scholarly journals Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in sewage: Toward sentinels with analytical accuracy

Author(s):  
David Calderón-Franco ◽  
Laura Orschler ◽  
Susanne Lackner ◽  
Shelesh Agrawal ◽  
David G. Weissbrodt
Keyword(s):  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 689-693
Author(s):  
Nikola Sabev

Providing a specific level of healthcare quality is an important and a complex issue, determined by the extent of influence of number of interrelated and predetermined factors that act at different stages throughout the continuum of healthcare activities. A final healthcare product is a complex conglomerate of goods and services being heterogeneous with a time-varying result and a pronounced individuality. Thus, healthcare managers are required to put its supporting and continuous upgrading at the core of their efforts, which in turn will result in cost reduction, good collaboration between individual professionals, improved financial performance and, ultimately, patients will be optimally serviced and their needs and expectations will be satisfied.Indicators to measure quality of medical services give an idea of their characteristics, conditions and requirements for implementation. In this respect, quality assurance in clinical laboratories is an important process involving a complex system of planned actions at all stages of laboratory analysis in order to achieve the most accurate results with the aim of achieving the most accurate result, of monitoring the effect of the treatment and prognosis of the disease in question. The high quality of laboratory medical services helps modern clinicians in their practical activities and is a guarantor of achieving an adequate healthcare outcome. The ‘Quality in Laboratory Medicine’ concept evolves over time, focusing not only on analytical accuracy but also on a broader and more comprehensive basis that takes into account all the steps of clinical and laboratory analysis, providing valuable information in the process of making clinical decisions that are subordinated entirely to the cares of the patient.All healthcare professionals under the administrative authority of the medical institution, that should guarantee the necessary resources for this process, should participate in providing and improving the quality of services. It is necessary to cover the entire organizational structure, by paying attention to the optimization of the relations between staff and patients. Healthcare managers should provide permanent monitoring and a process evaluation system at each stage, allowing options for choosing alternatives for a solution and precise selectivity, aimed at improving the quality of healthcare, in particular, clinical and laboratory activities and services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendell Jones ◽  
Binsheng Gong ◽  
Natalia Novoradovskaya ◽  
Dan Li ◽  
Rebecca Kusko ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Oncopanel genomic testing, which identifies important somatic variants, is increasingly common in medical practice and especially in clinical trials. Currently, there is a paucity of reliable genomic reference samples having a suitably large number of pre-identified variants for properly assessing oncopanel assay analytical quality and performance. The FDA-led Sequencing and Quality Control Phase 2 (SEQC2) consortium analyze ten diverse cancer cell lines individually and their pool, termed Sample A, to develop a reference sample with suitably large numbers of coding positions with known (variant) positives and negatives for properly evaluating oncopanel analytical performance. Results In reference Sample A, we identify more than 40,000 variants down to 1% allele frequency with more than 25,000 variants having less than 20% allele frequency with 1653 variants in COSMIC-related genes. This is 5–100× more than existing commercially available samples. We also identify an unprecedented number of negative positions in coding regions, allowing statistical rigor in assessing limit-of-detection, sensitivity, and precision. Over 300 loci are randomly selected and independently verified via droplet digital PCR with 100% concordance. Agilent normal reference Sample B can be admixed with Sample A to create new samples with a similar number of known variants at much lower allele frequency than what exists in Sample A natively, including known variants having allele frequency of 0.02%, a range suitable for assessing liquid biopsy panels. Conclusion These new reference samples and their admixtures provide superior capability for performing oncopanel quality control, analytical accuracy, and validation for small to large oncopanels and liquid biopsy assays.


2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 283-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Yun ◽  
W. Yo ◽  
Y. Yi ◽  
S. Choi ◽  
E. Choi ◽  
...  

Although the BNR system design assumes no sludge settling problems in the final settling tank, the fluctuation of daily loading and up to 40% of anaerobiosis in the BNR system would be considerable factors in determining the sludge settleability. The sludge volume index (SVI) is a classical parameter to examine the sludge settleability but it has a limited value to evaluate the overall settling characteristics. The extracellular polymer (ECP) content in sludge has long been considered as an indicator of biological flocculation in activated sludge process, but the skepticism on analytical accuracy limits the usage in settling study. This study focused on evaluating the BNR system performance related to the sludge settling characteristics under the controlled laboratory environment. A 5-stage BNR system (anaerobic-anoxic-3 stage oxic) was operated with the HRTs from 3.9 to 7.6 hours. In order to determine the sludge settling properties, both SVI and ECP content were monitored. The ECP contents in the sludge sample were measured by the slime-washing step followed by high-G centrifugation and sonication. The gel-electrophoresis was used to detect the DNA in the sonicated samples to determine the intracellular polymer contamination. It has been found that the anaerobiosis in the anaerobic and anoxic zone that consisted of 37% of reactor volume could not deteriorate the sludge settling properties even at the HRT of 3.9 hours. The SVI values of sludge taken from the reactor with the HRT of 7.2 hours averaged to less than 50 mL/gr. It was postulated that a fast settling sludge in the BNR system could not always ensure production of clear effluent. The sludge with very low SVI might not achieve a complete biological flocculation potential. In addition, the degree of denitrification in the BNR system could be related to the sludge settleability.


2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 861-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Kościelniak ◽  
Renata Wietecha

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
PD Handson ◽  
BC Shelley

This review of plant analysis in Australia examines sample preparation, instrumentation, problem analytes, calibration, detection limits, and quality assurance. The issue of turnaround time v. analytical accuracy is discussed and the role of 'plant sap quick tests' in nutrient analysis is assessed. Results of a survey of Australian plant-testing laboratories are included.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (S3) ◽  
pp. 1443-1444 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Carpenter ◽  
B. L. Jolliff

Foods ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geetesh Mishra ◽  
Abbas Barfidokht ◽  
Farshad Tehrani ◽  
Rupesh Mishra

Rapid and precise analytical tools are essential for monitoring food safety and screening of any undesirable contaminants, allergens, or pathogens, which may cause significant health risks upon consumption. Substantial developments in analytical techniques have empowered the analyses and quantitation of these contaminants. However, conventional techniques are limited by delayed analysis times, expensive and laborious sample preparation, and the necessity for highly-trained workers. Therefore, prompt advances in electrochemical biosensors have supported significant gains in quantitative detection and screening of food contaminants and showed incredible potential as a means of defying such limitations. Apart from indicating high specificity towards the target analytes, these biosensors have also addressed the challenge of food industry by providing high analytical accuracy within complex food matrices. Here, we discuss some of the recent advances in this area and analyze the role and contributions made by electrochemical biosensors in the food industry. This article also reviews the key challenges we believe biosensors need to overcome to become the industry standard.


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