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.

Certification of the European reference soil set (IRMM-443--EUROSOILS). Part I. Adsorption coefficients for atrazine, 2,4-D and lindane.

The European Commission has characterised and certified a set of six European soils (the EUROSOILS) under the number IRMM-443. After a successful validation and trial period with a preliminary batch it was decided to produce a new batch of certified reference materials. Part I of this paper describes the certification of adsorption coefficients for atrazine, 2,4-D and lindane in these soils.

[Problems in the determination of small ethylenethiourea residue concentrations in plant crops].

It has been shown by residue analysis for ethylene thiourea in plant crops using gel and high performance liquid chromatography that residues are considerably reduced when the samples are macerated for extraction, and the plant juices are liberated. Consequently, residue values which are too low are obtained. Therefore, it is recommended, that only surface rinsing should be used.