Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic: A View from the Laboratory

A retrospective review of salient features of the early-to-mid phases COVID-19 pandemic is provided from the perspective of the clinical laboratory. Lessons learned and possible improvements are opined. These include the importance of maintaining a robust laboratory infrastructure, increased public health funding, the partnership between public health and hospital/commercial laboratories, and the critical importance of sound scientific assessment even during a pandemic crisis

LACURILE CHIȘINĂULUI ÎN PICTURA DE ȘEVALET

The lakes of Chisinau in easelet painting Summary. Along with the development of the green areas of the urban space in sectors of Chisinau, lakes were created (Lake Comsomolist, La izvor, the lakes in Valea Trandafirilor, etc.). They become the attraction of Chisinau residents and guests of the capital, as well as athletes. The lakes in Chisinau’s parks have been the subject of study for many plastic artists such as Rostislav Ocușco, Boris Nesvedov, Mihail Petric, Filimon Hămuraru, Gheorghe Munteanu, Ion Jumati, Mihai Mungiu, Florentin Leancă, Veaceslav Ignatenco, Valentina Brâncoveanu, Inga Edu et al. The article examines the easel paintings with this theme from the Funds of the National Art Museum of Moldova, the National Archives Agency and private collections. In their works, the plastic artists wanted to present the usefulness of the area: either for the townspeople and guests of the capital, or for athletes as a space for training and competitions. It is certain that we observe the richness of the landscape of the landscaped spaces, around which several multi-storey buildings appear, their number is constantly increasing. Pictorii au dorit să prezinte frumusețea peisajului pitoresc al capitalei

Determination of the effective detector area of an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer at the scanning electron microscope using experimental and theoretical X-ray emission yields

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.A method is proposed to determine the effective detector area for energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDS). Nowadays, detectors are available for a wide range of nominal areas ranging from 10 up to 150 mm2. However, it remains in most cases unknown whether this nominal area coincides with the “net active sensor area” that should be given according to the related standard ISO 15632, or with any other area of the detector device. Moreover, the specific geometry of EDS installation may further reduce a given detector area. The proposed method can be applied to most scanning electron microscope/EDS configurations. The basic idea consists in a comparison of the measured count rate with the count rate resulting from known X-ray yields of copper, titanium, or silicon. The method was successfully tested on three detectors with known effective area and applied further to seven spectrometers from different manufacturers. In most cases the method gave an effective area smaller than the area given in the detector description

An experimental in-vivo canine model for adult shunt infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Detailed human studies of the mechanisms and development of shunt infection in real time are not possible, and we have developed a canine hydrocephalus model to overcome this. The intention of this pilot study was to show that the canine hydrocephalus model could be shunted using conventional "human" shunts, and that a shunt infection could be established so that further studies could then be planned.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Hydrocephalus was induced in seven dogs (<it>Canis familiaris</it>) by fourth ventricle obstruction. Four weeks later they were shunted using a Hakim Precision valve. Four of the dogs received shunts whose ventricular catheter had been inoculated with <it>Staphylococcus epidermidis</it>, and three were uninoculated controls. Four weeks after shunting the dogs were sacrificed and necropsy was performed. Removed shunts and tissue samples were examined microbiologically and isolates were subjected to detailed identification and genomic comparison.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All the dogs remained well after shunting. Examination of removed shunt components revealed <it>S. epidermidis </it>in the brain and throughout the shunt system in the four inoculated animals, but in two of these <it>Staphylococcus intermedius </it>was also found. <it>S. intermedius </it>was also isolated from all three "negative" controls. There were slight differences between <it>S. intermedius </it>strains suggesting endogenous infection rather than cross- infection from a point source.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Shunt infection was established in the canine model, and had the experiment been extended beyond four weeks the typical microbiological, pathological and clinical features might have appeared. The occurrence of unplanned shunt infections in control animals due to canine normal skin flora reflects human clinical experience and underlines the usual source of bacteria causing shunt infection.</p

Differentiation potential and GFP labeling of sheep bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

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