Practical Indicators for Risk of Airborne Transmission in Shared Indoor Environments and Their Application to COVID-19 Outbreaks

Some infectious diseases, including COVID-19, can undergo airborne transmission. This may happen at close proximity, but as time indoors increases, infections can occur in shared room air despite distancing. We propose two indicators of infection risk for this situation, that is, relative risk parameter (Hr) and risk parameter (H). They combine the key factors that control airborne disease transmission indoors: viruscontaining aerosol generation rate, breathing flow rate, masking and its quality, ventilation and aerosol-removal rates, number of occupants, and duration of exposure. COVID-19 outbreaks show a clear trend that is consistent with airborne infection and enable recommendations to minimize transmission risk. Transmission in typical prepandemic indoor spaces is highly sensitive to mitigation efforts. Previous outbreaks of measles, influenza, and tuberculosis were also assessed. Measles outbreaks occur at much lower risk parameter values than COVID-19, while tuberculosis outbreaks are observed at higher risk parameter values. Because both diseases are accepted as airborne, the fact that COVID-19 is less contagious than measles does not rule out airborne transmission. It is important that future outbreak reports include information on masking, ventilation and aerosol-removal rates, number of occupants, and duration of exposure, to investigate airborne transmission

A Virtual Agent as Vocabulary Trainer: Iconic Gestures Help to Improve Learners’ Memory Performance

An important and often laborious task in foreign language acquisition is vocabulary learning. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that performing iconic gestures together with novel words has a beneficial effect on learning performance. Can these findings be transferred onto virtual agents applied in gesture-supported vocabulary training? We present a study investigating whether iconic gestures performed by a virtual agent and imitated by learners have an impact on verbal memory for words in a foreign language. In a within-subject design we compared participants’ memory performance achieved with the help of a virtual agent and those achieved with the help of a human trainer regarding both short-term learning effects and long-term decay effects. The overall results demonstrate improved memory scores when participants learned with a virtual agent. Especially high performers could profit from gesture-supported training with a virtual agent

Practical Indicators for Risk of Airborne Transmission in Shared Indoor Environments and Their Application to COVID-19 Outbreaks

Some infectious diseases, including COVID-19, can undergo airborne transmission. This may happen at close proximity, but as time indoors increases, infections can occur in shared room air despite distancing. We propose two indicators of infection risk for this situation, that is, relative risk parameter (Hr) and risk parameter (H). They combine the key factors that control airborne disease transmission indoors: virus-containing aerosol generation rate, breathing flow rate, masking and its quality, ventilation and aerosol-removal rates, number of occupants, and duration of exposure. COVID-19 outbreaks show a clear trend that is consistent with airborne infection and enable recommendations to minimize transmission risk. Transmission in typical prepandemic indoor spaces is highly sensitive to mitigation efforts. Previous outbreaks of measles, influenza, and tuberculosis were also assessed. Measles outbreaks occur at much lower risk parameter values than COVID-19, while tuberculosis outbreaks are observed at higher risk parameter values. Because both diseases are accepted as airborne, the fact that COVID-19 is less contagious than measles does not rule out airborne transmission. It is important that future outbreak reports include information on masking, ventilation and aerosol-removal rates, number of occupants, and duration of exposure, to investigate airborne transmission

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

Mise au point d'un protocole d'étude histologique des polyphénols de la pellicule de la baie de raisin durant la maturation

National audienc

Utilisation de l'analyse d'images pour l'étude des composés phénoliques de la pellicule de baie de raisin (vitis vinifera 2., c.v. Cabernet Franc)

International audienc

Utilisation de l'analyse d'images pour l'étude des composés phénoliques de la pellicule de baie de raisin (vitis vinifera 2., c.v. Cabernet Franc)

The localization and quantitative determination of phenolics in grape berry skins, from the onset of veraison, constitute the first step to understand the evolution of these compounds throughout the maturation process. Histological techniques are appropriate to study the evolution of phenolics but manual countings are long and drudgery and do not allow for reliable quantitative results. The image analysis software “Scion Image” proved to be a good tool to improve the quantitative results. This method permitted also to measure the cells area and the area occupied by phenolic compounds inside the vacuoles. Image analysis could be helpful to the understanding of the evolution of phenolics during maturation and possibly contribute to explain  their extraction during maceration

Suspeita de febre familiar dos cães Shar-peis chineses Suspected familiar chinese Shar-pei dog fever

A febre (síndrome) familiar dos cães Shar-peis Chineses é uma doença hereditária autossômica recessiva. Este trabalho descreve um caso de amiloidose generalizada em um cão Shar-pei Chinês, fêmea, de três anos de idade, cujo quadro clínico-patológico é consistente com o da febre familiar dos cães Shar-peis chineses. Esse animal tinha uma história clínica de edema bilateral recidivante na região do jarrete que vinha sendo observado desde os sete meses de idade. Três dias antes da morte, esse cão apresentou anorexia, apatia, vômito e diarréia. À necropsia, ambos os rins estavam firmes, pálidos e possuíam a superfície capsular irregular. Histologicamente foram observados depósitos de amilóide nos rins, no pâncreas, na tireóide e no baço. Esse amilóide perdeu sua afinidade para o vermelho Congo, quando utilizado o permanganato de potássio. Esse achado é consistente com amiloidose do tipo AA.<br>Chinese Shar-pei familial fever is a breed-associated hereditary autosomal recessive disease of Chinese Shar-pei dogs. A case of generalized amyloidosis in a 3-year-old female Chinese Shar-pei dog with a tentative diagnosis of familial Chinese Shar-pei fever is described. This animal had a clinical history of episodic bilateral swelling of the tarsal joints since 7-month-old. Vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia and lethargy were observed 3 days prior to death. At necropsy, both kidneys were firm, whitish and had an irregular capsular surface. Microscopically, amyloid deposits were observed in the kidneys, pancreas, thyroid glands and spleen. Amyloid deposits lost their affinity for Congo red after treatment with potassium permanganate indicating AA-type amyloidosis