enricosavazzi Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 A reference about the (non-) sterilizing effects of UV: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/42009/title/UV-Light-Doesn-t-Fully-Purify/ Link to comment
Andrea B. Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks, Enrico. That was an interesting link. Link to comment
JCDowdy Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 A couple of little problems with the paper. There is no description of UV intensity measurements. Also, it is not explicitly stated, that I could find in the article or supporting information, that the UV attenuating culture dish lid was actually removed during UV exposures. We are left to assume an appropriately calibrated UV-C radiometer was used, you would be shocked to know how many otherwise diligent researchers neglect this non-trivial aspect. Here is a short quotation from the methods: "Trizol reagent (Invitrogen, Cat. No. 15596−026) was used to extract and purify total RNA from E. coli and P. aeruginosa according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Total RNA was quantified spectrophotometrically at an optical density of 260/280 (OD260/280) (AS-Nano100−1072; AOSHENG, Shanghai, China)." These researchers reported the brand and catalog number of RNA extraction reagent as well as the city of manufacture of the spectrophotometer used to do a routine OD measurement but the can't properly characterize the UV dosimetry in a paper about efficacy of UV disinfection? I cannot understand how journal reviewers allowed such a glaring omission to be published. Yes, this is a pet peeve of mine, but a valid objection nonetheless. See:Gasparro, Francis P., and Douglas B. Brown. "Photobiology 102: UV Sources and Dosimetry- the Proper Use and Measurement of''Photons as a Reagent''." Journal of Investigative Dermatology 114.4 (2000): 613-615. Link to comment
Andrea B. Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Eternal vigilance is also useful in Science. :D Is there a place to write comments? Let them know!! Link to comment
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