Antivirals in medical biodefense.

The viruses historically implicated or currently considered as candidates for misuse in bioterrorist events are poxviruses, filoviruses, bunyaviruses, orthomyxoviruses, paramyxoviruses and a number of arboviruses causing encephalitis, including alpha- and flaviviruses. All these viruses are of concern for public health services when they occur in natural outbreaks or emerge in unvaccinated populations. Recent events and intelligence reports point to a growing risk of dangerous biological agents being used for nefarious purposes. Public health responses effective in natural outbreaks of infectious disease may not be sufficient to deal with the severe consequences of a deliberate release of such agents. One important aspect of countermeasures against viral biothreat agents are the antiviral treatment options available for use in post-exposure prophylaxis. These issues were adressed by the organizers of the 16th Medical Biodefense Conference, held in Munich in 2018, in a special session on the development of drugs to treat infections with viruses currently perceived as a threat to societies or associated with a potential for misuse as biothreat agents. This review will outline the state-of-the-art methods in antivirals research discussed and provide an overview of antiviral compounds in the pipeline that are already approved for use or still under development.

Derivatives of displacement obtained by direct manipulation of phase-shifted interferograms.

The maps of phase derivatives are extracted here by direct manipulation of phase-shifted interferograms. There are three main advantages: There is no need for prior phase evaluation or unwrapping procedures, and only a short processing time is needed. By digital integration of the derivatives the absolute phase map can also be retrieved without unwrapping procedures. A general description of the method is presented and discussed. For example, the proposed technique has been applied to the study of the deformation of a test object by the manipulation of four phase-shifted interferograms.

Artwork diagnostics with fiber-optic digital speckle pattern interferometry.

The possibility of employing a digital speckle pattern interferometer with optical fibers for nondestructive testing of artwork has been evaluated. A simple and accurate fiber-optic interferometer, able to perform real-time measurements in a hostile environment, has been realized with a minimum of optical components and a minimum of adjustments. As a result a deformation map of wooden panel paintings or mural frescoes under thermal stress may be depicted. Experimental results, obtained by the application of this interferometer both to laboratory models and to mural frescoes in situ, are presented.