In Johann Froben, Printer of Basel, Valentina Sebastiani presents a detailed account of Froben's life and career and offers the first comprehensive bibliography of the 329 Froben editions published ...in Basel between 1491 and 1527.
Objectives
Detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is key to the clinical and epidemiological assessment of CoVID‐19. We cross‐validated manual and automated ...high‐throughput testing for SARS‐CoV‐2‐RNA, evaluated SARS‐CoV‐2 loads in nasopharyngeal–oropharyngeal swabs (NOPS), lower respiratory fluids, and plasma, and analyzed detection rates after lockdown and relaxation measures.
Methods
Basel‐S‐gene, Roche‐E‐gene, and Roche‐cobas®6800‐Target1 and Target2 were prospectively validated in 1344 NOPS submitted during the first pandemic peak (Week 13). Follow‐up cohort (FUP) 1, 2, and 3 comprised 10,999, 10,147, and 19,389 NOPS submitted during a 10‐week period until Weeks 23, 33, and 43, respectively.
Results
Concordant results were obtained in 1308 cases (97%), including 97 (9%) SARS‐CoV‐2‐positives showing high quantitative correlations (Spearman's r > .95; p < .001) for all assays and high precision by Bland–Altman analysis. Discordant samples (N = 36, 3%) had significantly lower SARS‐CoV‐2 loads (p < .001). Following lockdown, detection rates declined to <1% in FUP‐1, reducing single‐test positive predictive values from 99.3% to 85.1%. Following relaxation, rates flared up to 4% and 12% in FUP‐2 and ‐3, but infected patients were younger than during lockdown (34 vs. 52 years, p < .001). In 261 patients providing 936 NOPS, SARS‐CoV‐2 loads declined by three orders of magnitude within 10 days postdiagnosis (p < .001). SARS‐CoV‐2 loads in NOPS correlated with those in time‐matched lower respiratory fluids or in plasma but remained detectable in some cases with negative follow‐up NOPS, respectively.
Conclusion
Manual and automated assays significantly correlated qualitatively and quantitatively. Following a successful lockdown, declining positive predictive values require independent dual‐target confirmation for reliable assessment. Confirmatory and quantitative follow‐up testing should be obtained within <5 days and consider lower respiratory fluids in symptomatic patients with SARS‐CoV‐2‐negative NOPS.
Highlights
SARS‐CoV‐2‐loads decline by 1000‐fold within 10 days post‐diagnosis.
Low prevalence settings require concordant dual‐target detection of SARS‐CoV‐2‐RNA.
SARS‐CoV‐2 confirmation and follow‐up testing be obtained in <5 days post‐diagnosis.
In symptomatic patients with SARS‐CoV‐2‐negative swabs, lower respiratory tract sampling be considered.
Full text
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
A stable financial system acts as a catalyst for the economic growth and development of a country. The healthy banking sector is the core of a sustainable economy as banks act as intermediaries ...between depositors and lenders of money. In the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial sector witnessed significant transitions in terms of digital transformation. In India, the banking sector has remained resilient throughout the pandemic due to government and regulators’ policy efforts and the maintenance of capital adequacy requirements. Banks have maintained higher capital buffers, better liquidity requirements, and lower leverage, cushions against pandemic shock. In the present paper, the researcher provides a conceptual elucidation of Basel norms, analyzes the component-wise Capital to Risk-Weighted Asset Ratio (CRAR) of Indian Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) and examines the CRAR position of SCBs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also evaluated the distribution of SCBs by CRAR and examined the capital ratios of public, private, and foreign sector banks from 2016 to 2022. The ANOVA analysis output revealed a significant difference in the CRAR of public, private, and foreign banks. The study concludes that adequate CAR levels help banks mitigate the risks that arise during pandemic crises and aid them in conducting their banking operations effortlessly. Further, it concludes that public sector banks (PSBs) still lag behind their counterparts in maintaining adequate CRAR, and hence, they need to reduce the accumulation of risk-weighted assets (RWA).
The Council of Basel (1431-1449) tried defending the faith and reforming the Church. In conflict with Pope Eugenius IV over supreme ecclesiastical power, it attempted his deposition. The ensuing ...struggle only ended when Basel closed under pressure from the princes.
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