Detection of SARS-COV-2 variants and their proportions in wastewater samples using next-generation sequencing in Finland.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants may have different characteristics, e.g., in transmission, mortality, and the effectiveness of vaccines, indicating the importance of variant detection at the population level. Wastewater-based surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments has been shown to be an effective way to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic at the population level. Wastewater is a complex sample matrix affected by environmental factors and PCR inhibitors, causing insufficient coverage in sequencing, for example. Subsequently, results where part of the genome does not have sufficient coverage are not uncommon. To identify variants and their proportions in wastewater over time, we utilized next-generation sequencing with the ARTIC Network's primer set and bioinformatics pipeline to evaluate the presence of variants in partial genome data. Based on the wastewater data from November 2021 to February 2022, the Delta variant was dominant until mid-December in Helsinki, Finland's capital, and thereafter in late December 2022 Omicron became the most common variant. At the same time, the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 outcompeted the previous Delta variant in Finland in new COVID-19 cases. The SARS-CoV-2 variant findings from wastewater are in agreement with the variant information obtained from the patient samples when visually comparing trends in the sewerage network area. This indicates that the sequencing of wastewater is an effective way to monitor temporal and spatial trends of SARS-CoV-2 variants at the population level.

Biocomposite cellulose-alginate films: promising packaging materials.

Biocomposite films based on cellulose and alginate were produced using unmodified birch pulp, microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) and birch pulp derivate, nanofibrillated anionic dicarboxylic acid cellulose (DCC), having widths of fibres ranging from 19.0 µm to 25 nm as cellulose fibre materials. Ionically cross-linked biocomposites were produced using Ca(2+) cross-linking. Addition of micro- and nanocelluloses as a reinforcement increased the mechanical properties of the alginate films remarkably, e.g. addition of 15% of NFC increased a tensile strength of the film from 70.02 to 97.97 MPa. After ionic cross-linking, the tensile strength of the film containing 10% of DCC was increased from 69.63 to 125.31 MPa. The biocomposite films showed excellent grease barrier properties and reduced water vapour permeability (WVP) after the addition of cellulose fibres, except when unmodified birch pulp was used.

Strong, self-standing oxygen barrier films from nanocelluloses modified with regioselective oxidative treatments.

In this work, three self-standing nanocellulose films were produced from birch pulp using regioselective oxidation and further derivatization treatments. The modified celluloses were synthesized using periodate oxidation, followed by chlorite oxidation, bisulfite addition, or reductive amination with amino acid taurine, which resulted in dicarboxylic acid cellulose (DCC), α-hydroxy sulfonic acid cellulose (HSAC), and taurine-modified cellulose (TC), respectively. The nanocelluloses were fabricated by mechanical disintegration using high-pressure homogenization. Mechanical and barrier properties of the nanocellulose films were characterized. Two (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO) oxidation-based nanocellulose films were also produced, and their properties were compared to the periodate-based nanocellulose films. All of the periodate-based nanocellulose films showed high tensile strength (130-163 MPa) and modulus (19-22 GPa). Oxygen barrier properties of the films were superior to many synthetic and composite materials; in particular, the nanofibrillated DCC films had oxygen permeability as low as 0.12 cm(3) µm/(m(2) d kPa) at 50% relative humidity. Compared to films of TEMPO-oxidized nanocelluloses, all of the periodate-based nanocellulose films had similar or even better mechanical and barrier properties, demonstrating versatility of periodate oxidation to obtain nanocellulose films with adjustable properties. Also, for the first time, amino-acid-based cellulose modification was used in the production of nanocellulose.