Pasquale Gaudio

Viral bioterrorism: Learning the lesson of Ebola virus in West Africa 2013-2015.

Among the potential biological agents suitable as a weapon, Ebola virus represents a major concern. Classified by the CDC as a category A biological agent, Ebola virus causes severe hemorrhagic fever, characterized by high case-fatality rate; to date, no vaccine or approved therapy is available. The EVD epidemic, which broke out in West Africa since the late 2013, has got the issue of the possible use of Ebola virus as biological warfare agent (BWA) to come to the fore once again. In fact, due to its high case-fatality rate, population currently associates this pathogen to a real and tangible threat. Therefore, its use as biological agent by terrorist groups with offensive purpose could have serious repercussions from a psychosocial point of view as well as on closely sanitary level. In this paper, after an initial study of the main characteristics of Ebola virus, its potential as a BWA was evaluated. Furthermore, given the spread of the epidemic in West Africa in 2014 and 2015, the potential dissemination of the virus from an urban setting was evaluated. Finally, it was considered the actual possibility to use this agent as BWA in different scenarios, and the potential effects on one or more nations stability.

Biological emergency management: The case of ebola 2014 and the air transportation involvement

The putative spread after the outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever epidemic caused by Ebola virus in West Africa, in the early months of 2014, puts the spotlight on the management of biological risks involving air transportation. Ebola virus is a highly pathogenic agent, causing a haemorrhagic fever defined Ebola HF, characterized by a high fatality. This virus is generally considered to be self-limiting in terms of diffusion; its lethality is in fact so high as to prevent the exit from rural areas where outbreaks generally occur. However, when the virus comes from rural areas and reaches urban places, it is important to assess the risk of spreading even in areas far from the outbreak of origin. Therefore, the development or strengthening of strategies and plans to take action with timely and effective response in order to reduce the consequences of public health emergencies is paramount. During Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa in 2014, World Health Organization focused attention on many airports, stops of main flights coming from Africa; the aviation, due to its nature, has the potential to help boost the global spread of transmissible diseases, since air travel allow to reach the most remote locations in hours. The management of biological emergencies during ordinary operations of airlines and airports represents a real constraint in the event of contrast epidemic situations or endemic outbreaks. An effective response plan should include a careful assessment of the risks and the establishment of procedures to carry on board of aircrafts or on the ground. To ensure that this complex system works correctly, a broad and effective cooperation between the different actors involved is required. On the international level, several documents and recommendations relating to the management of contagious diseases in aeronautical environment have been produced by authoritative agencies. In this paper, after an overview on the international response to public health emergencies in the aviation environment, the attention is focused on emergency response to the Ebola virus crisis in 2014, including an evaluation of the potential dispersion of the pathogen.

Use of particle counter system for the optimization of sampling ,identification and decontamination procedures for biological aerosols dispersion in confined environment

In a CBRNe (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and explosive) scenario, biological agents hardly allow efficient detection/identification because of the incubation time that provides a lag in symptoms outbreak following their dissemination. The detection of atmospheric dispersion of biological agents (i.e.: toxins, viruses, bacteria and so on) is a key issue for the safety of people and security of environment. Another fundamental aspect is related to the efficiency of the sampling method which leads to the identification of the agent released; in fact an effective sampling method is needed either to identify the contamination and to check for the decontamination procedure. Environmental monitoring is one of the ways to improve fast detection of biological agents; for instance, particle counters with the ability of discriminating between biological and non-biological particles are used for a first warning when the amount of biological particles exceeds a particular threshold. Nevertheless, these systems are not able to distinguish between pathogen and non-pathogen organisms, thus, classical “laboratory” assays are still required to unambiguously identify the particle which triggered the warning signal. In this work, a combination of commercially available equipment for detection and identification of the atmospheric dispersion of biological agents was evaluated in partnership between the Italian Army, the Department of Industrial Engineering and the School of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. The aim of this work, whose results are presented here, was to conduce preliminary studies on the dynamics of biological aerosols fallout after its dispersion, to improve detection, sampling and identification techniques. This will help minimizing the impact of the release of biological agents and guarantee environmental and people safety and security.

In-cell measurements of smoke backscattering coefficients using a CO2 laser system for application to lidar-dial forest fire detection

In the lidar-dial method, the amount of the water vapor present in the smoke of the vegetable fuel is detected to reduce the number of false alarms. We report the measurements of the smoke backscattering coefficients for the CO2 laser lines 10R20 and 10R18 as determined in an absorption cell for two different vegetable fuels (eucalyptus and conifer). These experimental backscattering coefficients enable us to determine the error to be associated to the water vapor measurements when the traditional first-order approximation is assumed. We find that this first- order approximation is valid for combustion rates as low as 100 g/s. C 2010

Application of Real-Time PCR to Identify Residual Bio-Decontamination of Confined Environments after Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor Treatment: Preliminary Results

This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor (HPV) to remove biological contamination in a confined environment and to evaluate real-time PCR assay as a technique for the evaluation of the decontamination efficiency. Decontamination after the dispersion of biological aerosol is a main issue from a civilian, public health and military perspective. Despite the effectiveness of aggressive substances, eco-friendly but still efficient methods for decontamination are a relevant demand and Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor (HPV) is among the most recent and promising technologies in this field. Another related issue is: when an environment can be considered fully decontaminated? The answer clearly depends on the objectives of the decontamination and this will affect the choice of the methodology. Furthermore, classical microbiological and molecular biology techniques are commonly used to identify biological contamination and residual contamination, but many of them are time consuming and require advanced training for the operators who perform the analysis. This may represent a bottleneck, especially when a quick response to an emergency is needed (i.e. during an unconventional event like CBRNe ones). In this work, a combination of commercially available equipment for detection, identification and decontamination, was evaluated in partnership between the Italian Army, the Department of Industrial Engineering and the School of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. The purpose of this work was to find a setup for equipment and methodologies for detection, identification and decontamination, to implement in case of biological events. Preliminary results show that, despite the death of the microorganisms, nucleic acids are not completely degraded by HPV treatment and, as a consequence, that real-time PCR may be the adequate, quick and easy method to verify the efficiency of bio decontamination when nucleic acid degradation represent the final objective.

Real-time vehicle emissions monitoring using a compact LiDAR system and conventional instruments: first results of an experimental campaign in a suburban area in southern Italy

Abstract. Urban air pollution causes deleterious effects on human health and the environment. To meet stringent standards imposed by the European Commission, advanced measurement methods are required. Remote sensing techniques, such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR), can be a valuable option for evaluating particulate matter (PM), emitted by vehicles in urban traffic, with high sensitivity and in shorter time intervals. Since air quality problems persist not only in large urban areas, a measuring campaign was specifically performed in a suburban area of Crotone, Italy, using both a compact LiDAR system and conventional instruments for real-time vehicle emissions monitoring along a congested road. First results reported in this paper show a strong dependence between variations of LiDAR backscattering signals and traffic-related air pollution levels. Moreover, time-resolved LiDAR data averaged in limited regions, directly above conventional monitoring stations at the border of an intersection, were found to be linearly correlated to the PM concentration levels with a correlation coefficient between 0.75 and 0.84.

Comparison of columnar water vapour measurements using the CO2 DIAL method and GPS data analysis

Two remote sensing techniques used to measure water vapor content in the atmosphere are presented: the Lidar/Dial technique and the GPS data analysis method. The dial method, as is well known, can be used to obtain range resolved measurements or an average concentration measurement on the long path using a target topographic method. This methodology permits measurement of the concentration of atmospheric trace gases and, in particular, water vapour profiles. The second remote sensing method is based on an application of the GPS (Global Positioning System). It enables the assessment of the signal propagation delay from satellites to ground-based receivers. Once ground temperature and atmospheric pressure are measured and the GPS signal delay is known, then an estimate of the columnar water vapour content can be performed. In this paper a comparison between the two remote sensing techniques of water vapour measurement are present.

Biological Dual-Use Research and Synthetic Biology of Yeast

In recent years, the publication of the studies on the transmissibility in mammals of the H5N1 influenza virus and synthetic genomes has triggered heated and concerned debate within the community of scientists on biological dual-use research; these papers have raised the awareness that, in some cases, fundamental research could be directed to harmful experiments, with the purpose of developing a weapon that could be used by a bioterrorist. Here is presented an overview regarding the dual-use concept and its related international agreements which underlines the work of the Australia Group (AG) Export Control Regime. It is hoped that the principles and activities of the AG, that focuses on export control of chemical and biological dual-use materials, will spread and become well known to academic researchers in different countries, as they exchange biological materials (i.e. plasmids, strains, antibodies, nucleic acids) and scientific papers. To this extent, and with the aim of drawing the attention of the scientific community that works with yeast to the so called Dual-Use Research of Concern, this article reports case studies on biological dual-use research and discusses a synthetic biology applied to the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, namely the construction of the first eukaryotic synthetic chromosome of yeast and the use of yeast cells as a factory to produce opiates. Since this organism is considered harmless and is not included in any list of biological agents, yeast researchers should take simple actions in the future to avoid the sharing of strains and advanced technology with suspicious individuals.

Laser Pulse Simulation of High Energy Transient Thermal Loads on Bulk and Plasma Sprayed W for NFR

W is a plasma-facing material candidate for applications in future nuclear fusion reactors (NFR). In this work transient thermal loads of high energy have been simulated by interaction with a single laser pulse. The experiments have been carried out by using the Nd:Glass TVLPS laser working in first harmonic (wavelength λ = 1064 nm); the pulse parameters are: energy E ≈ 8 J, pulse duration ∆t ≈ 15 ns, focal spot size Φ = 200 μm, surface power density on the focal plane I = 1.7 x 1012 W/cm2.The damage produced by the laser pulse on the surface of bulk and plasma sprayed W has been investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations. The preliminary results will be presented.

Analysis of JET Polarimeter With a Propagation Code Based on the Stokes Formalism

Internal magnetic measurements are essential to obtaining reliable and accurate magnetic reconstructions in the interior of the plasma column in Tokamaks. In the last years, polarimetry has been increasingly used to provide global constraints to equilibrium codes. Joint European Torus (JET) polarimeter has four lateral channels, whose arrangement is similar to the topology of the diagnostic foreseen in ITER. A statistical analysis of JET polarimetry measurements have been provided in the past for only one vertical channel (CH3) using a polarimetry propagation code based on the Stokes vector formalism. A new propagation code has therefore been developed for the lateral channels to simulate and interpret the measurements of the Faraday rotation (FR) and Cotton-Mouton (CM) phase shift in JET. In this paper, a complete analysis of the integral form of the Stokes equation for the lateral channels is presented. In particular, the analysis shows that there is a strong interaction between the FR and CM effect even at low currents and low magnetic fields. The code results of both FR and CM have been used to estimate the line-integrated density and a proper benchmarking with experimental data has been performed. Two approximations to obtain the electron density in real time, using only plasma current in case of FR measurements and also toroidal magnetic fields in case of CM measurements, are proposed.