Comparison of capillary blood and plasma samples for the evaluation of seroprevalence to SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by lateral flow immunoassay in a university population in Medellín, Colombia, 2020.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test in a university population. Capillary blood and plasma samples were compared and correlated with symptomatology to establish rapid treatment processes and develop a public health strategy within the community. Study design: Descriptive study of seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a university population. Methods: Standardised and validated laboratory serological tests were used to assess the immune response detected in capillary blood and plasma samples. In this study, 280 participants from the University Colegio Mayor de Antioquia in the Municipality of Medellín, Colombia, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in capillary blood and plasma samples between November 2020 and January 2021. Results: In total, 29 (11.2%) individuals had positive results for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG/IgM); 28 (96.6%) had positive results in plasma samples and 11 (37.9%) in capillary blood samples. The two tests were compared, and the overall sensitivity and specificity of capillary vs plasma samples was 36.7% and 99.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG/IgM) can be used to estimate the seroprevalence in populations, including immunity by vaccination; however, capillary blood samples should not be used to detect previous infection as they provide low sensitivity compared to plasma samples.

PolyX2: Fast Detection of Homorepeats in Large Protein Datasets.

Homorepeat sequences, consecutive runs of identical amino acids, are prevalent in eukaryotic proteins. It has become necessary to annotate and evaluate this feature in entire proteomes. The definition of what constitutes a homorepeat is not fixed, and different research approaches may require different definitions; therefore, flexible approaches to analyze homorepeats in complete proteomes are needed. Here, we present polyX2, a fast, simple but tunable script to scan protein datasets for all possible homorepeats. The user can modify the length of the window to scan, the minimum number of identical residues that must be found in the window, and the types of homorepeats to be found.

Kinetoplastid cell biology and genetics, from the 2020 British Society for Parasitology Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis symposium, Granada, Spain.

The British Society for Parasitology (BSP) holds a biannual symposium devoted to the kinetoplastids, and seeks to cover the full gamut of research into these important organisms, and alternates with the Woods Hole Kinetoplastid Molecular Cell Biology meeting that serves a similar community. While normally embedded within the main BSP Spring meeting, on several occasions the symposium has enjoyed the opportunity of being hosted on mainland Europe. In 2020, the BSP was fortunate to spend some time in Granada in Spain, where a superb meeting with excellent science in a spectacular setting was overshadowed by news of an emerging novel coronavirus. In this editorial, we hope to have captured some of that excellent science and to highlight aspects of the many great papers and reviews in this special issue, as well as provide a few images from the meeting, which we hope for this who attended will bring back some fond memories.

CoVid Key Figures and New Challenges in the HoReCa Sector: The Way towards a New Supply-Chain

The profound impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global tourism activity and the hospitality industry has rendered statistical approaches on tourism-demand forecasting obsolete. Furthermore, literature review shows the absence of studies on the supply chain in the HoReCa (hotel, restaurant, catering) sector from a sustainability perspective that also addresses economic and social aspects, and not only environmental ones. In this context, the objective of this article is to carry out a prospective analysis on how the changes in the behaviour of consumers during the pandemic and the uncertainties regarding the exit from the health emergency can give rise to social trends with a high impact on the HoReCa sector in the coming years and, specifically, how they will affect the HoReCa supply chain. In the absence of investigations due to the proximity of what has happened, public sources and reports of international relevance have been identified and analysed from the future studies and strategic and competitive intelligence disciplines. The HoReCa sector in Spain has been chosen as field of observation. This analysis draws the future of the HoReCa sector, describes the changes in customer behaviour regarding food and beverages, explains the changes in distribution chains, and reflects on the impact of potential scenarios on the sector. The confluence of all these changes and trends can even configure a new supply chain in the hospitality sector with the emergence of new actors and the increase of access routes to a new final customer for whom security prevails in all its dimensions: physical, emotional, economic, and digital.