Analysis of cycle threshold values in SARS-CoV-2-PCR in a long-term study.

Background: Cycle threshold (Ct) values can be used in an attempt to semiquantify results in the qualitative real-time polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) for the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The significance of Ct values in epidemiological studies and large cohorts is still unclear.

Objective: To monitor Ct values in a long-term study and compare the results with demographic data of patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time PCR.

Towards solving of the Illiteracy phenomenon for VEP-based brain-computer interfaces.

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems use brain activity as an input signal and enable communication without requiring bodily movement. This novel technology may help impaired patients and users with disabilities to communicate with their environment. Over the years, researchers investigated the performance of subjects in different BCI paradigms, stating that 15%-30% of BCI users are unable to reach proficiency in using a BCI system and therefore were labelled as BCI illiterates.

Using a multi-stakeholder approach to increase value for traditional agroforestry systems: the case of baobab ( L.) in Kilifi, Kenya.

The baobab tree ( L.) is an integral component of many dryland farming systems in sub-Sahara Africa. Such traditional agroforestry systems can foster a variety of benefits; besides positive livelihood implications baobab can particularly address food security objectives due to its highly nutritious fruits.

Safety culture transformation-The impact of training on explicit and implicit safety attitudes.

The present paper investigates the changeability of safety culture elements such as explicit and implicit safety attitudes by training. Therefore, three studies with different time frames, training durations, and settings will be presented. In the first study, the short-term attitude change of students from an international environmental sciences study program was measured after safety training in a chemical laboratory.

Asynchronous c-VEP communication tools-efficiency comparison of low-target, multi-target and dictionary-assisted BCI spellers.

Keyboards and smartphones allow users to express their thoughts freely via manual control. Hands-free communication can be realized with brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) based on code-modulated visual evoked potentials (c-VEPs). Various variations of such spellers have been developed: Low-target systems, multi-target systems and systems with dictionary support.

Comparison of Modern Highly Interactive Flicker-Free Steady State Motion Visual Evoked Potentials for Practical Brain-Computer Interfaces.

Motion-based visual evoked potentials (mVEP) is a new emerging trend in the field of steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCI). In this paper, we introduce different movement-based stimulus patterns (steady-state motion visual evoked potentials-SSMVEP), without employing the typical flickering. The tested movement patterns for the visual stimuli included a pendulum-like movement, a flipping illusion, a checkerboard pulsation, checkerboard inverse arc pulsations, and reverse arc rotations, all with a spelling task consisting of 18 trials.

The Household Resistome: Frequency of β-Lactamases, Class 1 Integrons, and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in the Domestic Environment and Their Reduction during Automated Dishwashing and Laundering.

Households provide a habitat for bacteria originating from humans, animals, foods, contaminated clothes, or other sources. Thus, bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) may be introduced via household members, animals, or the water supply from external habitats into private households and vice versa. Since data on antibiotic resistance (ABR) in the domestic environment are limited, this study aimed to determine the abundance of β-lactamase, mobile colistin resistance, and class 1 integron genes and the correlation of their presence and to characterize phenotypically resistant strains in 54 private households in Germany.

The Toothbrush Microbiome: Impact of User Age, Period of Use and Bristle Material on the Microbial Communities of Toothbrushes.

Toothbrushes play a central role in oral hygiene and must be considered one of the most common articles of daily use. We analysed the bacterial colonization of used toothbrushes by next generation sequencing (NGS) and by cultivation on different media. Furthermore, we determined the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the impact of different bristle materials on microbial growth and survival.

Living in the plastic age - Different short-term microbial response to microplastics addition to arable soils with contrasting soil organic matter content and farm management legacy.

Microplastics (MPs) are an emerging pollutant found in many ecosystems including soils, where they may become toxic to organisms or alter their habitat. However, little is known about the influence of MPs on soil microorganisms and processes vital to ecosystem functioning in different soils. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the short-term effects of MPs pollution on soil microorganisms in two agricultural soils with contrasting soil organic matter content and microbial biomass as caused by farm management history (organic and conventional).

Did granny know best? Evaluating the antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral efficacy of acetic acid for home care procedures.

Background: Acetic acid has been used to clean and disinfect surfaces in the household for many decades. The antimicrobial efficacy of cleaning procedures can be considered particularly important for young, old, pregnant, immunocompromised people, but may also concern other groups, particularly with regards to the COVID-19 pandemics. This study aimed to show that acetic acid exhibit an antibacterial and antifungal activity when used for cleaning purposes and is able to destroy certain viruses.

Changes of NOx in urban air detected with monitoring VIS-NIR field spectrometer during the coronavirus pandemic: A case study in Germany.

The global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant reduction of traffic and traffic-related urban air pollution. One important pollutant in this context is NO2. Sudden change in NO2 emissions related to reduction of urban traffic due to infection protection measures can be detected in Düsseldorf, Germany with continuous measurements of down-welling light with a RoX automated field-spectrometer.

Utilization pattern and indigenous knowledge of wild medicinal plants among three ethnic groups in Makawanpur district, Central Nepal.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: In Nepal, wild plant resources play an important role in local communities' health care. However, this role and its patterns are poorly studied in many regions of the country. This study aimed at documenting the indigenous knowledge on the use patterns of medicinal plants of three ethnic groups from Makawanpur district, Central Nepal.

In Vitro Fermentation of Sheep and Cow Milk Using Infant Fecal Bacteria.

While human milk is the optimal food for infants, formulas that contain ruminant milk can have an important role where breastfeeding is not possible. In this regard, cow milk is most commonly used. However, recent years have brought interest in other ruminant milk.

The Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) in Southern Kenya-A Study on Status, Distribution, Use and Importance in Taita-Taveta County.

Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) is a multipurpose, drought resistant, wild fruit tree, endemic to arid and semi-arid lands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Baobab populations have been showing a lack of regeneration, and therefore causes concern for the species survival.

Comparison of Different Visual Feedback Methods for SSVEP-Based BCIs.

In this paper we compared different visual feedback methods, informing users about classification progress in a steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) speller application. According to results from our previous studies, changes in stimulus size and contrast as online feedback of classification progress have great impact on BCI performance in SSVEP-based spellers. In this experiment we further investigated these effects, and tested a 4-target SSVEP speller interface with a much higher number of subjects.

Five Shades of Grey: Exploring Quintary -Sequences for More User-Friendly c-VEP-Based BCIs.

Responsive EEG-based communication systems have been implemented with brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) based on code-modulated visual evoked potentials (c-VEPs). The BCI targets are typically encoded with binary -sequences because of their autocorrelation property; the digits one and zero correspond to different target colours (usually black and white), which are updated every frame according to the code. While binary flickering patterns enable high communication speeds, they are perceived as annoying by many users.

Winter is coming - Impact of temperature on the variation of beta-lactamase and mcr genes in a wastewater treatment plant.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) play a key role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance and analyzing the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and resistant bacteria is necessary to evaluate the risk of proliferation caused by WWTPs. Since few studies investigated the seasonal variation of antibiotic resistance, this study aimed to determine the abundance of beta-lactamase and mcr genes and to characterize phenotypic resistant strains in a WWTP in Germany over the seasons. Wastewater, sewage sludge and effluent samples were collected over a one year period and analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR.

A method to evaluate factors influencing the microbial reduction in domestic dishwashers.

Aims: To develop a method that is able to determine the microbial reduction in different dishwasher cleaning cycles and differentiate between different program parameters used.

Methods And Results: Stainless steel biomonitors were contaminated with Micrococcus luteus or Entereococcus faecium and cleaned in a specially programmed household dishwasher with different cleaning temperatures and durations. No detergent, bleach-free detergent or detergent containing activated oxygen bleach was used.

Peak Detection with Online Electroencephalography (EEG) Artifact Removal for Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Purposes.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) measure brain activity and translate it to control computer programs or external devices. However, the activity generated by the BCI makes measurements for objective fatigue evaluation very difficult, and the situation is further complicated due to different movement artefacts. The BCI performance could be increased if an online method existed to measure the fatigue objectively and accurately.

Genetic diversity and structure of baobab ( L.) in southeastern Kenya.

Baobab ( L.) is an iconic tree of African savannahs. Its multipurpose character and nutritional composition of fruits and leaves offer high economic and social potential for local communities.

Phenazine methosulphate-treated red blood cells activate NF-κB and upregulate endothelial ICAM-1 expression.

Although enhanced Red Blood Cell (RBC) - Endothelial Cell (EC) interaction, as well as RBC induced EC activation, have been extensively studied in several RBC-linked pathologies, the specific individual effects of oxidatively modified RBC on EC activation has not yet been documented. However, increasing evidence in both experimental and clinical studies suggests that oxidatively modified RBC could be considered potential pathogenic determinants in several acute and chronic diseases displaying systemic oxidative stress. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the specific effects of oxidized RBC interaction with endothelial cells on intracellular signaling pathways that promote EC activation.

Laundry and textile hygiene in healthcare and beyond.

The elimination of microbial contaminations from textile is an important aspect of laundering apart from the removal of stains and dirt from used and worn textiles. Although the framework for institutional laundering is well regulated to ensure hygienic cleanliness via the use of e.g.

Depletion interaction forces contribute to erythrocyte-endothelial adhesion in diabetes.

Abnormal adhesion of red blood cells (RBC) to the endothelium has been linked to the pathophysiology of several diseases associated with vascular disorders. Various biochemical changes on the outer membrane of RBC, as well as plasma protein levels, have been identified as possibly playing key roles, but the detailed interplay between plasma factors and cellular factors often remains unclear. In this work, we identified an alternative pathway by demonstrating that non-adsorbing macromolecules can also have a marked impact on the adhesion efficiency of RBC from patients with type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) to endothelial cells (EC).

Dynamic time window mechanism for time synchronous VEP-based BCIs-Performance evaluation with a dictionary-supported BCI speller employing SSVEP and c-VEP.

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) based on visual evoked potentials (VEPs) allow high communication speeds and accuracies. The fastest speeds can be achieved if targets are identified in a synchronous way (i.e.

Better Than Its Reputation? Gossip and the Reasons Why We and Individuals With "Dark" Personalities Talk About Others.

Gossip is an ubiquitous phenomenon. Hearing information about others serves important social functions such as learning without direct interaction and observation. Despite important social functions gossip has a rather negative reputation.