Biosensing on the centrifugal microfluidic lab-on-a-Disc platform

Lab-on-a-Disc (LoaD) biosensors are increasingly a promising solution for many biosensing applications. In the search for a perfect match between point-of-care (PoC) microfluidic devices and biosensors, the LoaD platform has the potential to be reliable, sensitive, low-cost, and easy-to-use. The present global pandemic draws attention to the importance of rapid sample-to-answer PoC devices for minimising manual intervention and sample manipulation, thus increasing the safety of the health professional while minimising the chances of sample contamination. A biosensor is defined by its ability to measure an analyte by converting a biological binding event to tangible analytical data. With evolving manufacturing processes for both LoaDs and biosensors, it is becoming more feasible to embed biosensors within the platform and/or to pair the microfluidic cartridges with low-cost detection systems. This review considers the basics of the centrifugal microfluidics and describes recent developments in common biosensing methods and novel technologies for fluidic control and automation. Finally, an overview of current devices on the market is provided. This review will guide scientists who want to initiate research in LoaD PoC devices as well as providing valuable reference material to researchers active in the field

Advances in Microfluidics Technology for Diagnostics and Detection

Microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip have, in recent years, come to the forefront in diagnostics and detection. At point-of-care, in the emergency room, and at the hospital bed or GP clinic, lab-on-a-chip offers the potential to rapidly detect time-critical and life-threatening diseases such as sepsis and bacterial meningitis. Furthermore, portable and user-friendly diagnostic platforms can enable disease diagnostics and detection in resource-poor settings where centralised laboratory facilities may not be available. At point-of-use, microfluidics and lab-on-chip can be applied in the field to rapidly identify plant pathogens, thus reducing the need for damaging broad spectrum pesticides while also reducing food losses. Microfluidics can also be applied to the continuous monitoring of water quality and can support policy-makers and protection agencies in protecting the environment. Perhaps most excitingly, microfluidics also offers the potential to enable entirely new diagnostic tests that cannot be implemented using conventional laboratory tools. Examples of microfluidics at the frontier of new medical diagnostic tests include early detection of cancers through circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and highly sensitive genetic tests using droplet-based digital PCR.This Special Issue on “Advances in Microfluidics Technology for Diagnostics and Detection” aims to gather outstanding research and to carry out comprehensive coverage of all aspects related to microfluidics in diagnostics and detection

The GenePOC Platform, a Rational Solution for Extreme Point-of-Care Testing

Extreme point-of-care (POC) testing for infections, as performed (endured) in low-resource settings, developing countries, tropical areas, or in conditions following emergency crises or natural disasters, must be undertaken under environmental, logistic, and societal conditions which impose a significant deal of stress on local human populations and healthcare providers. For disease diagnostics or management, simple and robust biomedical equipment and reagents are required and needed. This chapter aims to overview some of these stresses (requirements) and intends to describe some of the solutions already engineered at the heart of centripetal (centrifugal) microfluidic platforms such as that of GenePOC Inc. to enable rapid, robust, and reproducible nucleic acid-based diagnostics of infectious diseases, to better control the morbidity and mortality of infections and the expanding threat posed by antimicrobial resistance

The GenePOC Platform, a Rational Solution for Extreme Point-of-Care Testing

Extreme point-of-care (POC) testing for infections, as performed (endured) in low-resource settings, developing countries, tropical areas, or in conditions following emergency crises or natural disasters, must be undertaken under environmental, logistic, and societal conditions which impose a significant deal of stress on local human populations and healthcare providers. For disease diagnostics or management, simple and robust biomedical equipment and reagents are required and needed. This chapter aims to overview some of these stresses (requirements) and intends to describe some of the solutions already engineered at the heart of centripetal (centrifugal) microfluidic platforms such as that of GenePOC Inc. to enable rapid, robust, and reproducible nucleic acid-based diagnostics of infectious diseases, to better control the morbidity and mortality of infections and the expanding threat posed by antimicrobial resistance

A genomic approach to understanding the molecular epidemiology and clinical burden of multi-drug resistant Enterobacterale Infections in Bangladesh

This PhD was the first comprehensive study in South-Asia, investigating epidemiology of AMR in a Bangladeshi health setting by aligning demographic, clinical, and genomic data. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) from clinical specimens were 11.1% (210/1893) and carbapenem-sensitive Enterobacterales (CSE) were 22.8% (433/1893). CRE was associated with age (6-25 years), gender, burn unit and ICU patients. Additionally, with patients given levofloxacin, amikacin, clindamycin, and meropenem during hospital stay (p<0.05). CRE cases were associated with allcause in-hospital 30-days mortality (27.8%) than CSE (13.5%) (p<0.05). Clinical CRE clustered in particular clonal types compared to CSE e.g. ST167, ST448, ST8346, ST405, and ST648 in E. coli, ST16; and ST231, ST11, ST515, and ST23 in K. pneumoniae (p<0.05). CRE clades were associated with direct clonal transmission in putative outbreak clusters (contained isolates of 0-2 SNPs differences), designated as KP5 (K. pneumoniae ST23), KP1 (K. pneumoniae ST15), EC9 (E. coli ST648), and Eco1 (E. cloacae ST113). Plasmid-mediated horizontal transfer of CRE was linked mostly linked to IncFII and IncX3. CRE faecal carriage was 34.8% (244/700) and significantly higher among inpatients (53.8%) than the outpatients (12%) (p<0.05). The clinical and colonisation studies were undertaken about a year apart; however, clusters were found across clinical and faecal isolates (≤20 SNP); these were, EC4 (E. coli ST8346), EC6 (E. coli ST405), EC7 (E. coli ST5954), KP1 (K. pneumoniae ST15), and Eco1 (E. cloacae ST113). Additionally, this PhD describes outbreaks at Dhaka Medical College Hospital e.g. an MDR Klebsiella variicola clone (ST771) in neonatal unit from October 2016 to January 2017, associated with high mortality (54.5%), and by Burkholderia cepacia ST1578 from burn sepsis cases. This study reported the first human-associated mobile colistin resistance in Bangladesh (mcr-1 in faecal colonisation and mcr-8 in clinical infections). Data derived from this study indicate an urgent need of antibiotic stewardship program and standard infection control policy in Bangladeshi hospitals

Evaluación de las capacidades de logística humanitaria para la atención de desastres naturales en la red de ayuda humanitaria. El caso de Manizales

La logística humanitaria (LH) surge como campo de estudio para hacer frente a las ineficiencias observadas durante las operaciones de respuesta a los desastres. La LH se define como el proceso de planeación, implementación y control, bajo un costo eficiente, de una cadena de abastecimiento, que pretende aliviar el sufrimiento de las personas. Para generar una contribución de pertinencia en este campo, se realizó una revisión sistemática de literatura, gracias a la cual se determinó que el estudio de capacidades de LH aplicables a una red de ayuda humanitaria, desde una perspectiva multi-agencia, es un vacío en el conocimiento. A partir del dicho vacío se formuló la pregunta de investigación: ¿Cuáles son las capacidades de logística humanitaria y el nivel de articulación de los actores involucrados en una red de ayuda humanitaria? Para responder tal pregunta, primero, se utilizó la literatura de logística empresarial para identificar el conjunto de capacidades aplicables al contexto de la ayuda humanitaria y, en segundo lugar, se propuso una metodología en la cual se emplea la teoría de grafos, para modelar las relaciones entre el conjunto de actores que configuran una red de ayuda humanitaria. Tanto la propuesta para modelar las relaciones entre los actores involucrados en las operaciones de ayuda humanitaria, como la identificación de las capacidades de LH, son contribuciones de la presente investigación. Finalmente, para validar tales aportes, se analizó un caso de estudio sobre la ciudad de Manizales, territorio en el cual convergen diversas amenazas que se han materializado en desastresAbstract: Humanitarian logistics (HL) has emerged as a field of study to address the inefficiencies observed during disaster response operations. HL is defined as the process of program, implement, and control in a supply chain, at an efficient cost, in order to mitigate the suffering of vulnerable people. A systematic literature review was conducted for this investigation. It allowed for establishment of knowledge gap regarding study of HL capabilities, and how these are applicable to a humanitarian aid network, from a multi-agency perspective. The following research question was formulated, based on the identified knowledge gap: What are humanitarian logistics capabilities, and at what level is the coordination those involved in humanitarian aid networks? In order to answer this question, initially, the set of capabilities applicable to the context of humanitarian aid was identified, based on the business logistics literature, and, finally, a methodology was proposed for the evaluation of the relationships between humanitarian aid network actors, through the application of graph theory. The proposed methodology and the set of HL capabilities identified are the main contributions of this investigation. Finally, to validate these contributions, a case study regarding the city of Manizales, which is located in a region prone to natural disasters, was conductedMaestrí