Mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission at a large public university.

In Fall 2020, universities saw extensive transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among their populations, threatening health of the university and surrounding communities, and viability of in-person instruction. Here we report a case study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where a multimodal "SHIELD: Target, Test, and Tell" program, with other non-pharmaceutical interventions, was employed to keep classrooms and laboratories open. The program included epidemiological modeling and surveillance, fast/frequent testing using a novel low-cost and scalable saliva-based RT-qPCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 that bypasses RNA extraction, called covidSHIELD, and digital tools for communication and compliance.

Utterance Clustering Using Stereo Audio Channels.

Utterance clustering is one of the actively researched topics in audio signal processing and machine learning. This study aims to improve the performance of utterance clustering by processing multichannel (stereo) audio signals. Processed audio signals were generated by combining left- and right-channel audio signals in a few different ways and then by extracting the embedded features (also called -vectors) from those processed audio signals.

User Characteristics of a Low-Acuity Emergency Department Alternative for Low-Income Patients.

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) use for healthcare that can be treated elsewhere is costly to the healthcare system. However, convenience settings such as urgent care centers (UCC) are generally inaccessible to low-income patients. Housing an UCC within a federally qualified health center (FQHC UCC) provides an accessible convenience setting for low-income patients.

Cultivar × Management Interaction to Reduce Lodging and Improve Grain Yield of Irrigated Spring Wheat: Optimising Plant Growth Regulator Use, N Application Timing, Row Spacing and Sowing Date.

Severe lodging of irrigated spring-wheat in sub-tropical Australia has previously caused yield loss of between 1.7 and 4.6 t ha (20-60% of potential yield).

Novel Sources of Resistance to Root-Lesion Nematode () in a New Collection of Wild Species ( and ) to Improve Resistance in Cultivated Chickpea ().

, a nematode species that feeds and reproduces in chickpea () roots, is widespread throughout the Mediterranean basin and Indian subcontinent. In Australia, it can cause yield losses up to approximately 25% of intolerant chickpea cultivars. Potential for improvement has been hindered by the narrow genetic diversity of cultivated chickpea and a limited world collection of original wild spp.