The application of sample pooling for mass screening of SARS-CoV-2 in an outbreak of COVID-19 in Vietnam

We sampled nasal–pharyngeal throat swabs from 96,123 asymptomatic individuals at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and generated 22,290 pools at collection, each containing samples from two to seven individuals. We detected SARS-CoV-2 in 24 pools, and confirmed the infection in 32 individuals after resampling and testing of 104 samples from positive pools. We completed the testing within 14 days. We would have required 64 days to complete the screening for the same number of individuals if we had based our testing strategy on individual testing. There was no difference in cycle threshold (Ct) values of pooled and individual samples. Thus, compared with individual sample testing, our approach did not compromise PCR sensitivity, but saved 77% of the resources. The present strategy might be applicable in settings, where there are shortages of reagents and the disease prevalence is low, but the demand for testing is high

Reduction of the Inflammatory Responses against Alginate-Poly-L-Lysine Microcapsules by Anti-Biofouling Surfaces of PEG-b-PLL Diblock Copolymers

Large-scale application of alginate-poly-L-lysine (alginate-PLL) capsules used for microencapsulation of living cells is hampered by varying degrees of success, caused by tissue responses against the capsules in the host. A major cause is proinflammatory PLL which is applied at the surface to provide semipermeable properties and immunoprotection. In this study, we investigated whether application of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(L-lysine hydrochloride) diblock copolymers (PEG-b-PLL) can reduce the responses against PLL on alginate-matrices. The application of PEG-b-PLL was studied in two manners: (i) as a substitute for PLL or (ii) as an anti-biofouling layer on top of a proinflammatory, but immunoprotective, semipermeable alginate-PLL100 membrane. Transmission FTIR was applied to monitor the binding of PEG-b-PLL. When applied as a substitute for PLL, strong host responses in mice were observed. These responses were caused by insufficient binding of the PLL block of the diblock copolymers confirmed by FTIR. When PEG-b-PLL was applied as an anti-biofouling layer on top of PLL100 the responses in mice were severely reduced. Building an effective anti-biofouling layer required 50 hours as confirmed by FTIR, immunocytochemistry and XPS. Our study provides new insight in the binding requirements of polyamino acids necessary to provide an immunoprotective membrane. Furthermore, we present a relatively simple method to mask proinflammatory components on the surface of microcapsules to reduce host responses. Finally, but most importantly, our study illustrates the importance of combining physicochemical and biological methods to understand the complex interactions at the capsules' surface that determine the success or failure of microcapsules applicable for cell-encapsulation

Circulating cell-free mitochondrial dna, but not leukocyte mitochondrial dna copy number, is elevated in major depressive disorder

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been linked to mitochondrial defects, which could manifest in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms or mutations. Additionally, copy number of mtDNA (mtDNA-cn) can be quantified in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)s, indirectly reflecting cellular energetics, or in the circulating cell-free mtDNA (ccf-mtDNA) levels, which may reflect a fraction of the mitochondrial genome released during cellular stress. Few studies have examined ccf-mtDNA in MDD, and no studies have tested its relationship with intracellular mtDNA-cn or with antidepressant treatment response. Here, mtDNA levels were quantified in parallel from: (i) PBMCs and (ii) cell-free plasma of 50 unmedicated MDD subjects and 55 controls, in parallel with PBMC telomere length (TL) and antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GpX) activity. MtDNA measures were repeated in 19 MDD subjects after 8 weeks of open-label SSRI treatment. In analyses adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and smoking, MDD subjects had significantly elevated levels of ccf-mtDNA (F = 20.6, p = 0.00002). PBMC mtDNA-cn did not differ between groups (p > 0.4). In preliminary analyses, we found that changes in ccf-mtDNA with SSRI treatment differed between SSRI responders and non-responders (F = 6.47, p = 0.02), with the non-responders showing an increase in ccf-mtDNA and responders not changing. Baseline ccf-mtDNA was positively correlated with GpX (r = 0.32, p = 0.001), and PBMC mtDNA correlated positively with PBMC TL (r = 0.38, p = 0.0001). These data suggest that plasma ccf-mtDNA and PBMC mtDNA-cn reflect different cellular processes and that the former may be more reflective of certain aspects of MDD pathophysiology and of the response to SSRI antidepressants

An Introduction to Fingerprint Presentation Attack Detection

none3siThis chapter provides an introduction to Presentation Attack Detection (PAD), also coined anti-spoofing, in fingerprint biometrics, and summarizes key developments for that purpose in the last two decades. After a review of selected literature in the field, we also revisit the potential of quality assessment for presentation attack detection. We believe that, beyond the interest that the described techniques may intrinsically have by themselves, the case study presented may serve as an example of how to develop and validate fingerprint PAD techniques based on common and publicly available benchmarks and following a systematic and replicable protocol.noneGalbally, Javier; Fierrez, Julian; Cappelli, RaffaeleGalbally, Javier; Fierrez, Julian; Cappelli, Raffael

Native Phloem and Wood Borers in Australian Mediterranean Forest Trees

Native Mediterranean forests in Australia are dominated by two tree genera, Eucalyptus and Acacia, while Pinus and Eucalyptus dominate plantation forestry. In native forests, there is a high diversity of phloem and wood borers across several families in the Coleoptera and Lepidoptera. In the Coleoptera, cerambycid beetles (Cerambycidae), jewel beetles (Buprestidae), bark, ambrosia and pinhole beetles (Curculionidae) and pinworms (Lymexelidae) are some of the most commonly found beetles attacking eucalypts and acacias. In the Lepidoptera, wood moths (Cossidae), ghost moths (Hepialidae) and borers in the Xyloryctidae (subfamily Xyloryctinae) are most common. In contrast to native forests, there is a much more limited range of native insects present in Australian plantations, particularly in exotic Pinus spp. plantations, although eucalypt plantations do share some borers in common with native forests. This chapter reviews the importance of these borers in Australian forests primarily from an economic perspective (i.e. those species that cause damage to commercial tree species) and highlights a paucity of native forest species that commonly kill trees relative to the large scales regularly seen in North America and Europe