A false-negative case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is defined as a person with suspected infection and an initial negative result by reverse ...transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, with a positive result on a subsequent test. False-negative cases have important implications for isolation and risk of transmission of infected people and for the management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to review and critically appraise evidence about the rate of RT-PCR false-negatives at initial testing for COVID-19.
We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, as well as COVID-19 repositories, including the EPPI-Centre living systematic map of evidence about COVID-19 and the Coronavirus Open Access Project living evidence database. Two authors independently screened and selected studies according to the eligibility criteria and collected data from the included studies. The risk of bias was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) tool. We calculated the proportion of false-negative test results using a multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression model. The certainty of the evidence about false-negative cases was rated using the GRADE approach for tests and strategies. All information in this article is current up to July 17, 2020.
We included 34 studies enrolling 12,057 COVID-19 confirmed cases. All studies were affected by several risks of bias and applicability concerns. The pooled estimate of false-negative proportion was highly affected by unexplained heterogeneity (tau-squared = 1.39; 90% prediction interval from 0.02 to 0.54). The certainty of the evidence was judged as very low due to the risk of bias, indirectness, and inconsistency issues.
There is substantial and largely unexplained heterogeneity in the proportion of false-negative RT-PCR results. The collected evidence has several limitations, including risk of bias issues, high heterogeneity, and concerns about its applicability. Nonetheless, our findings reinforce the need for repeated testing in patients with suspicion of SARS-Cov-2 infection given that up to 54% of COVID-19 patients may have an initial false-negative RT-PCR (very low certainty of evidence).
Protocol available on the OSF website: https://tinyurl.com/vvbgqya.
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Microtubules are important cellular targets for anticancer therapy because of their key role in mitosis. Microtubule inhibitors
(MTI) such as taxanes, vinca alkaloids, and epothilones stabilize or ...destabilize microtubules, thereby suppressing microtubule
dynamics required for proper mitotic function, effectively blocking cell cycle progression and resulting in apoptosis. In
spite of their antitumor activity, innate or acquired drug resistance to MTIs such as the taxanes is common, limiting their
overall clinical efficacy. Further insight into the mechanisms of action of microtubule-targeting drugs has lead to the discovery
of novel agents that may provide higher efficacy with limited toxicity and help overcome resistance to conventional MTIs.
This review will focus on the different mechanisms of action of MTIs, potential factors related to resistance and tolerability,
and will discuss the recent approval as well as the development of new antineoplastic agents. Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(8):2086–95
Ice nucleation in the atmosphere influences cloud properties, altering precipitation and the radiative balance, ultimately regulating Earth’s climate. An accepted ice nucleation pathway, known as ...deposition nucleation, assumes a direct transition of water from the vapor to the ice phase, without an intermediate liquid phase. However, studies have shown that nucleation occurs through a liquid phase in porous particles with narrow cracks or surface imperfections where the condensation of liquid below water saturation can occur, questioning the validity of deposition nucleation. We show that deposition nucleation cannot explain the strongly enhanced ice nucleation efficiency of porous compared with nonporous particles at temperatures below −40 °C and the absence of ice nucleation below water saturation at −35 °C. Using classical nucleation theory (CNT) and molecular dynamics simulations (MDS), we show that a network of closely spaced pores is necessary to overcome the barrier for macroscopic ice-crystal growth from narrow cylindrical pores. In the absence of pores, CNT predicts that the nucleation barrier is insurmountable, consistent with the absence of ice formation in MDS. Our results confirm that pore condensation and freezing (PCF), i.e., a mechanism of ice formation that proceeds via liquid water condensation in pores, is a dominant pathway for atmospheric ice nucleation below water saturation. We conclude that the ice nucleation activity of particles in the cirrus regime is determined by the porosity and wettability of pores. PCF represents a mechanism by which porous particles like dust could impact cloud radiative forcing and, thus, the climate via ice cloud formation.
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Nowadays there is a continuously increasing worldwide concern for development of alternative water reuse technologies, mainly focused on agriculture and industry. In this context, Advanced Oxidation ...Processes (AOPs) are considered a highly competitive water treatment technology for the removal of those organic pollutants not treatable by conventional techniques due to their high chemical stability and/or low biodegradability. Although chemical oxidation for complete mineralization is usually expensive, its combination with a biological treatment is widely reported to reduce operating costs. This paper reviews recent research combining AOPs (as a pre-treatment or post-treatment stage) and bioremediation technologies for the decontamination of a wide range of synthetic and real industrial wastewater. Special emphasis is also placed on recent studies and large-scale combination schemes developed in Mediterranean countries for non-biodegradable wastewater treatment and reuse. The main conclusions arrived at from the overall assessment of the literature are that more work needs to be done on degradation kinetics and reactor modeling of the combined process, and also dynamics of the initial attack on primary contaminants and intermediate species generation. Furthermore, better economic models must be developed to estimate how the cost of this combined process varies with specific industrial wastewater characteristics, the overall decontamination efficiency and the relative cost of the AOP versus biological treatment.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The extragalactic background light (EBL) is of fundamental importance both for understanding the entire process of galaxy evolution and for γ-ray astronomy, but the overall spectrum of the EBL ...between 0.1 and 1000 μm has never been determined directly from galaxy spectral energy distribution (SED) observations over a wide redshift range. The evolving, overall spectrum of the EBL is derived here utilizing a novel method based on observations only. This is achieved from the observed evolution of the rest-frame K-band galaxy luminosity function up to redshift 4, combined with a determination of galaxy-SED-type fractions. These are based on fitting Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic Survey (SWIRE) templates to a multiwavelength sample of about 6000 galaxies in the redshift range from 0.2 to 1 from the All-wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS). The changing fractions of quiescent galaxies, star-forming galaxies, starburst galaxies and active galactic nucleus (AGN) galaxies in that redshift range are estimated, and two alternative extrapolations of SED types to higher redshifts are considered. This allows calculation of the evolution of the luminosity densities from the ultraviolet (UV) to the infrared (IR), the evolving star formation rate density of the Universe, the evolving contribution to the bolometric EBL from the different galaxy populations including AGN galaxies and the buildup of the EBL. Our EBL calculations are compared with those from a semi-analytic model, another observationally based model and observational data. The EBL uncertainties in our modelling based directly on the data are quantified, and their consequences for attenuation of very-high-energy γ-rays due to pair production on the EBL are discussed. It is concluded that the EBL is well constrained from the UV to the mid-IR, but independent efforts from IR and γ-ray astronomy are needed in order to reduce the uncertainties in the far-IR.
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Starch digestibility: past, present, and future Bello‐Perez, Luis A; Flores‐Silva, Pamela C; Agama‐Acevedo, Edith ...
Journal of the science of food and agriculture,
November 2020, Volume:
100, Issue:
14
Journal Article
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a pulmonary vasculopathy that causes right ventricular dysfunction and exercise limitation and progresses to death. New findings from translational studies ...have suggested alternative pathways for treatment. These avenues include sex hormones, genetic abnormalities and DNA damage, elastase inhibition, metabolic dysfunction, cellular therapies, and anti-inflammatory approaches. Both novel and repurposed compounds with rationale from preclinical experimental models and human cells are now in clinical trials in patients with PAH. Findings from these studies will elucidate the pathobiology of PAH and may result in clinically important improvements in outcome.
The corticospinal tract is an important target for motor recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) in animals and humans 1–5. Voluntary motor output depends on the efficacy of synapses between ...corticospinal axons and spinal motoneurons, which can be modulated by the precise timing of neuronal spikes 6–8. Using noninvasive techniques, we developed tailored protocols for precise timing of the arrival of descending and peripheral volleys at corticospinal-motoneuronal synapses of an intrinsic finger muscle in humans with chronic incomplete SCI. We found that arrival of presynaptic volleys prior to motoneuron discharge enhanced corticospinal transmission and hand voluntary motor output. The reverse order of volley arrival and sham stimulation did not affect or decreased voluntary motor output and electrophysiological outcomes. These findings are the first demonstration that spike timing-dependent plasticity of residual corticospinal-motoneuronal synapses provides a mechanism to improve motor function after SCI. Modulation of residual corticospinal-motoneuronal synapses may present a novel therapeutic target for enhancing voluntary motor output in motor disorders affecting the corticospinal tract.
► Spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) of corticospinal synapses ► STDP of corticospinal synapses enhances motor function after spinal cord injury ► Novel target for improving voluntary motor output in motor disorders
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The teleconnection from the Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO) provides a source of subseasonal variability and predictability to the North Atlantic‐European (NAE) region. The El Niño‐Southern ...Oscillation (ENSO) modulates the seasonal mean state, through which the MJO and its teleconnection pattern propagates; however, its impact on this teleconnection to the NAE region has not been investigated. Here we find a robust dependence of the teleconnections from the MJO to NAE weather regimes on the phase of ENSO. We show that the MJO to NAO+ regime tropospheric teleconnection is strongly enhanced during El Niño years, via enhanced Rossby wave activity, and suppressed during La Niña. Conversely, the MJO to NAO− regime stratospheric teleconnection is enhanced during La Niña years and suppressed during El Niño. This dependence on the background state has strong implications for subseasonal predictability, including interannual variations in subseasonal predictive skill.
Plain Language Summary
The Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO) is the dominant source of differing weather conditions in the tropics on timescales within a season. The remote linkage (teleconnection) from the MJO to the North Atlantic‐European (NAE) region provides a source to modify or persist weather conditions and add predictive power to weather forecasts on 10‐ to 30‐day timescales. The El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has an influence on the seasonal climate state, through which the waves and linkages from the MJO to the NAE region travel. Here we find a robust dependence of these teleconnections from the MJO to NAE weather regime patterns on the ENSO state, such that under certain states of the MJO, certain regimes occur more than twice as often. The different sources and pathways also become clearer, with the teleconnections travelling via the troposphere and the stratosphere. This dependence on ENSO state has significant implications for predictions on 10‐ to 30‐day timescales.
Key Points
There is a robust dependence of the teleconnections from the MJO to North Atlantic‐European weather regimes on the phase of ENSO
The MJO to NAO+ regime teleconnection via the troposphere is strongly enhanced during El Niño years, and suppressed during La Niña
The MJO to NAO− regime teleconnection via the stratosphere is enhanced during La Niña years, and suppressed during El Niño
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Zn batteries potentially offer the highest energy density among aqueous batteries that are inherently safe, inexpensive, and sustainable. However, most cathode materials in Zn batteries suffer from ...capacity fading, particularly at a low current rate. Herein, it is shown that the ZnCl2 “water‐in‐salt” electrolyte (WiSE) addresses this capacity fading problem to a large extent by facilitating unprecedented performance of a Zn battery cathode of Ca0.20V2O5∙0.80H2O. Upon increasing the concentration of aqueous ZnCl2 electrolytes from 1 m to 30 m, the capacity of Ca0.20V2O5∙0.80H2O rises from 296 mAh g−1 to 496 mAh g−1; its absolute working potential increases by 0.4 V, and most importantly, at a low current rate of 50 mA g−1, that is, C/10; its capacity retention increases from 8.4% to 51.1% over 100 cycles. Ex situ characterization results point to the formation of a new ready‐to‐dissolve phase on the electrode in the dilute electrolyte. The results demonstrate that the Zn‐based WiSE may provide the underpinning platform for the applications of Zn batteries for stationary grid‐level storage.
When ZnCl2's concentration increases from 1 m to 30 m in the aqueous electrolyte, the capacity of Ca0.20V2O5∙0.80H2O cathode increases from 296 to 496 mAh g−1, and the capacity retention is enhanced from 8.4% to 51.1% over 100 cycles at 50 mA g−1 (C/10).
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