Effect of pooling udder skin wipes on the detection of influenza A virus in preweaning pigs

Influenza A virus (IAV) active surveillance in pigs prior to weaning is commonly conducted by collecting individual samples, mostly nasal swabs. Recently, the use of udder skin wipes collected from lactating sows was identified as an effective sampling method to indicate IAV status of suckling piglets prior to weaning. However, there is limited information on the effect of pooling multiple udder wipes on the ability to detect IAV. We evaluated the effect of pooling 3, 5, or 10 udder wipes on the sensitivity of detecting IAV and compared the results with testing the wipes individually. The likelihood of detecting positive udder wipes decreased with pooling when the initial positive cycle threshold value was ≥31.5; pooling of up to 3 samples could be performed without affecting sensitivity significantly. Our results support pooling of udder skin wipes to conduct surveillance of IAV in pigs prior to weaning.

Clinical Application of a New SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Detection Kit (Colloidal Gold) in the Detection of COVID-19

The precise diagnosis of COVID-19 is of outmost importance in order to effectively treat patients and prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Herein, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the COVID-19 Antigen Detection Kit (Colloidal Gold—CG) compared with PCR in nasopharyngeal and nasal samples. A total of 114 positive and 244 negative nasopharyngeal specimens confirmed by PCR were used in this comparative study. When the PCR positive Cycle Threshold (Ct) value was ≤25, CG sensitivity was 100%. When the PCR positive Ct value was ≤33, CG sensitivity was 99%. When the PCR positive Ct value was ≤40, CG sensitivity was 89.47%. Regarding nasal swabs, a total of 109 positive and 250 negative specimens confirmed by PCR were used. When the PCR positive Ct value was ≤25, CG sensitivity was 100%. When the PCR positive Ct value was ≤33, CG sensitivity was 96.12%. When the PCR positive Ct value was ≤37, CG sensitivity was 91.74%. Specificity was above 99% regardless of the Ct value of PCR positivity for both nasopharyngeal and nasal specimens. Overall, the CG showed high sensitivity and specificity when the PCR Ct value was less than 33. Therefore, CG can be used for screening early in the disease course. Confirmatory PCR is essential when a false negative result is suspected.

Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on assisted reproductive technique

The coronavirus pandemic has had a great impact on many health sectors including pregnancy and infertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization, intrauterine insemination, ovulation induction, laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, and assisted reproductive techniques. Due to this situation in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and relaxation permitted by government, allowing the non-essential services in a gradual manner, infertility services have been resumed as per the guidelines set by ministry of health and family welfare of India. The staff has to be triaged to meet the demands of this situation. Diagnostic evaluation using RT-PCR should be done at the commencement of treatment. If donor tests positive, cycle has to be called off. It is important to know, the effect of SARS-CoV2 on gametes, embryos, and early pregnancy. According to ESHRE, the probability of contamination of gametes and early stages of embryo by this virus is low. Certain new evidences are indicating possible transmission of this virus from mother to newborn, thus putting the pregnant women into high risk category. It is still not known if patients who continue to test positive for PCR remain infective throughout the period or their infectivity dissipates over time. Universal good practices must be followed in view of safety for both doctors and patients. COVID-19 has actually changed the way of infertility treatment is provided. Extensive guidelines and new protocols must be set up so as to have minimum risks.

Clarifications on the Behavior of Alternative Gases to SF6 in Divergent Electric Field Distributions under AC Voltage

Negative and positive partial discharge inception voltages and breakdown measurements are reported in a needle-plane electrode system as a function of pressure under AC voltage for natural gases (N2, CO2, and O2/CO2), pure NovecTM gases (C4F7N and C5F10O) and NovecTM in different natural gas admixtures. For compressed 4% C4F7N–96% CO2 and 6% C5F10O–12% O2–82% CO2 gas mixtures, the positive-streamer mode is identified as the breakdown mechanism. Breakdown and negative partial discharge inception voltages of 6% C5F10O–12% O2–82% CO2 are higher than those of 4% C4F7N–96% CO2. At 8.8 bar abs, the breakdown voltage of 6% C5F10O–12% O2–82% CO2 is equal to that of 12.77% O2–87.23% CO2 (buffer gas). Synergism in negative partial discharge inception voltage/electric field fits with the mean value and the sum of each partial pressure individually component for a 20% C4F7N–80% CO2 and 6% C5F10O–12% O2–82% CO2, respectively. In 9% C4F7N–91% CO2, the comparison of partial discharge inception electric fields is Emax (CO2) = Emax(C4F7N), and Emax (12.77% O2–87.23% CO2) = Emax(C5F10O) in 19% C5F10O–81%(12.77% O2–87.23% CO2). Polarity reversal occurs under AC voltage when the breakdown polarity changes from negative to positive cycle. Polarity reversal electric field EPR was quantified. Fitting results show that EPR (CO2) = EPR(9% C4F7N–91% CO2) and EPR(SF6) = EPR (22% C4F7N–78% CO2). EPR (4% C4F7N–96% CO2) = EPR (12.77% O2–87.23% CO2) and EPR (6% C5F10O–12% O2–82% CO2) < EPR (4% C4F7N–96% CO2) < EPR (CO2).

Saliva is more sensitive than nasopharyngeal or nasal swabs for diagnosis of asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 infection

We aimed to test the sensitivity of naso-oropharyngeal saliva and self-administered nasal (SN) swab compared to nasopharyngeal (NP) swab for COVID-19 testing in a large cohort of migrant workers in Singapore. We also tested the utility of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for diagnosis of COVID-19. Saliva, NP and SN swabs were collected from subjects who presented with acute respiratory infection, their asymptomatic roommates, and prior confirmed cases who were undergoing isolation at a community care facility in June 2020. All samples were tested using RT-PCR. SARS-CoV-2 amplicon-based NGS with phylogenetic analysis was done for 30 samples. We recruited 200 subjects, of which 91 and 46 were tested twice and thrice respectively. In total, 62.0%, 44.5%, and 37.7% of saliva, NP and SN samples were positive. Cycle threshold (Ct) values were lower during the earlier period of infection across all sample types. The percentage of test-positive saliva was higher than NP and SN swabs. We found a strong correlation between viral genome coverage by NGS and Ct values for SARS-CoV-2. Phylogenetic analyses revealed Clade O and lineage B.6 known to be circulating in Singapore. We found saliva to be a sensitive and viable sample for COVID-19 diagnosis.

KOMPENSASI DAN KEPUASAN KERJA KARYAWAN BAGIAN SALES AND MARKETING INDUSTRI OTOMOTIF DI BANDUNG

The automotive industry face intense competition to win the customers’ choice. In doing so, they need to have a powerful sales team to pursue their target. Individual with higher satisfaction in their job will certainly give better contribution to organization. One of the antecedent of job satisfaction is compensation. The aim of the study is to analyze the effect of employee perception on job satisfaction. We use 385 automotive sales department in Bandung as participant. Data was collected using 50 items questionnaire. The Regression analysis with SPSS used to measure the effect of compensation on job satisfaction. The study found the correlation between two variables is 0,614. The effect of compensation on job satisfaction is 0.377. The result proved that compensation still become important factor to build employees’ satisfaction.this is in line with the automotive companys’ policy which always provide bonuses for those who achieve the target and perform. This policy will drive employees to maintain their performance. Then, the positive cycle of rewards, satisfaction, and performance will keep on going.Keywords: Job satisfaction, Compensation, Automotive Industry

Individual differences in pain sensitivity predict the experience of unfairness

Pain has shaped our evolutionary history, and pain-free experiences are critical for our health. There are, however, enormous individual differences in pain sensitivity, and the psychological consequences of this heterogeneity are only poorly understood. Here, we investigated whether individual differences in pain sensitivity predicted the experience of unfairness. We found that the magnitude of pain sensitivity correlated with the extent to which participants experienced unfairness. This association was due to the shared human alarm system of unfairness and pain sensitivity. This finding may elucidate mechanisms for producing a new and positive cycle of a healthy experience between fairness and feeling pain-free.

MEMBANGUN EPISTEMOLOGI PENDIDIKAN ISLAM MELALUI KEPEMIMPINAN SPIRITUAL: SUATU TELAAH DISKURSIF

Islamic education is currently dealing with the problems of quality and negative cycle. A number of studies have shown that leadership is a pivotal factor in the efforts to transform the negative into positive cycle, the unqualified into qualified schools; it also plays a significant role in the development of Islamic education.This article outlines the ideas and understanding of spiritual leadership and its significance in improving the quality of continuously degrading Islamic education. Through a descriptive analysis, this article argues that the stagnant educational system is partly due to the Western concept-purely based education and it offers spiritual leadership as an alternative.Keywords: Pendidikan Islam, Kepemimpinan Spiritual, Kekuatan Individu

On the Efficient Representation of an Unbounded Resource with the Aid of One-Counter Circuits

A class of infinite-state automata with a simple periodic behaviour and a convenient graphical representation is studied. A positive one-counter circuit is defined as a strongly connected one-counter net (one-counter nondeterministic finite automata without zero-testing) with at least one positive cycle. It is shown that in a positive circuit an infinite part of a reachability set is an arithmetic progression; numerical properties of this progression are estimated. A specific graphical representation of circuits is presented. General one-counter nets are equivalent to Petri Nets with at most one unbounded place and to pushdown automata with a single-symbol stack alphabet. It is shown that an arbitrary one-counter net can be represented by a finite tree of circuits. A one-counter net is called sound, if a counter is used only for “infinite-state” (periodic) behaviour. It is shown that for an arbitrary one-counter net an equivalent sound net can be effectively constructed from the corresponding tree of circuits.