Infection Rate and Risk Factors of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Retail Workers at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Quebec, Canada.

During the pandemic, client-facing workers were perceived to be at greater risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This study investigated the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among a cohort of 304 retail workers in the Quebec City metropolitan area. After providing consent, participants were interviewed to gather information on demographic, socioeconomic, behavioural, and occupational variables.

Longitudinal determination of seroprevalence and immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in a population of food and retail workers through decentralized testing and transformation of ELISA datasets.

Background: Since the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, numerous studies have been conducted worldwide to understand our immune response to the virus and to vaccination. This study investigates the humoral response elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection and by vaccination in the poorly studied population of food and retail workers. These occupations were classified as essential by the Public Health Agency of Canada, potentially placing this population at greater risk of infection.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Nanoendoscope for Quantification of a Protein Released under Physiological Stimulation in Brain Tissue.

A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensor with minimal invasiveness and high spatial resolution has been developed as a nanoendoscope to detect changes in protein concentrations at specific sites in biological tissues. While generally applicable to various tissues or proteins, the SERS nanoendoscope is demonstrated for the quantitative detection of S100β, an astrocytic protein whose plasmatic levels are known to vary in several neuropathologies such as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, Down syndrome, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy, but for which intratissular levels have not been locally monitored, demonstrating key attributes of the SERS nanoendoscope. The SERS nanoendoscope is fabricated with densely and well-dispersed deposited gold nanoparticles modified with anti-S100β primary antibody on pulled optical fibers with a tip diameter of 700 nm, conducive to noninvasive and regiospecific detection of the S100β protein in different regions of mouse brain slices under different physiological stimuli with micrometer resolution.

PNKP safeguards stalled replication forks from nuclease-dependent degradation during replication stress.

Uncontrolled degradation and collapse of stalled replication forks (RFs) are primary sources of genomic instability, yet the molecular mechanisms for protecting forks from degradation/collapse remain to be fully elaborated. Here, we show that polynucleotide kinase-phosphatase (PNKP) localizes at stalled forks and protects stalled forks from excessive degradation. The loss of PNKP results in nucleolytic degradation of nascent DNA at stalled RFs.

Mn and Zn-Doped Multivariate Metal-Organic Framework as a Metalloimmunological Adjuvant to Promote Protection Against Tuberculosis Infection.

A first-in-class vaccine adjuvant delivery system, Mn-ZIF, is developed by incorporating manganese (Mn) into the zinc-containing zeolitic-imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). The mixed metal approach, which allowed for tunable Mn doping, is made possible by including a mild reducing agent in the reaction mixture. This approach allows up to 50% Mn, with the remaining 50% Zn within the ZIF.