s America, but is aimed at an audience of a lesser extent of knowledge. Personally, I found Frankenstein more interesting as it has a far more exciting story line than The Outsiders as it’s story line is far more ‘moving’ and the emotions expressed by the author affect the reader well, whereas in The Outsiders, I didn’t really find the story line all that compelling and thought that the American slang made it authentic but ran very thin and lost it’s originality after a short period. I felt that both books had a fair amount of originality, but Frankenstein’s originality was far greater than The Outsiders. I would only criticize Frankenstein because some of the language used was a little too complex for me. The Outsiders provided simple, ‘easy-to-understand’ language, which allowed the reader to comprehend the story. I thought that, despite the slightly difficult language used in Frankenstein, I believe that Frankenstein had a far greater ethical background which allowed the story to have several ethical meanings, as well as the good story line surrounding the messages.

This Medieval Era Poem - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 522 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/10/30 Category Literature Essay Level High school Topics: Sir Gawain and The Green Knight Essay Did you like this example? This medieval era poem is set with a theme of not just bravery or heroism, but one of honesty and loyalty even greed and guilt as well. The story starts with our protagonist celebrating. Then along comes the green knight who challenges any one man to a blow. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "This Medieval Era Poem" essay for you Create order But you can already detect a sense of trickery because, the Green Knight says he will return one year and one day later to give a blow to his opponent. In which sir gawins brother stands and demands they do the challenge. This is where the sense of bravery comes in to play. So the two duel and sir gawains brother takes the head of the green knight and the green knight lives. So very obviously the knight demands that he follow his word and be there one year and one day later. His brother did not uphold so he demands that sir gawain take his place. After the duel sir gawain spends the time traveling and eventually finds himself in the castle of Lord and Lady Bertilak. A sense of lust is able to be detected because of the situation of the lords wife trying to seduce sir gawain. She tries not only once but three times and her advances fail. Just after this he is met with hid feeling of greed and guilt. She gifts him a girdle that is sworn to keep him safe. He wants to remain safe and so he take it out of greed, but he also has guilt because it goes against his code of chivalry. Sir gawain returns the the green chapel and the Green Knight is waiting for him while sharpening a blade. Sir gawain then riddled with guilt offers a trade. He wanted to trade all of his riches for his life except the girdle that he kept a secret and it fails. The green knight does three blows to Sir Gawain and much like the Green Knight he lives. This is another good sense of bravery and honesty, Sir Gawain stayed true to his word and the outcome was positive. The Green Knight tells sir gawain his name he said his name is Bertilak and tells him that he is the king of the castle where Gawain was at. But because Gawain was not truthful about all of his riches on the third blow Bertilak drew blood. But Gawain has proven himself a true knight. A sense of honor is detected because he actually proved himself. Bertilak later explains that the old woman at the castle is really Morgan le Faye, Sir Gawain’s aunt and also a witch. She sent the Green Knight on his his mission in the beginning and used her magic to change the Green Knight’s appearance. Excited to be alive but extremely guilty about his failure to tell the truth, Sir Gawain wears the girdle on his arm as a reminder of his own failure. He returns to Arthur’s court where all the knights join Sir Gawain, wearing girdles on their arms to show their support. This is where true chivalry is shown in the story.

Contrasting Gnomeo and Juliet vs Romeo and Juliet - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 445 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/03/13 Category Literature Essay Level High school Topics: Romeo and Juliet Essay William Shakespeare Essay Did you like this example? Romeo and Juliet, a tragic play written by William Shakespeare, tells the story of two teenage lovers who get caught in the clash of their familys ongoing conflict. Despite the devastation of this play, a British-American animated film titled, â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet,† tells a lighthearted and simplified version of Shakespeare’s famous play. One of the most famous scenes in literature takes place in Romeo and Juliet, as the two are seen on a balcony, passionately declaring their unconditional love for each other, as well as their desire to marry one another. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Contrasting Gnomeo and Juliet vs Romeo and Juliet" essay for you Create order In the animated-remake, Gnomeo and Juliet takes an interesting approach in showcasing Shakespeare’s famous balcony scene. In the original play, the language expressed to one another is very complex, surreal, and passionate; however, in the animated remake, â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet,† the language is simplified, childlike, and displays a more innocent theme. The setting is also significantly different. As the original balcony scene takes place in the city of Verona in the early 1600s, â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet† appears to take place in a modern-day garden. Although these are noticeably diverse, the most significant difference in the two scenes is the emotions showcased by the characters. Shakespeare’s version exemplifies the love between Romeo and Juliet as an ecstatic and overpowering need to be together, where the animated remake, â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet,† lacks the intense passion and the overwhelming love the two share. Although â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet† displays a much simpler approach to Shakespeare’s film, the traits of the characters are quite similar. For example, in the original play, Romeo is portrayed as being quite impulsive and immature. In â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet,† Romeo is also portrayed as impulsive and immature. These characteristics are shown in the animated film when Gnomeo appears to accidentally flip on a switch, followed by a vibrant light-show in the garden. Another similarity between the original play and the animated remake is the unnecessary and ongoing conflict between the two families. In Romeo and Juliet, the conflict displayed between two families, the Capulets and the Montagues. In â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet,† the conflict is also displayed by two families. Although the animated film creates a more innocent and simplified version of the conflict, the overall message is similar: the conflict is unnecessary and ongoing. Conclusion In conclusion, â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s approach to Shakespeare’s famous balcony scene is lighthearted and entertaining, yet lacks the deep emotions and overwhelming love that the original displays. Since â€Å"Gnomeo and Juliet† is an animated film created for children, Shakespeare’s incredible language lacks greatly. Although there are significant differences in the two, the characteristics and the overall message of the story are similar.