An overview of influenza A virus detection methods: from state-of-the-art of laboratories to point-of-care strategies.

Influenza A virus (IAV), a common respiratory infectious pathogen, poses a significant risk to personal health and public health safety due to rapid mutation and wide host range. To better prevent and treat IAV, comprehensive measures are needed for early and rapid screening and detection of IAV. Although traditional laboratory-based techniques are accurate, they are often time-consuming and not always feasible in emergency or resource-limited areas. In contrast, emerging point-of-care strategies provide faster results but may compromise sensitivity and specificity. Here, this review critically evaluates various detection methods for IAV from established laboratory-based procedures to innovative rapid diagnosis. By analyzing the recent research progress, we aim to address significant gaps in understanding the effectiveness, practicality, and applicability of these methods in different scenarios, which could provide information for healthcare strategies, guide public health response measures, and ultimately strengthen patient care in the face of the ongoing threat of IAV. Through a detailed comparison of diagnostic models, this review can provide a reliable reference for rapid, accurate and efficient detection of IAV, and to contribute to the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control of IAV.

Strengthening the US Public Health Lab System: Summary of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) After Action Review Workshop.

CONTEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the significance of public health laboratories across the United States, while also revealing weaknesses in the laboratory system. OBJECTIVE: To identify actionable recommendations for building a more resilient public health laboratory system based on previously published lessons learned from COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In April 2023, the Association of Public Health Laboratories, in cooperation with RAND , convened a 1.5-day after action review workshop of approximately 30 public health laboratory stakeholders to reevaluate priorities, improve processes, and affect policies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Analysis of workshop discussions identified 5 priority areas and 19 recommendations related to clarifying laboratories' unique role and promoting workforce capacity/agility, technology, and collaboration with governmental and nongovernmental partners. RESULTS: Within the identified priority areas, workshop participants described how the recommendations would address challenges encountered during COVID-19 and contribute to strengthening the system. CONCLUSIONS: As the risk of novel infectious diseases persists and grows, the importance of maintaining laboratory response capabilities is likely to increase. Addressing the system's weaknesses will require active engagement of laboratories and the many stakeholders who depend on them, along with consistent, adequate funding to strengthen and sustain capabilities.

Handheld methanol detector for beverage analysis: interlaboratory validation.

Methanol is a toxic alcohol contained in alcoholic beverages as a natural byproduct of fermentation or added intentionally to counterfeits to increase profit. To ensure consumer safety, many countries and the EU have established strict legislation limits for methanol content. Methanol concentration is mostly detected by laboratory instrumentation since mobile devices for routine on-site testing of beverages in distilleries, at border stations or even at home are not available. Here, we validated a handheld methanol detector for beverage analysis in an ISO 5725 interlaboratory trial: a total of 119 measurements were performed by 17 independent participants (distilleries, universities, authorities, and competence centers) from six countries on samples with relevant methanol concentrations (0.1, 1.5 vol%). The detector was based on a microporous separation filter and a nanostructured gas sensor allowing on-site measurement of methanol down to 0.01 vol% (in the liquid) within only 2 min by laymen. The detector showed excellent repeatability (<5.4%), reproducibility (<9.5%) and small bias (<0.012 vol%). Additional measurements on various methanol-spiked alcoholic beverages (whisky, rum, gin, vodka, tequila, port, sherry, liqueur) indicated that the detector is not interfered by environmental temperature and spirit composition, featuring excellent linearity (R2 > 0.99) down to methanol concentrations of 0.01 vol%. This device has been recently commercialized (Alivion Spark M-20) with comparable accuracy to the gold-standard gas chromatography and can be readily applied for final product inspection, intake control of raw materials or to identify toxic counterfeit products.

Plans for U.S. bat lab spark outbreak fears.

Colorado team presses on amid opposition, loss of EcoHealth Alliance partnership.

Seized drug reporting of NPS helps to guide regional toxicological practice: A 17 month review between 2022 and 2023.

Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are everchanging and plague forensic laboratories who must identify an unending variety of emerging substances and evolve current methodologies to detect these substances. Identifying potential regional NPS targets and timely examining trends in seized drug data could help mitigate the burden laboratories face. Over 17 months, NPS seized drug data were processed and categorized from three laboratories located across the United States to determine any NPS regional similarities and prevalent NPS drug categories: the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center (SCRFSC), and the Orange County Crime Laboratory (OCCL). Seized drug materials, including pills, powders, and plant material, were primarily analyzed for NPS via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. From June 2022 to October 2023, 1940 NPS seized drug identifications were reported by these laboratories with 63 different NPS reported. Novel synthetic opioids (NSO) were the most prevalent NPS class across all three laboratories (55%), with fluorofentanyl accounting for 74% of NSO identifications. This is unsurprising given the fentanyl epidemic in the United States. Furthermore, these data highlighted varying regional NPS seized drug trends: eutylone, a synthetic cathinone, was one of the most frequently identified NPS in SLED, SCRFSC observed the most diverse set of synthetic cannabinoids, and OCCL observed an increased prevalence in the designer benzodiazepine, bromazolam. NPS scope recommendations are a valuable resource for forensic laboratories; however, most focus on a national perspective. Timely analysis and reporting of NPS seized drug data may help to develop regional NPS scope recommendations laboratories may employ.

Extending the discussion on inconsistency in forensic decisions and results.

The subject of inter- and intra-laboratory inconsistency was recently raised in a commentary by Itiel Dror. We re-visit an inter-laboratory trial, with which some of the authors of this current discussion were associated, to diagnose the causes of any differences in the likelihood ratios (LRs) assigned using probabilistic genotyping software. Some of the variation was due to different decisions that would be made on a case-by-case basis, some due to laboratory policy and would hence differ between laboratories, and the final and smallest part was the run-to-run difference caused by the Monte Carlo aspect of the software used. However, the net variation in LRs was considerable. We believe that most laboratories will self-diagnose the cause of their difference from the majority answer and in some, but not all instances will take corrective action. An inter-laboratory exercise consisting of raw data files for relatively straightforward mixtures, such as two mixtures of three or four persons, would allow laboratories to calibrate their procedures and findings.

Connecting lab, clinic, and community.

Despite great progress in biomedical research, the health of the US population appears to be getting worse. The United States spends substantially more per capita on health care than other wealthy countries, yet US life expectancy ranks low among its peers. Mortality rates have been increasing for segments of the US population, including those in rural areas, certain racial and ethnic groups, and individuals with low socioeconomic status. A whole-of-society approach is required to address such negative trends and disparities, and the biomedical research enterprise must play a key role.

Mobile Monkeys and Modified Microbes: Medical Experimentation between Metropolitan and Colonial Laboratories, 1880-ca. 1925.

Following the medical breakthroughs of Pasteur and Koch after 1880, the use of simians became pivotal to laboratory research to develop vaccines and cultivate microbes through the technique of serial passage. These innovations fueled research on multiple diseases and unleashed a demand for simians, which died easily in captivity. European and American colonial expansion facilitated a burgeoning market for laboratory animals that intensified hunting for live animals. This demand created novel opportunities for disease transfers and viral recombinations as simians of different species were confined in precarious settings. As laboratories moved into the colonies for research into a variety of diseases, notably syphilis, sleeping sickness, and malaria, the simian market was intensified. While researchers expected that colonial laboratories offered more natural environments than their metropolitan affiliates, amassing apes, people, microbes, and insects at close quarters instead created unnatural conditions that may have facilitated the spread of undetectable diseases.

External constraints that led to physiology lab improvements.

The modifications were in response to changing constraints, including time, money, space, student background, and my knowledge and comfort. The lab went from emphasizing experiments with the attendant troubleshooting and data analysis skills to a lab focused more on giving prehealth professional students the motivation to learn physiology problem-solving skills by providing real cases. In the lab, students watched and listened to a random student try to use these problem-solving skills to solve the problem. This made them appreciate how much others also struggle in solving the problem. Some students with imposter syndrome think their classmates immediately know how to solve a problem, and therefore, seeing others also struggle has the potential to reduce imposter syndrome. Rather than having the students do experiments, they did kinesthetic activities with mechanical models to generate data without biological variation. They then graphed their data, thus improving their ability to actually read graphs rather than memorize patterns.NEW & NOTEWORTHY I learned to explicitly recognize the current and projected constraints of instructor comfort, money, space, student background (poor graph reading and problem-solving skills), student safety, and time and energy on the possible goals and methods to attain them for an undergraduate physiology lab. I cannot decide if changing constraints allowed me to reexamine my goals or whether it forced me to reexamine my goals. In either case, the reexamination of my goals (and their priorities), within the context of the constraints, allowed me to redesign the labs to better meet my new goals within this new context.

The role of veterinary diagnostic laboratories during COVID-19 response in the United States.

Robust testing capacity was necessary for public health agencies to respond to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. As the nation faced the need for robust testing capacity, it became necessary to use all possible resources. In many cases, veterinary diagnostic laboratories rose to meet this demand because these facilities routinely perform high throughput diagnostic testing of large animal populations and are typically familiar with pathogens of high pandemic concern. In this study, we evaluated the impact of veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the United States on SARS-CoV-2 testing. Results of surveys, semi-structured interviews, and analysis of publicly available information showed that veterinary diagnostic laboratories had a substantial impact on human health through population-level testing in the COVID-19 response, supporting timely and informed public health interventions. This success was not without significant hurdles, as many participating veterinary diagnostic laboratories experienced restriction in their response due to difficulties obtaining the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certification required to conduct human diagnostic testing. Our results point out the importance of reducing hurdles before the next major public health emergency to enhance access to testing resources overall and to ultimately improve population health.

Creation of an international laboratory network towards global microplastics monitoring harmonisation.

Infrastructure is often a limiting factor in microplastics research impacting the production of scientific outputs and monitoring data. International projects are therefore required to promote collaboration and development of national and regional scientific hubs. The Commonwealth Litter Programme and the Ocean Country Partnership Programme were developed to support Global South countries to take actions on plastics entering the oceans. An international laboratory network was developed to provide the infrastructure and in country capacity to conduct the collection and processing of microplastics in environmental samples. The laboratory network was also extended to include a network developed by the University of East Anglia, UK. All the laboratories were provided with similar equipment for the collection, processing and analysis of microplastics in environmental samples. Harmonised protocols and training were also provided in country during laboratory setup to ensure comparability of quality-controlled outputs between laboratories. Such large networks are needed to produce comparable baseline and monitoring assessments.

A 3-D interactive microbiology laboratory via virtual reality for enhancing practical skills.

Virtual Reality (VR) laboratories are a new pedagogical approach to support psychomotor skills development in undergraduate programmes to achieve practical competency. VR laboratories are successfully used to carry out virtual experiments in science courses and for clinical skills training in professional courses. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a VR-based microbiology laboratory on Head-Mounted Display (HMD) for undergraduate students. Student and faculty perceptions and expectations were collected to incorporate into the laboratory design. An interactive 3-dimensional VR laboratory with a 360° view was developed simulating our physical laboratory setup. The laboratory environment was created using Unity with the (created) necessary assets and 3D models. The virtual laboratory was designed to replicate the physical laboratory environment as suggested by the students and faculty. In this VR laboratory, six microbiology experiments on Gram staining, bacterial streaking, bacterial motility, catalase test, oxidase test and biochemical tests were placed on the virtual platform. First-year biomedical science students were recruited to evaluate the VR laboratory. Students' perception of the virtual laboratory was positive and encouraging. About 70% of the students expressed they felt safe using the VR laboratory and that it was engaging. They felt that the VR laboratory provided an immersive learning experience. They appreciated that they could repeat each experiment multiple times without worrying about mistakes or mishaps. They could personalise their learning by concentrating on the specific experiments. Our in-house VR-based microbiology laboratory was later extended to other health professions programmes teaching microbiology.

International assessment results on non-NIOSH approved respirators by the national personal protective technology laboratory (NPPTL): a data note.

OBJECTIVES: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortage of the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH)-approved N95 respirators, the Food and Drug Administration granted an Emergency Use Authorization to allow the use of non-NIOSH approved respirators provided that these respirators must undergo tests by a protocol of TEB-APR-STP-0059, similar methods of NIOSH standard testing procedure. This initiative safeguards the quality of respirators and the effectiveness of occupational protection. The dataset of all the testing results could benefit further analysis of COVID-19 infection rates in relation to different types of N95 respirators used and identify potential correlations of various test parameters in the testing system for validation. The analysis enhances understanding of the quality, effectiveness, and performance of N95 respirators in the prevention of respiratory infectious transmission and develops improved occupational safety measures. DATA DESCRIPTION: The dataset was transformed, transcribed, and compiled from the official testing data of non-NIOSH-approved N95 respirators reported in the NIOSH website under the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. The dataset included details of 7,413 testing results of N95 respirators (manufacturer, model, and maximum and minimum filtration efficiency) and test parameters (flow rate, initial filter resistance, and initial percent leakage). Supplementary items were added to increase the availability of data analysis and enhance the interpretability of the assessments of the quality of N95 respirators.

Spatial distribution of bioaerosols and evaluation of four ventilation method on controlling their diffusion in a typical enhanced biosafety level 2 laboratory.

Biosafety laboratories are critical in many fields. However, experimenters associated the infection risk from biological aerosols. In this study, by conducting experiments on the release and collection of bioaerosols within a typical BSL-2 + laboratory, the spatial distribution of bioaerosols was tracked. Numerical calculations were employed to obtain and visualize the airflow patterns and aerosol dispersion paths of four ventilation methods. The results indicated that equipment and tables led to uneven airflow distribution within the laboratory. The comparison results of the four evaluation indicators showed that the air age distribution of UU (Upward supply and upward return) mode and CD (Cross-supply and downward return) mode was superior, with air change efficiency values of 0.595 and 0.603, respectively. Additionally, the contaminant removal index of CD mode was 1.48, significantly higher than the other ventilation methods. The statistical results of the contaminant dispersion index also indicated that CD mode was most conducive to diluting aerosols in the spatial environment. The LD (lateral supply and downward return) mode may lead to airflow short-circuiting. The UD (upward supply and downward return) mode can provide balanced protection for laboratory. Overall, CD mode performed the best among the four ventilation methods, followed by UU mode.