Perspective on Aggregation-induced Emission (AIE) Materials for Pathogen Detection

The rapid and accurate identification of pathogens plays a crucial role in clinical practice, which helps to prevent, control, and treat pathogenic infections at the initial stage. The current available technologies for pathogen detection appear to be inadequate in dealing with cases such as COVID-19. More importantly, the frequent emergence of drug-resistant bacteria is gradually rendering the existing therapeutic options ineffective. Efforts are urgently required to focus on the development of diagnostic systems for point-of-care (POC) detection and high-throughput pathogen identification. Since 2001, a new class of aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) with good photostability, high sensitiv-ity, and improved signal-to-noise ratio has emerged as powerful fluorescent tools for various biosensing and cell imaging. Based on the unique fluorescence of AIEgens that becomes stronger upon aggregation, naked-eye detection in turn-on mode has gained a speedy development. A timely overview can not only provide a summary of the advances and challenges of AIEgens in pathogen detection but also offer sys-tematic ideas for future developments. There are also expectations for in-depth interdisciplinary research in the field of analytical chemistry and microbiology. © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.

The PPE spotter role: Supporting best practice in acute and long-term care

Healthcare workers are at high risk of contracting infections including COVID-19 due to close and frequent contact with patients. To promote appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and to enhance protection of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, we trained a team of registered nurses to serve as "PPE Spotters”. This team offered in-person observation, support, feedback, and on-the-spot teaching about proper PPE use and hand hygiene practices. Evaluation showed staff and leaders felt the Spotters effectively promoted best practices for PPE and hand hygiene, and 86% recommended the program continue. PPE Spotters now serve a formal role in the organization, supporting both acute and long-term care.

D-Bot: A Food Serving Robot During Pandemic Situation

In this paper, an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) that delivers food to patients in hospitals during COVID-19 pandemic situation was proposed. AMRs are one of the tools that can minimize direct physical contact between healthcare worker and patients to prevent infection. As some of the hospital logistic tasks are handled by the AMRs, more manpower can be distributed to more important tasks. This is a capstone project developed by a group of students from the Faculty of Engineering, at UCSI University. The project was completed with a concept design, a virtual prototype, and computer simulation of the robot. © 2021 IEEE.

RAPID DETECTION OF NOVEL CORONAVIRUS SARS-COV-2 BY SOLID-STATE NANOPORE

The COVID-19 pandemic spreads rapidly and globally. To quell the pandemic propagation, rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 is urgently needed. Here, we present a nanopore coupled RT-LAMP method for SARSCoV-2 detection. After comparing all information from the nanopore experiment, we develop a method to use the event rate change of the amplicons translocation event to measure the amplification. As a result, our platform can distinguish positive from negative samples in 15 min with around 65 copies/reaction limit of detection and 100% specificity. We believe that the nanopore coupled RT-LAMP platform would provide a sensitive and specific detection for SARS-COV-2. © 2021 MicroTAS 2021 - 25th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences. All rights reserved.

Sequence-Specific Recognition of SARS COV-2 with Solid-State CRISPR-Cas12a-Assisted Nanopores (SCAN)

The current outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 caused the COVID-19 disease to spread rapidly globally. Specific and sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 is needed to prevent the disease from spread. Here, we present a solid-state CRISPR-Cas12a-assisted nanopores (SCAN) system to detect SARS-CoV-2. We introduced a new scheme using current drops and dwell times of ssDNA reporter translocation events to estimate the cleavage activity. We validated this scheme by a statistical model approximating the reporter length distribution over the cleavage reaction. We believe that the SCAN would provide a sensitive and specific detection method for SARS-COV-2. © 2021 MicroTAS 2021 - 25th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences. All rights reserved.

Research progress on antiviral mechanism of artemisinin and its derivatives

Artemisinin, extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine Artemisia annua Linn., has a powerful antimalarial effect. With further research, artemisinin and its derivatives have been found to have antiviral effects against a variety of viruses from different viral families, including Herpesviridae, Flaviridae, and Coronaviraceae, and can inhibit virus-induced inflammatory responses. The possible antiviral mechanisms include alkylation of DNA binding domain of NF-κB P65 subunit, inhibition of plasmidic nuclear transport of NF-κB p65, production of reactive oxygen species or activation of carbon center free radicals to regulate host Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway to inhibit viral replication. The inflammatory response was alleviated by inhibiting the activation of NF-κB and ERK pathways induced by the virus. This paper reviews the possible antiviral mechanism of artemisinin and its derivatives to provide reference for artemisinin to fight new viruses and promote new use of old drugs. © 2022 by the authors.

High resolution CT findings and clinical features of the novel coronavirus B.1.617.2 variant

Objective: To investigate high resolution CT (HRCT) manifestations and clinical features of patients infected with the novel coronavirus B.1.617.2 variant. Methods: A total of 125 patients with the novel coronavirus B.1.617.2 variant in Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital from May 21 to June 9, 2021 was enrolled. There were 52 males and 73 females, aged from 1 to 92 years old with a median age of 47 year. The clinical features and HRCT characteristics were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Of the 125 patients, the main clinical manifestations were fever in 54 patients, cough in 50 patients, pharyngeal discomfort in 39 patients, and diarrhea in 5 patients. HRCT showed pneumonia in 96 cases, which predominantly had ground-glass opacities in 92 cases, ground-glass opacities combined with local consolidation in 22 cases, consolidation in 11 cases, intralobular interstitial thickening in 51 cases, centrilobular structural thickening in 23 cases, and cord-like lesions in 33 cases. One patient had pleural effusion, and no enlarged lymph nodes were observed in all patients. The lesions were distributed in the subpleural and/or peripheral lung in 96 cases and along the bronchovascular bundle (middle and inner zone) in 24 cases. The time interval from onset to positive HRCT was 3 (1, 4) days in 96 patients with pneumonia on HRCT. HRCT showed absorption after the imaging findings reaching the peak in 20 patients, and the time interval between the first positive HRCT findings and the peak imaging was 6 (3, 7) days in these 20 patients. Conclusions: The novel coronavirus B.1.617.2 variant has a strong infectivity, short viral latency. Lung injury is decreaseel. People of all ages are susceptible and the diseasemay have rapid pnegression. HRCT mainly shows ground glass opacities, which are more common in subpleural and/or in the lung periphery, with interlobular thickening.