Chan Pui-Ling. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-182). / Text in English; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chan Pui-Ling. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abstracts --- p.ii / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Plates --- p.ix / List of Figures --- p.xii / List of Tables --- p.xiv / Abbreviations --- p.xviii / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Indoor Air Quality (IAQ): An overview --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Importance of indoor air quality --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Common indoor air pollutants --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Airborne bacteria --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.3.1 --- Possible sources of airborne bacteria --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.3.2 --- Health effects of the airborne bacteria --- p.5 / Chapter a. --- Sick building syndromes --- p.5 / Chapter b. --- Building-related illness --- p.7 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Importance of studying airborne bacteria --- p.12 / Chapter 1.2 --- Situation in Hong Kong --- p.13 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Outdoor air quality --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Indoor air quality --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2.2.1 --- Hong Kong studies --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Air quality objectives in Hong Kong --- p.18 / Chapter 1.3 --- Different sampling methods --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4 --- Identification of bacteria --- p.24 / Chapter 1.5 --- Site selection --- p.26 / Chapter 2 --- Objectives --- p.28 / Chapter 3 --- Materials and methods --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1 --- Samples collection --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Sampling site --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Complete Biosampler System --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Sampling preparation --- p.33 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Sampling procedures --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2 --- Recovery of the airborne bacteria --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Cultural medium --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Recovery procedures --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Frozen stocks --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3 --- Indentification of bacterial strains --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Gram stain --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3.1.1 --- Chemical reagents --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3.1.2 --- Gram stain procedures --- p.38 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Oxidase test --- p.38 / Chapter 3.3.2.1 --- Chemical reagents --- p.38 / Chapter 3.3.2.2 --- Oxidase test procedures --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Midi Sherlock® Microbial Identification System (MIDI) --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3.3.1 --- Culture medium --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3.3.2 --- Chemical reagents --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3.3.3 --- MIDI procedures --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Biolog MicroLogTM system (Biolog) --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3.4.1 --- Culture medium --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3.4.2 --- Chemical reagents --- p.44 / Chapter 3.3.4.3 --- Biolog procedures --- p.44 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- DuPont Qualicon RiboPrinter® Microbial Characterization System (RiboPrinter) --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.5.1 --- Culture medium --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.5.2 --- Chemical reagents --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.5.3 --- RiboPrinter procedures --- p.46 / Chapter 4 --- Results --- p.50 / Chapter 4.1 --- Sample naming system --- p.50 / Chapter 4.2 --- Interpretation of results --- p.50 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Midi Sherlock® Microbial Identification System (MIDI) --- p.51 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Biolog MicroLog´ёØ System (Biolog) --- p.51 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- DuPont Qualicon RiboPrinter® Microbial Characterization System (RiboPrinter) --- p.52 / Chapter 4.3 --- Sample results --- p.53 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Sample 1 (Spring) --- p.53 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Sample 2 (Summer-holiday) --- p.62 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Sample 3 (Summer-school time) --- p.71 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Sample 4 (Autumn) --- p.81 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Sample 5 (Winter) --- p.90 / Chapter 4.4 --- Bacterial profile of the student canteen --- p.100 / Chapter 4.5 --- The cell and colony morphology of the dominant bacteria --- p.100 / Chapter 4.6 --- Comparison between samples --- p.121 / Chapter 4.6.1 --- Spatial variation --- p.121 / Chapter 4.6.1.1 --- Spatial effect on bacterial abundance --- p.121 / Chapter 4.6.1.2 --- Spatial effect on species diversity --- p.121 / Chapter 4.6.2 --- Daily variation --- p.126 / Chapter 4.6.2.1 --- Daily effect on bacterial abundance --- p.126 / Chapter 4.6.2.2 --- Daily effect on species diversity --- p.126 / Chapter 4.6.3 --- Seasonal variation --- p.126 / Chapter 4.6.3.1 --- Seasonal effect on bacterial abundance --- p.126 / Chapter 4.6.3.2 --- Seasonal effect on species diversity --- p.130 / Chapter 4.7 --- Temperature effect on individual airborne bacterial population --- p.130 / Chapter 4.7.1 --- Gram positive bacteria --- p.130 / Chapter 4.7.2 --- Gram negative bacteria --- p.130 / Chapter 4.8 --- Effect of relative humidity on individual airborne bacterial population --- p.137 / Chapter 4.8.1 --- Gram positive bacteria --- p.137 / Chapter 4.8.2 --- Gram negative bacteria --- p.137 / Chapter 5 --- Discussion --- p.143 / Chapter 5.1 --- Bacterial profile --- p.143 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Bacterial diversity --- p.143 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Information of the identified bacteria from the student canteen --- p.144 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Pathogenicity --- p.153 / Chapter 5.1.4 --- Summary on the bacterial profile --- p.153 / Chapter 5.2 --- Comparison between samples --- p.160 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Spatial variation (Sampling point 1 against Sampling point 2) --- p.160 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Daily variation (Morning against Afternoon) --- p.161 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Seasonal variation --- p.162 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Summer holiday against Summer school time --- p.163 / Chapter 5.2.5 --- Summary on the factors affecting the bacterial content --- p.164 / Chapter 5.3 --- Summary on indoor air quality of the student canteen in terms of bacterial level. --- p.166 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusions --- p.168 / Chapter 7 --- References --- p.169 / Appendix 1 --- p.183 / Appendix 2 --- p.187