Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Guillaume R. Golovkine, Allison W. Roberts, Chase Cooper, Sebastian Riano, Angela M. DiCiccio, Daniel L. Worthington, Jeffrey P. Clarkson, Michael Krames, Jianping Zhang, Ying Gao, Ling Zhou, Scott B. Biering, Sarah A. Stanley
Summary: Decontaminating N95 respirators for reuse using Ultraviolet-C irradiation shows promising results, but the efficacy depends on the mask model, material, and location of contamination. Caution is needed when interpreting the effectiveness data from UV-C decontamination methods.
Article
Materials Science, Textiles
Katy H. K. Li, David C. M. Yeung, Lowell Ling
Summary: This study evaluated the effect of ethanol cleaning on the fit performance and comfort rating of Totobobo Masks. The research found that there was no significant drop in fit performance and comfort of Totobobo mask with up to 15 cycles of cleaning with 70% ethanol.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL TEXTILES
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
C. Levine, C. Grady, T. Block, H. Hurley, R. Russo, B. Peixoto, A. Frees, A. Ruiz, D. Alland
Summary: This study investigated the effects of vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) decontamination on the fit of N95 respirators, revealing a downward trend in functional integrity of certain models after multiple cycles. It also found that the fit of 3M 1870 N95 respirators was significantly reduced after decontamination and testing on a second user. Inconsistencies between qualitative fit test and QNFT results were uncovered, highlighting potential limitations of current fit testing methods.
JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL INFECTION
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Yanqiu Tao, Fengqi You
Summary: This study investigates the benefits of decontamination and reuse of N95 respirators in terms of energy, environment, and economics. Dry heat and VHP were found to be effective methods of decontamination, reducing carbon footprint and energy demand compared to single-use cases. The results reaffirm the energy, environmental, and economic favorability of decontamination and reuse of N95 respirators.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Christina F. Yen, Robert Seeley, Patrick Gordon, Lalitha Parameswaran, Sharon B. Wright, Dana E. Pepe, Preeti Mehrotra
Summary: In this study, it was found that vaporized hydrogen peroxide is an effective option for supplementing limited supplies of N95 respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reprocessing the respirators did not result in significant differences in fit or filtration efficiency.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INFECTION CONTROL
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anand Kumar, Samantha B. Kasloff, Todd Cutts, Anders Leung, Naresh Sharma, Gloria Vazquez-Grande, Tracy Drew, Denis Laframboise, Olivero Orofino, Joe Tanelli, Jay Krishnan
Summary: The research proposes and validates the use of hospital blanket warming cabinets to apply moist heat for decontaminating N95 masks, effectively removing SARS-CoV-2 without compromising their filtration function, thereby increasing mask recycling efficiency in healthcare settings.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Livia Fernandes Probst, Ana Tereza Gomes Guerrero, Andreia Insabralde de Queiroz Cardoso, Antonio Jose Grande, Mariana Garcia Croda, James Venturini, Maria Cristina de Camargo Fonseca, Anamaria Mello Miranda Paniago, Jorge Otavio Maia Barreto, Sandra Maria do Vale Leone de Oliveira
Summary: This study conducted a literature review on the effectiveness of decontamination methods for mask reuse, identifying 15 different methods with 5 promising ones. While providing the best available evidence on mask decontamination, the study also pointed out limitations in terms of the scarcity of research on the topic and lack of studies in real environments.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS
(2021)
Letter
Medicine, General & Internal
Matthew Kampert, Tamanna Singh, Debasis Sahoo, Xiaozhen Han, Erik H. Van Iterson
Summary: This randomized crossover trial investigates the effects of wearing a cloth mask or N95 respirator compared to no mask during peak exercise in healthy, active adults.
Article
Materials Science, Textiles
Sumit Sharma, Fang Wang, Shubham Kumar, Ruchika R. Nawal, Priya Kumar, Sudha Yadav, Imre Szenti, Akos Kukovecz, Ulf D. Schiller, Amit Rawal
Summary: The study investigated the filtration performance of N95 respirators after different treatments, and the results showed that one treatment did not affect their filtration efficiency.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL TEXTILES
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Neha Bhattacharyya, Soumendra Singh, Ria Ghosh, Amrita Banerjee, Aniruddha Adhikari, Animesh Halder, Mahasweta Goswami, Arpita Chattopadhyay, Pulak Mondal, Sameer S. A. Natto, Saleh A. Ahmed, Asim Kumar Mallick, Samir Kumar Pal
Summary: The article discusses the widespread use of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and the issues with current masks, as well as the development of an innovative mask aimed at improving breathing comfort and reducing discomfort.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Fateme Barancheshme, Julie Philibert, Natali Noam-Amar, Yoram Gerchman, Benoit Barbeau
Summary: The study compared the UV spectra of human saliva and artificial saliva, revealing significant differences between the two in terms of UV absorbance, due to different mucins demonstrating varying UV absorbance spectra. This suggests that the current standard artificial saliva may not be suitable for UV decontamination studies, and the ASTM saliva recipe should be revised.
JOURNAL OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY B-BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
C. -G. Wang, Z. Li, S. Liu, C. T. Ng, M. Marzuki, P. S. Jeslyn Wong, B. Tan, A. Lee, C. F. Hui Lim, P. Bifani, Z. Fang, J. C. Ching Wong, Y. X. Setoh, Y. Y. Yang, C. H. Mun, S. Z. Fiona Phua, W. Q. Lim, L. Lin, A. R. Cook, H. Tanoto, L. -C. Ng, A. Singhal, Y. W. Leong, X. J. Loh
Summary: This study systematically evaluated five N95 respirator decontamination methods using VHP or UVC radiation, and found that four methods effectively inactivated Cardiovirus and bacteria after multiple cycles, achieving respirator regeneration and reuse.
MATERIALS TODAY ADVANCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Christian M. Sterr, Inga-Lena Nickel, Christina Stranzinger, Claudia I. Nonnenmacher-Winter, Frank Guenther
Summary: The effectiveness of masks in protecting against airborne particles is related to their filtration efficiency and breathing resistance, with medical face masks performing better than cloth masks. FFP2 respirators may be more effective in high-risk situations, despite requiring greater breathing effort.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Amrita R. John, Shine Raju, Jennifer L. Cadnum, Kipum Lee, Phillip McClellan, Ozan Akkus, Sharon K. Miller, Wayne D. Jennings, Joy A. Buehler, Daniel F. Li, Sarah N. Redmond, Melissa Braskie, Claudia K. Hoyen, Curtis J. Donskey
Summary: The study successfully utilized an ultrasonic room high-level disinfection system for decontamination of large numbers of N95 respirators, achieving effective disinfection without adverse effects on mask filtration efficiency or material integrity.
INFECTION CONTROL AND HOSPITAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Florine E. M. Scholte, Kareem B. Kabra, Sarah R. Tritsch, Joel M. Montgomery, Christina F. Spiropoulou, Christopher N. Mores, Brian H. Harcourt
Summary: Researchers demonstrated that photoactivated methylene blue is a cost-effective, rapid, and widely deployable method to decontaminate N95 respirators for reuse during supply shortages.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INFECTION CONTROL
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Simone Marini, Carla Mavian, Alberto Riva, Mattia Prosperi, Marco Salemi, Brittany Rife Magalis
Summary: TARDiS is a novel phylogenetic tool that optimizes both genetic diversity and temporal distribution through a genetic algorithm.
Article
Neuroimaging
Livio Tarchi, Stefano Damiani, Paolo La Torraca Vittori, Simone Marini, Nelson Nazzicari, Giovanni Castellini, Tiziana Pisano, Pierluigi Politi, Valdo Ricca
Summary: This study introduces a novel method for analyzing and visualizing fMRI results with high discriminative power and ease of understanding. The i-ECO methodology showed significant differences between diagnostic groups, highlighting its potential for further developments in psychiatric research.
BRAIN IMAGING AND BEHAVIOR
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Mattia Prosperi, Christina Boucher, Jiang Bian, Simone Marini
Summary: Whole genome sequencing is becoming the standard method for identifying antimicrobial resistance due to its ability to provide detailed genetic information. However, the development of prediction tools for resistance is challenging due to biased sampling. This study evaluates the effectiveness of bias-handling methods on antibiotic resistance prediction using genetic data. The results show that bias-handling methods can improve the accuracy of prediction.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Biology
Bronwyn A. Lucas, Kexin Zhang, Sarah Loerch, Nikolaus Grigorieff
Summary: In this study, we utilize high-resolution template matching to localize and classify related intermediate states of 60S ribosome biogenesis. By comparing the signal-to-noise ratio observed with different templates, we are able to correct for local variation in noise and differentiate related complexes. We employ a maximum likelihood approach to establish a statistic that describes the confidence of our classification. This method allows us to distinguish molecular populations without relying on 3D reconstructions, making it applicable even when only a few target particles are present in a cell.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nathalie Bonin, Enrique Doster, Hannah Worley, Lee J. Pinnell, Jonathan E. Bravo, Peter Ferm, Simone Marini, Mattia Prosperi, Noelle Noyes, Paul S. Morley, Christina Boucher
Summary: Antimicrobial resistance is a critical threat to public health, and genomic/metagenomic investigations using high-throughput analysis have become increasingly important. MEGARes v3.0 is a comprehensive database of published antimicrobial resistance gene sequences, and AMR++ v3.0 is a customized bioinformatic pipeline designed for high-throughput analysis of metagenomic data.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Federica Lucati, Sarah Delacour, John R. B. Palmer, Jenny Caner, Aitana Oltra, Claudia Paredes-Esquivel, Simone Mariani, Santi Escartin, David Roiz, Francisco Collantes, Mikel Bengoa, Tomas Montalvo, Juan Antonio Delgado, Roger Eritja, Javier Lucientes, Andreu Albo Timor, Frederic Bartumeus, Marc Ventura
Summary: This study examines the genetic structure of the Asian tiger mosquito in the Iberian Peninsula and highlights the significant role of human transportation in shaping its genetic attributes and promoting gene flow.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Parasitology
Micaela Arango-Colonna, Sofia Delgado-Serra, Lee Rafuse Haines, Claudia Paredes-Esquivel
Summary: Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasitic nematode that causes eosinophilic meningitis in various vertebrate hosts. It is rapidly spreading across continents, with Europe being the last to be affected. Sentinel surveillance can be a cost-effective method for monitoring the introduction of this pathogen into new regions.
Letter
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Claudia Paredes-Esquivel, Pilar Foronda, Claire Panosian Dunavan, Robert H. Cowie
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bronwyn A. Lucasa, Nikolaus Grigorieff
Summary: Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) can reveal molecular details of biological processes with atomic resolution, but thinning of cells for cryo-EM imaging is limited. Focused-ion-beam (FIB) milling has enabled visualization of cellular structures by thinning frozen cells to <500 nm lamellae. However, the damage caused by FIB milling to cell sections has not been determined.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Simone Marini, Christina Boucher, Noelle Noyes, Mattia Prosperi
Summary: This study developed a tool called KARGVA that can identify antibiotic resistance gene variants (ARGV) from high-throughput sequencing data. By using a large ARGV database, various types of sequencing data inputs, k-mer-based search, and statistical filtering, KARGVA shows high accuracy and robust performance in identifying ARGVs.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Andrea S. Ramirez-Mata, David Ostrov, Marco Salemi, Simone Marini, Brittany Rife Magalis
Summary: Expanding on a machine learning method used on HIV genetic sequence data, researchers tested its accuracy in predicting neurocognitive impairment in a SIV-infected macaque model and found that certain amino acid and biochemical signatures in the SIV envelope glycoprotein could potentially indicate the emergence of neuroadapted viruses.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Sebastia Jaume-Ramis, Alberto Martinez-Orti, Sofia Delgado-Serra, Maria Dolores Bargues, Santiago Mas-Coma, Pilar Foronda, Claudia Paredes-Esquivel
Summary: This study aims to collect evidence about intermediate hosts involved in the transmission of A. cantonensis and identified 398 gastropods belonging to 17 species, of which 11% tested positive for A. cantonensis. The findings of this study have important epidemiological implications, and further measures are discussed to prevent neuroangiostrongylosis cases.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Giovanna Nicora, Marco Salemi, Simone Marini, Riccardo Bellazzi
Summary: This study aimed to implement an automatic procedure for weekly detection of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and non-neutral variants using One Class SVM classification, which showed the ability to predict variants of concern and interest ahead of their official classification by health authorities.
BMJ HEALTH & CARE INFORMATICS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Simone Marini, Marco Oliva, Ilya B. Slizovskiy, Rishabh A. Das, Noelle Robertson Noyes, Tamer Kahveci, Christina Boucher, Mattia Prosperi
Summary: AMR-meta is a database-free and alignment-free approach for predicting antimicrobial resistance. It combines k-mers, algebraic matrix factorization, and regularized regression to capture gene diversity and improve accuracy. Compared to existing methods, AMR-meta achieves higher accuracy and faster runtime. Standardization of benchmarking data and protocols is needed to address differences in AMR ontologies and variability in classification outputs.
Article
Immunology
Sofia Delgado-Serra, Jessica Sola, Nieves Negre, Claudia Paredes-Esquivel
Summary: Neural angiostrongyliasis, caused by the rat lungworm, has emerged as a zoonotic disease in Europe. The presence of A. cantonensis worms on the island of Mallorca, Spain, has been confirmed through sentinel surveillance and molecular analysis. Infected animals, particularly hedgehogs, exhibit specific clinical signs, and a single mitochondrial haplotype has been identified on the island.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)