Application of Octenidine into Nasal Vestibules Does Not Influence SARS-CoV-2 Detection via PCR or Antigen Test Methods.

The targeted or universal decolonization of patients through octenidine for nasal treatment and antiseptic body wash for 3 to 5 days prior elective surgery has been implemented in several surgical disciplines in order to significantly reduce surgical site infections (SSIs) caused by carriage. However, as most healthcare facilities also screen patients on admission for pilot infection, it is imperative that a prophylactic nasal decolonization procedure not yield a false negative SARS-CoV-2 status in otherwise positive patients. We assessed the effect of a commercially available octenidine-containing nasal gel on two different screening methods-antigen (Ag) detection based on colloidal gold immunochromatography and RT-PCR-in a prospective-type accuracy pilot study in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive inpatients.

Genetically encoded barcodes for correlative volume electron microscopy.

While genetically encoded reporters are common for fluorescence microscopy, equivalent multiplexable gene reporters for electron microscopy (EM) are still scarce. Here, by installing a variable number of fixation-stable metal-interacting moieties in the lumen of encapsulin nanocompartments of different sizes, we developed a suite of spherically symmetric and concentric barcodes (EMcapsulins) that are readable by standard EM techniques. Six classes of EMcapsulins could be automatically segmented and differentiated.

Genetically Encoded Self-Assembling Iron Oxide Nanoparticles as a Possible Platform for Cancer-Cell Tracking.

The study of growth and possible metastasis in animal models of tumors would benefit from reliable cell labels for noninvasive whole-organism imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging. Genetically encoded cell-tracking reporters have the advantage that they are contrast-selective for viable cells with intact protein expression machinery. Besides, these reporters do not suffer from dilution during cell division.

[Medical child protection during the coronavirus lockdown].

Background: There are indications that during the lockdown and the measures of social distancing due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, physical and sexual child abuse and neglect may have increased. Additionally, decreased social control may have led to a lower detection rate of child protection cases.

Objective: This study aimed to better understand the impact of the lockdown in Germany on the frequency and severity of child abuse and neglect.