While the world awaits a widely available COVID-19 vaccine, availability of testing is limited in many regions and can be further compounded by shortages of reagents, prolonged processing time and ...delayed results. One approach to rapid testing is to leverage the volatile organic compound (VOC) signature of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Detection dogs, a biological sensor of VOCs, were utilized to investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 positive urine and saliva patient samples had a unique odor signature. The virus was inactivated in all training samples with either detergent or heat treatment. Using detergent-inactivated urine samples, dogs were initially trained to find samples collected from hospitalized patients confirmed with SARS-CoV-2 infection, while ignoring samples collected from controls. Dogs were then tested on their ability to spontaneously recognize heat-treated urine samples as well as heat-treated saliva from hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 positive patients. Dogs successfully discriminated between infected and uninfected urine samples, regardless of the inactivation protocol, as well as heat-treated saliva samples. Generalization to novel samples was limited, particularly after intensive training with a restricted sample set. A unique odor associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection present in human urine as well as saliva, provides impetus for the development of odor-based screening, either by electronic, chemical, or biological sensing methods. The use of dogs for screening in an operational setting will require training with a large number of novel SARS-CoV-2 positive and confirmed negative samples.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Defining the biogeography of bacterial populations in human body habitats is a high priority for understanding microbial-host relationships in health and disease. The healthy lung was traditionally ...considered sterile, but this notion has been challenged by emerging molecular approaches that enable comprehensive examination of microbial communities. However, studies of the lung are challenging due to difficulties in working with low biomass samples.
Our goal was to use molecular methods to define the bacterial microbiota present in the lungs of healthy individuals and assess its relationship to upper airway populations.
We sampled respiratory flora intensively at multiple sites in six healthy individuals. The upper tract was sampled by oral wash and oro-/nasopharyngeal swabs. Two bronchoscopes were used to collect samples up to the glottis, followed by serial bronchoalveolar lavage and lower airway protected brush. Bacterial abundance and composition were analyzed by 16S rDNA Q-PCR and deep sequencing.
Bacterial communities from the lung displayed composition indistinguishable from the upper airways, but were 2 to 4 logs lower in biomass. Lung-specific sequences were rare and not shared among individuals. There was no unique lung microbiome.
In contrast to other organ systems, the respiratory tract harbors a homogenous microbiota that decreases in biomass from upper to lower tract. The healthy lung does not contain a consistent distinct microbiome, but instead contains low levels of bacterial sequences largely indistinguishable from upper respiratory flora. These findings establish baseline data for healthy subjects and sampling approaches for sequence-based analysis of diseases.
Electromechanical Resonators from Graphene Sheets Bunch, J. Scott; van der Zande, Arend M; Verbridge, Scott S ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
01/2007, Letnik:
315, Številka:
5811
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Nanoelectromechanical systems were fabricated from single- and multilayer graphene sheets by mechanically exfoliating thin sheets from graphite over trenches in silicon oxide. Vibrations with ...fundamental resonant frequencies in the megahertz range are actuated either optically or electrically and detected optically by interferometry. We demonstrate room-temperature charge sensitivities down to 8 x 10⁻⁴ electrons per root hertz. The thinnest resonator consists of a single suspended layer of atoms and represents the ultimate limit of two-dimensional nanoelectromechanical systems.
We report the label-free detection of single particles using photonic crystal nanobeam cavities fabricated in silicon-on-insulator platform, and embedded inside microfluidic channels fabricated in ...poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Our system operates in the telecommunication wavelength band, thus leveraging the widely available, robust and tunable telecom laser sources. Using this approach, we demonstrated the detection of polystyrene nanoparticles with dimensions down to 12.5nm in radius. Furthermore, binding events of a single streptavidin molecule have been observed.
Reconfigurable optical filters are of great importance for applications in optical communication and information processing. Of particular interest are tuning techniques that take advantage of ...mechanical deformation of the devices, as they offer wider tuning range. Here we demonstrate reconfiguration of coupled photonic crystal nanobeam cavities by using optical gradient force induced mechanical actuation. Propagating waveguide modes that exist over a wide wavelength range are used to actuate the structures and control the resonance of localized cavity modes. Using this all-optical approach, more than 18 linewidths of tuning range is demonstrated. Using an on-chip temperature self-referencing method, we determine that 20% of the total tuning was due to optomechanical reconfiguration and the rest due to thermo-optic effects. By operating the device at frequencies higher than the thermal cutoff, we show high-speed operation dominated by just optomechanical effects. Independent control of mechanical and optical resonances of our structures is also demonstrated.
We present dynamically reconfigurable photonic crystal nanobeam cavities, operating at ~1550 nm, that can be continuously and reversibly tuned over a 9.5 nm wavelength range. The devices are formed ...by two coupled nanobeam cavities, and the tuning is achieved by varying the lateral gap between the nanobeams. An electrostatic force, obtained by applying bias voltages directly to the nanobeams, is used to control the spacing between the nanobeams, which in turn results in tuning of the cavity resonance. The observed tuning trends were confirmed through simulations that modeled the electrostatic actuation as well as the optical resonances in our reconfigurable geometries.
VRC01 is an HIV-1 CD4 binding site broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) that is active against a broad range of HIV-1 primary isolates in vitro and protects against simian-human immunodeficiency ...virus (SHIV) when delivered parenterally to nonhuman primates. It has been shown to be safe and well tolerated after short-term administration in humans; however, its clinical and functional activity after longer-term administration has not been previously assessed.
HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) 104 was designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of multiple doses of VRC01 administered either subcutaneously or by intravenous (IV) infusion and to assess the pharmacokinetics and in vitro immunologic activity of the different dosing regimens. Additionally, this study aimed to assess the effect that the human body has on the functional activities of VRC01 as measured by several in vitro assays. Eighty-eight healthy, HIV-uninfected, low-risk participants were enrolled in 6 United States clinical research sites affiliated with the HVTN between September 9, 2014, and July 15, 2015. The median age of enrollees was 27 years (range, 18-50); 52% were White (non-Hispanic), 25% identified as Black (non-Hispanic), 11% were Hispanic, and 11% were non-Hispanic people of diverse origins. Participants were randomized to receive the following: a 40 mg/kg IV VRC01 loading dose followed by five 20 mg/kg IV VRC01 doses every 4 weeks (treatment group 1 T1, n = 20); eleven 5 mg/kg subcutaneous (SC) VRC01 (treatment group 3 T3, n = 20); placebo (placebo group 3 P3, n = 4) doses every 2 weeks; or three 40 mg/kg IV VRC01 doses every 8 weeks (treatment group 2 T2, n = 20). Treatment groups T4 and T5 (n = 12 each) received three 10 or 30 mg/kg IV VRC01 doses every 8 weeks, respectively. Participants were followed for 32 weeks after their first VRC01 administration and received a total of 249 IV infusions and 208 SC injections, with no serious adverse events, dose-limiting toxicities, nor evidence for anti-VRC01 antibodies observed. Serum VRC01 levels were detected through 12 weeks after final administration in all participants who received all scheduled doses. Mean peak serum VRC01 levels of 1,177 μg/ml (95% CI: 1,033, 1,340) and 420 μg/ml (95% CI: 356, 494) were achieved 1 hour after the IV infusion series of 30 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg doses, respectively. Mean trough levels at week 24 in the IV infusion series of 30 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg doses, respectively, were 16 μg/ml (95% CI: 10, 27) and 6 μg/ml (95% CI: 5, 9) levels, which neutralize a majority of circulating strains in vitro (50% inhibitory concentration IC50 > 5 μg/ml). Post-infusion/injection serum VRC01 retained expected functional activity (virus neutralization, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, phagocytosis, and virion capture). The limitations of this study include the relatively small sample size of each VRC01 administration regimen and missing data from participants who were unable to complete all study visits.
VRC01 administered as either an IV infusion (10-40 mg/kg) given monthly or bimonthly, or as an SC injection (5 mg/kg) every 2 weeks, was found to be safe and well tolerated. In addition to maintaining drug concentrations consistent with neutralization of the majority of tested HIV strains, VRC01 concentrations from participants' sera were found to avidly capture HIV virions and to mediate antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis, suggesting a range of anti-HIV immunological activities, warranting further clinical trials.
Clinical Trials Registration: NCT02165267.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The Surface Tension of Pure Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys Bainbridge, Ian Frank; Taylor, John Andrew
Metallurgical and materials transactions. A, Physical metallurgy and materials science,
08/2013, Letnik:
44, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The surface tension of high purity and commercial purity aluminum
in vacuo
was determined using the sessile drop method and the results were found to compare favorably with published data. The ...effects of holding atmosphere, substrate, and “surface fracture” of the sessile drop on the measured surface tension values were investigated together with the effects of different solute elements commonly present in commercial aluminum alloys. The results obtained suggest that the nature of the surface oxide film formed on the droplets (affected by alloy composition and atmosphere) and the rupture of this film are the dominant factors influencing the surface tension values obtained. Changes in surface tension values of up to 60 pct were observed. The possible effect of this variable surface tension on practical casting processes, such as direct chill casting, is suggested.
We demonstrate a reverse design method for realizing a broad range of optical filters based on integrated optical waveguides and experimentally verify example designs on a CMOS-compatible ...silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. The reflectance-based filters allow for control of both phase and amplitude of the optical response. Among this device's many potential applications we highlight and numerically demonstrate its use for ultrafast on-chip pulse shaping.
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