A anemia aplástica (AA) é uma doença hematológica rara caracterizada pela hipocelularidade da medula óssea, o que provoca pancitopenia. Esta pode ser de origem genética (associada a encurtamento telomérico) ou adquirida (não-associada a desgaste excessivo dos telômeros). Na forma adquirida, a ativação anormal de linfócitos T provoca a destruição das células hematopoéticas. O mecanismo que leva a essa destruição ainda não foi elucidado. Um dos tratamentos mais eficazes para repovoar a medula óssea hipocelular é o transplante com célulastronco hematopoéticas (CTHs). Porém, uma grande porcentagem de pacientes não se beneficia de nenhum tratamento, fazendo-se necessário o desenvolvimento de novas alternativas para terapia. A geração de células-tronco pluripotentes induzidas (iPSCs) a partir de células somáticas (reprogramação) representa uma ferramenta promissora para o estudo de doenças e para o desenvolvimento de possíveis terapias paciente-especificas, como transplantes autólogos. Neste trabalho, avaliamos a capacidade de reprogramação de fibroblastos e eritroblastos de pacientes com AA adquirida. Metodologias de reprogramação utilizando lentivírus ou plasmídeos epissomais não integrativos foram testadas em células de quatro pacientes e de um controle saudável. Eritroblastos dos quatro pacientes e do controle foram reprogramados utilizando os plasmídeos não integrativos. As iPSCs geradas apresentaram-se similares a células-tronco embrionárias quanto à morfologia, expressão dos marcadores de pluripotência OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, SSEA-4, Tra-1-60 e Tra-1-81, e capacidade de diferenciação in vitro em corpos embrioides (EBs). A dinâmica telomérica das células pré- e pós-reprogramação foi avaliada em diferentes passagens utilizando a técnica de flow-FISH. O comprimento telomérico foi aumentado nas iPSCs quando comparado às células parentais o que indica que a célula foi completamente reprogramada. No presente trabalho, células de pacientes com AA adquirida foram reprogramadas a um estado de pluripotência por meio de um método não integrativo. As iPSCs geradas serão essenciais para futuros ensaios de diferenciação hematopoética, o que poderá contribuir para o entendimento dos mecanismos envolvidos no desenvolvimento dessa doença. Além disso, a diferenciação dessas células livres de transgenes poderá servir como uma alternativa terapêutica para os pacientes com AA como, por exemplo, em transplantes autólogos / Aplastic anemia (AA) is a rare hematological disease characterized by bone marrow hypocellularity that leads to pancytopenia. Its origin can be genetic (associated with telomere shortening) or acquired (non-associated with telomere shortening). The acquired form exhibit T lymphocytes abnormal activation, which leads to hematopoietic cells destruction. The mechanisms behind this phenomenon are still unclear. One of the most effective treatments for hypocelullar bone marrow repopulation is hematopoietic stem cell (HSCs) transplantation. However, a large percentage of patients do not benefit from any of the available treatments. This highlights the need to develop new therapeutic strategies. The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from somatic cells (reprogramming) represents a powerful tool for disease modeling and for the development of patient-specific therapies such as autologous transplants. In this study, we evaluate the capacity of reprogramming acquired AA patients\' fibroblasts and erythroblasts. Reprogramming methods using lentivirus or non-integrative episomal plasmids were tested in four patients\' cells and in cells from one healthy donor. Erythroblasts from these four patients and healthy donor were reprogrammed using non-integrative plasmids. The iPSCs resembled human embryonic stem cells in morphology, in the expression of pluripotent markers such as OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, SSEA-4, Tra-1-60 and Tra-1-81, and in in vitro differentiation (capacity to form embryoid bodies). The telomere dynamics of the cells before and after reprogramming was assessed along passaging using flow-FISH. The telomere length in the iPSCs was increased when compared to the parental cells. Thus, acquire AA patients\' cells could be reprogrammed to a pluripotent state by a nonintegrative method. The iPSCs will be essential for future hematopoietic differentiation assays that could contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the disease development. Furthermore, the differentiation of transgene-free cells may serve as an alternative therapy for patients with AA such as autologous transplants

O paciente portador de necessidades especiais pode ser descrito como aquele indivíduo que não se adapta de maneira física, intelectual ou emocional aos parâmetros normais, considerando os padrões de crescimento, desenvolvimento mental e controle emocional, além dos relacionados à conservação da saúde. A Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) estima que a prevalência das deficiências no mundo seja de uma pessoa a cada dez e mais de dois terços não recebe nenhum tipo de assistência odontológica. O objetivo do estudo foi verificar a percepção dos profissionais odontólogos sobre a acessibilidade do paciente com Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida (SIDA/AIDS) em estabelecimentos odontológicos na cidade de São Paulo e comparar com um grupo controle, representados por pacientes com Diabetes Mellitus. A informação para o estudo foi baseada em conversações telefônicas com cirurgiões-dentistas, onde foi realizada uma entrevista semi-estruturada. A análise de conteúdo das entrevistas foi executada segundo método de Lefèvre e Lefèvre (2000) e foi realizada destacando-se a idéia central. Do total de entrevistados, 55,14% eram do gênero feminino e 53,27% trabalhavam em consultório particular. Em relação à acessibilidade, 96,26% já tinham tratado de pacientes com Diabetes, 55,14% com SIDA/AIDS. Concluiu-se que a principal dificuldade para tratar pacientes com diabetes é a prática clínica, principalmente relacionada com problemas de coagulação. Entre os pacientes com SIDA/AIDS embora tenham sido citadas dificuldades clínicas, pôde ser verificado que a maior dificuldade ainda é o preconceito contra eles. / The patient who has special needs can be described as the individual that can´t adapt himself to normal physical, intellectual or emotional parameters, considering the growing patterns, mental development and emotional stability, in addition to those related to the health maintenance. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the deficiencies prevalence is about one in ten individuals allover the world and more than two thirds don´t have any dental assistance. The objective of the study was to verify the dental professional perception with relation to the accessibility among patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (SIDA/AIDS) in clinical settings in the city of São Paulo, and to compare this perception with a control group, patients with Diabetes Mellitus. The study information was based on telephone conversations with Dentistis. A semi-structured interview was prepared. Content analysis was performed as per Lefèvre and Lefèvre (2000) with the relief of the central ideas. Among the participants, 55.14% were female and 53.27% worked in private settings. Regarding the accessibility, 96.26% had already treated patients with Diabetes, 55.14% with SIDA/AIDS. It was concluded that the main difficulty to treat diabetes patients is the clinical practice, mainly with problems related to blood coagulation. Among SIDA/AIDS patients, even though it had been listed clinical difficulties, it could be verified that the main difficulty is still prejudice amongst them.

Introdução: A Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida (SIDA) é uma doença infecciosa causada por um retrovírus chamado Human Immunodeficiency Virus - HIV. Os principais alvos do HIV são as células que exibem a molécula CD4 e as células gliais do Sistema Nervoso Central (SNC) possuem estas moléculas. Uma das alterações possíveis de acontecer em virtude da infecção pelo HIV é a alteração de linguagem, pois o processamento desta ocorre no SNC. Dentre todas as dimensões da linguagem a semântica é a parte que compreende o significado das palavras tanto na compreensão quanto na produção. Esta dimensão pode influenciar o processo da leitura. Objetivo: Comparar o desempenho entre crianças portadoras de HIV por transmissão vertical e crianças com baixo risco para o HIV em atividades de vocabulário receptivo e na leitura de palavras e pseudopalavras e quanto aos Recursos do Ambiente Familiar (RAF) que podem estar envolvidos com o aprendizado, identificar: a relação entre a gravidade da doença com o vocabulário receptivo e com a leitura, considerando o nível de CD4 e da carga viral (CV), a classificação CDC (Centers for Disease Control), adesão ao tratamento e tempo de uso da medicação; a classificação econômica das crianças portadoras de HIV e sua relação com RAF e o desempenho em vocabulário receptivo e leitura. Método: A população estudada foi de 11 crianças com HIV e 20 crianças com baixo risco para HIV, com idades entre 8 anos e 10 anos. Para a avaliação foi utilizado o Teste de Vocabulário por Figuras USP (TVfusp-139o) e o Teste de Competência de Leitura de Palavras e Pseudopalavras (TCLPP). Foi realizada a classificação econômica das crianças e a avaliação do RAF através de dois questionários respondidos pelos responsáveis, considerando que estes fatores podem estar envolvidos com a aprendizagem escolar. Resultados: Houve diferença entre os grupos para as variáveis RAF e o vocabulário, sendo que o grupo com baixo risco para o HIV apresentou desempenho significativamente superior ao grupo com HIV. As perguntas relacionadas aos passeios que a criança realizou, presença de brinquedos, jornais, livros e revistas em casa foram as que diferiram. Não houve diferença para a variável leitura. Não teve correlação entre as variáveis clínicas e laboratoriais e o vocabulário. Embora não significativa, houve correlação positiva entre a classificação CDC e leitura. Conclusão: Crianças portadoras de HIV apresentam desempenho inferior em vocabulário e o RAF significativamente inferior; não foi encontrada diferença em leitura. Os recursos do ambiente familiar que possivelmente podem contribuir para o aprendizado escolar é a presença de objetos, brinquedos, livros e revistas em casa e passeios; todas as variáveis laboratoriais e clínicas não apresentaram correlação significativa com o desempenho em vocabulário; a maior parte nos portadores de HIV encontravam-se na classificação econômica C ou D (82,1%). Houve correlação positiva com a classificação econômica, RAF e leitura. / Introduction: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is an infectious disease caused by a retrovirus called Human Immunodeficiency Virus - HIV. The main targets of HIV are the cells that display the CD4 molecule and the glial cells of the Central Nervous System (CNS) possess these molecules. One of the possible changes to occur due to HIV infection is the language change, as the processing of this occurs in the CNS. Of all the dimensions of language, semantics is the part that understands the meaning of words in both comprehension and production. This dimension can influence the reading process. Objective: To compare the performance of HIV-infected children by vertical transmission and children with low HIV risk in activities of receptive vocabulary and reading of words and pseudowords and Family Environment Resources (RAF) that may be involved in learning , To identify: the relationship between the severity of the disease with the receptive vocabulary and reading, considering CD4 and viral load (CV), CDC (Centers for Disease Control) classification, adherence and time of medication use; The economic classification of children with HIV and their relationship with RAF and o, performance in receptive and reading vocabulary. Method: The study population was 11 children with HIV and 20 children with low HIV risk, aged 8 years and 10 years. For the evaluation we used the Vocabulary Test for Figures USP (TVfusp-139o) and the Test of Competence of Reading of Words and Pseudowords (TCLPP). The economic classification of the children and the RAF evaluation were performed through two questionnaires answered by those responsible, considering that these factors may be involved with school learning. Results: There was a difference between the groups for the RAF and vocabulary variables, and the group with low HIV risk presented a significantly superior performance to the HIV group. The questions related to the trips that the child performed, the presence of toys, newspapers, books and magazines at home were the ones that differed. There was no difference for the reading variable. There was no correlation between clinical and laboratory variables and vocabulary. Although not significant, there was a positive correlation between the CDC classification and reading. Conclusion: HIV-positive children have lower vocabulary performance and significantly lower RAF; no difference was found in reading; the resources of the family environment that can possibly contribute to the school learning are the presence of objects, toys, books and magazines at home and walks realized in the last 12 months; all laboratory and clinical variables did not show a significant correlation with vocabulary performance, ie there was no correlation between viral load, CD4 cell count, CDC score, adherence and medication with vocabulary performance; the majority of those with HIV were in the economic classification C or D (82.1%); there was a positive correlation for the economic classification and the RAF score and the economic classification and performance in reading and strong tendency between the economic classification and the vocabulary.

Na infecção pelo HIV o equilíbrio entre antioxidantes e pró-oxidantes e a produção de citocinas encontram-se alterados, causando estresse oxidativo crônico. Presume-se que o estresse oxidativo crônico e a ativação do sistema imunológico favorecem a replicação do vírus através da ativação do NF-kB e a apoptose de células mononucleares do sangue periférico. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito da suplementação, durante 180 dias, com 600mg/dia de N-acetilcisteína (NAC), sobre a carga viral, os níveis de sub-populações de linfócitos, a viabilidade de linfócitos e sobre os níveis séricos de citocinas, proteínas, lipídeos, β2 microglobulina e outros marcadores da ativação do sistema imunológico em pacientes assintomáticos, submetidos ao primeiro tratamento anti-retroviral. Participaram deste estudo, duplo cego controlado por placebo, que teve a duração de 180 dias, 30 indivíduos que iniciaram a terapia anti-retroviral. O grupo estudo foi constituído por 14 indivíduos que além do tratamento anti-retroviral foram suplementados com NAC, enquanto o grupo controle foi constituído por 16 indivíduos que além do tratamento anti-retroviral receberam placebo. Os marcadores avaliados foram determinados no dia anterior ao início do tratamento a que foram submetidos e após 60, 120 e 180 dias. Verificou-se aumento significante dos linfócitos CD4+, da relação CD4/CD8, de linfócitos viáveis, albumina, cisteína e glutationa, bem como diminuição significante dos níveis de TNF-α, IL-8, haptoglobina e α1-glicoproteína ácida, β2-microglobulina, IgA e IgM, nos dois grupos estudados. Os níveis séricos de IL-6, colesterol total, LDL-colesterol, VLDL-colesterol e triglicerídeos não apresentaram alteração significante ao final deste estudo. Concluindo, a suplementação com 600 mg/dia de NAC, em pacientes submetidos ao tratamento anti-retroviral, não proporcionou benefícios adicionais àqueles decorrentes deste tratamento. / In HIV infection, the balance between antioxidants and pró-oxidants and the production of citokines are disturbed leading to a chronic state of oxidative stress and immune activation. It is presumed that HIV takes advantage of the proinflammatory and prooxidative environment to replicate through the NF-kB pathway leading to the apoptosis of peripheral blood mononuc1ear cells. The aim of this work was to study the effect of oral administration of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) 600 mg per day during 180 days on viral load, viability of lymphocytes, cytokines, proteins, lipids, β2-microglobulin and other immune activation markers in asymptomatic patients under their first antiretroviral therapy. This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study with 30 individuals who started antiretroviral therapy and were followed for 180 days. These individual were divided into two subgroups: the study group consisted of 14 participants who received NAC supplementation, whereas the control group had 16 individuals who received placebo. The studied markers were determined on the day before the beginning of treatment and after 60, 120 and 180 days of treatment. A significant increase was seen for CD4+ lymphocytes, the CD4/CD8 ratio, albumin, cysteine and glutathione; also, a significant reduction was found for levels of TNF-α, IL-8, β2 microglobulin, IgA, IgG, IgM, haptoglobin, and acid α1-glycoprotein as a consequence of antiretroviral treatment. After 180 days of treatment, the levels of total protein, globulins and HDL-cholesterol presented significant alteration on1y in the control group, while the serum levels of IL-6, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol and triglyceride did not show significant alteration at the end of the present study. In conclusion, the supplementation of HIV-positive patients with 600 mg/day of NAC did not bring additional benefits to those resulting from antiretroviral treatment.

Submitted by Biblioteca da Faculdade de Farmácia (bff@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-03-27T16:53:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos, Monique Luiza Aguiar dos [Dissertação, 2014].pdf: 5528413 bytes, checksum: ee7fde929572abea4d1a8749c2310571 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-27T16:53:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos, Monique Luiza Aguiar dos [Dissertação, 2014].pdf: 5528413 bytes, checksum: ee7fde929572abea4d1a8749c2310571 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A síndrome da imunodeficiência humana adquirida (AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) é causada pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana (HIV, human immunodeficiency virus) que infecta as células do sistema imune, destruindo-as ou causando prejuízos ao seu funcionamento. Dentre as enzimas do HIV, a integrase é responsável pela inserção do DNA viral no DNA do hospedeiro. Atualmente, existem apenas três fármacos em uso clínico pertencentes à classe dos inibidores de integrase: raltegravir (um derivado pirimidinona carboxamida), elvitegravir (um derivado quinolina) e dolutegravir (um derivado diazatriciclo carboxamida). Entretanto, diversos casos de resistência a estes fármacos são descritos na literatura e as mutações da enzima responsáveis por este perfil são conhecidas. Neste trabalho foram empregados estudos de relação entre a estrutura química e atividade biológica (SAR) e docking molecular, aplicados a uma série de 68 derivados azaindóis do ácido hidroxâmico sintetizados e avaliados farmacologicamente como inibidores de integrase do HIV (PLEWE et al., 2009; TANIS et al., 2010; JOHNSON et al., 2011). Entre os resultados obtidos, no estudo da relação entre a estrutura química e a atividade biológica foi observado que a ausência do hidrogênio ligado ao oxigênio da porção ácido hidroxâmico leva a perda de atividade biológica. E as simulações de docking molecular revelaram que este oxigênio deve possuir carga parcial -1 para realizar interação iônica com os íons Mg²+ presentes no sítio ativo da enzima integrase que funcionam como cofatores. A complexação dos derivados azaindóis com estes íons leva a inibição enzimática. Os compostos mais ativos, 1c e 21c, foram os que apresentaram melhor perfil de interação com a enzima / The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that infects cells of the immune system, destroying them or causing damage to its operation. Among all the HIV enzymes, integrase is responsible for the insertion of viral DNA in the host DNA. Currently, there are only three drugs in clinical use that belong to the class of integrase inhibitors: raltegravir (a pirimidinone carboxamide derivative, elvitegravir (a quinoline derivative) and dolutegravir (a diazatricyclo carboxamide derivative). However, several cases of resistance to drugs of this class are described in the literature, and the mutations of the enzyme responsible for this profile are known. In this work were employed studies of structure activity relationship (SAR) and molecular docking, applied to a series of 68 derivatives of azaindole hydroxamic acid synthesized and pharmacologically evaluated as HIV-1 Integrase inhibitors (PLEWE et al., 2009; TANIS et al., 2010; JOHNSON et al., 2011). Among the results obtained in the study of the relationship between the chemical structure and the biological activity was observed that the absence of hydrogen bound to oxygen of the hidroxamic acid takes to loss of biological activity. And molecular docking simulations showed that this oxygen must have partial charge -1 to perform ionic interaction with Mg²+ ions present in the active site of the integrase enzyme, which act as cofactors. The complexation of azaindole derivatives with these ions takes to enzymatic inhibition. The most active compounds, 1c and 21c, were the ones who presented best profile of interaction with the enzyme

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Magister Artium - MA / Twenty years into democracy and South Africa like many of the world‟s nations still faces manifold challenges in dealing with HIV/AIDS. This disease affects millions of people in various forms; socially, economically and politically. HIV/AIDS is considered to be a global pandemic (UNAIDS, 2011). The largest group at risk appears to be people between the ages of 15 and 24. One crucial way of dealing with this pandemic is through education since the emphasis is on prevention. It is against this background that this study explored the challenges teachers face in implementing HIV and AIDS initiatives and programmes in two primary schools in Crossroads, in the Nyanga region, in the Western Cape. It appears that research on this topic is not normally carried out in primary schools. I therefore start from the premise that literature on the topic, especially in this empirical field (primary schools), is limited. The conceptual lens used to understand this complex issue is the Bio-ecological Systems Model of Bronfrenbrenner (1977). Teachers operate within various contexts and their teaching is often influences by their experiences, knowledge and attitudes (Tayob, 2010:3). Furthermore, it appears that the implementation of HIV/AIDS initiatives and programmes at primary school level is dependent on the relationship between many systems. The complexities of understanding these relationships warrant the use of this model within this study. Methodologically, this study employed a qualitative case study research design to investigate this contemporary phenomenon. I employed in-depth qualitative data collection procedures which included: a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. The findings indicate that educators are seriously constrained by lack of support from school management and parents when engaging in HIV/AIDS initiatives or programmes at respective primary schools. The study also reveals that educators are not well trained to offer counselling to deal with HIV/AIDS related matters and it becomes worse with those infected. In addition, this study reveals that embedded cultural beliefs play a huge impeding factor in attempts to participate in HIV/AIDS initiatives and programmes, which are aimed to empower both educators and learners. The study therefore recommends a need for stronger financial muscle and support from schools management team to ensure that time set aside for life orientation classes be utilised effectively for the benefit of learners with priority on HIV/AIDS studies and initiative programmes. A strategic inclusion of parents, religious and traditional leaders with the Department of Basic Education and all relevant partners is very critical to achieve the fight against the struggle with HIV/AIDS through means of education at all levels within the sector and beyond.

Introduction: Socio-emotional behaviour difficulties following acquired brain injury (ABI) have been shown to have a persisting negative effect on quality of life. A systematic review was carried out to look at the efficacy and clinical effectiveness of available psychological treatments for socio-emotional behaviour difficulties following ABI. Research was carried out to further understand socio-emotional behaviour by exploring the possible underlying cognitive aspects (specifically social cognition) in a traumatic brain injury (TBI) population. The study investigated the relationship between social cognition and socio-emotional behaviour post-TBI. Method: A systematic search of articles published between January 2008 and November 2013 was carried out following the Cochrane (2008) guidelines. Papers were quality assessed to identify strengths and weaknesses. In the research study, forty TBI participants were asked to complete tasks of emotion recognition, theory of mind, cognitive flexibility, processing speed, attention and working memory. Selfrated and proxy-rated behaviour questionnaires were also administered. Results: The systematic review revealed seven studies for inclusion; three papers looked at a Comprehensive Holistic Approach, two papers on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and two on Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy. The findings suggested that CHA showed the best efficacy and generalization. However, there were also positive results within the CBT studies. The research paper found that the TBI group performed significantly poorer than the control group on measures of emotion recognition and three out of the four ToM tasks. The TBI group also performed significantly poorer on measures of processing speed and working memory (executive function). There was no association found between performance on any of the cognitive tests and socio-emotional behaviour. Conclusions: This is an area of limited research, likely due to the challenges of carrying out research in an ABI population. The systematic review highlighted the limited research available which has implications in clinical practice due to a lack of evidence base for potentially effective interventions. The research study results suggest that there is still a lack of understanding of socio-emotional behaviour and its underlying cognitive functioning. Further research would improve understanding and could also focus appropriate post-ABI interventions for socio-emotional behaviour problems.

Microbial pathogens commonly transmitted through the aerosol route to surfaces, equipment, and hands in the clinical setting leads to costly and life threatening hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Even with improved hand hygiene and surface disinfection, HAIs continue to persist in healthcare environments, warranting consideration of novel interventions to reduce the transmission risk of HAIs. This study quantitated the efficacy of ion generating passive air treatment (PAT) against viruses (MS2), bacteria (Escherichia coli), and bacterial spores (Bacillus thuringiensis) in a controlled environmental setting. Microorganisms were seeded into a 2.72 m3 chamber using a positive pressure nebulizing device to generate aerosolized droplets. The PAT unit was then turned on and seeded organisms were collected at various time points using impingers to concentrate the organisms into sterile aqueous solution. The microorganisms were enumerated using approved standard protocols developed in the Environment, Exposure Science, and Risk Assessment Center's laboratory at The University of Arizona. Three experiments were conducted to challenge the PAT unit. Experiment one evaluated the efficacy of the PAT unit over a single 10-minute period on microbial inactivation from the airborne environment following a single seeding; additionally, experiment one aimed to determine the efficacy of the PAT unit against viruses, bacteria, and bacterial spores on environmental surfaces; experiment two evaluated the efficacy of the PAT unit running continuously over a period of 6 hours following a single seeding; and experiment three evaluated the efficacy of the PAT unit running two continuously over a period of 5.25 hours following two seeding events. Bacterial spores from pre- and post-treatment with the PAT unit were collected and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy to assess structural differences. After a single seeding and 10 minutes of continuous treatment of the PAT unit, normalized average microbial log10 reductions of post-treatment compared to pre-treatment air concentrations were 1.67, 0.59, and 1.04 for MS2, B. thuringiensis spores, and E. coli, respectively. Differences in average log10 reductions between the control unit and the PAT unit were statistically significant for MS2 (p=0.009) and B. thuringiensis (p=0.0455), but not for E. coli (p=0.0565). The geometric mean log10 surface concentrations of MS2, B. thuringiensis, and E. coli after a single seeding and 10 minutes of continuous treatment of the PAT unit were 7.30 PFU/100 cm2, 5.90 CFU/100 cm2, and 2.74 CFU/100 cm2, respectively, compared to exposure of the control unit, 8.59 PFU/100 cm2, 6.03 CFU/100 cm2, and 4.96 CFU/100 cm2, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean log10 surface concentrations following 10 minutes of treatment with the control unit compared to the PAT unit for E. coli (p=0.002), but not for MS2 (p=0.3358) or B. thuringiensis (p=0.0866). After a single seeding and 6-hours of continuous treatment of the PAT unit, normalized average microbial log10 reductions of MS2 and B. thuringiensis were 1.43 and 1.32, respectively. The difference in average log10 reduction of all post-treatment samples between the control unit and the PAT unit was statistically significant for B. thuringiensis (p=0.0008) but not for MS2 (p=0.2568). After two seedings and 5.25 hours of continuous treatment of the PAT unit, normalized average microbial log10 reductions of MS2 and B. thuringiensis were 1.59 and 1.26, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in the average log10 reductions between the control unit and the PAT unit for MS2 (p=0.002) and B. thuringiensis (p=0.0003). Scanning electron microscopy analysis identified visual modification to B. thuringiensis spores following treatment with the PAT unit. In this study, the tested ion generating PAT unit was effectively able to reduce airborne microbial concentrations between 1-2 log10 in a controlled chamber environment within 10 minutes and up to 6 hours of treatment. The implications of this study suggest that ion producing PAT systems may represent a beneficial supplement to cleaning and disinfection practices in the reduction of pathogen contamination from the airborne and fomite-airborne routes.